says after he’s sure Mrs. Summerton has left.
“Thank you so much for pulling some strings, Mr. Whitman. I really hope I do get in.”
“Have you given any thought to what your essay will be about?” he asks, leaning back in his chair.
“I have a few ideas, but haven’t really settled on one just yet.”
“Submissions are due by December at the latest, so I’d get working on something soon,” he states with a serious face.
“I will, don’t worry. I’ll have something concrete by the end of the weekend,” I reply.
“See that you do, because you don’t want to squander this opportunity.”
“I won’t, promise.”
Chapter Three
Sitting in the waiting room of the auto shop after school, I find myself unable to take my eyes off the friend request that Parker sent me. I still haven’t clicked accept or ignore, and frankly I’m getting tired of thinking about it. In my mind, there’s a lot riding on this decision. On one hand, if I click accept, Phoebe will see that in her feed, and I don’t even want to imagine what would happen then. But if I click ignore, then I’ll be saying that I don’t care for Parker, which really isn’t true. Yes, there’s resentment there, but unfortunately, other emotions are also present.
“Dani, Lexi’s ready. I wanted to give her another quick check…on the house, of course,” Kevin says with a grin, drawing my gaze to him instead of my phone.
Yes, I named my car Lexi. I just said it one day and the name stuck.
“Thanks, Kevin. You always treat my girl so well.”
Kevin and I have known each other for as long as I can remember. He was a part of my original trio, which included Janice. We kind of drifted apart after Janice was taken out of school. There was also an awkward moment when he confessed his love for me in the eighth grade. Though I did love Kevin, I could never say that I was in love with him. It sucked to have to tell him that, and I kind of regret how I did it, because we didn’t talk for, like, a whole year afterwards. I’m glad that things have settled into a more comfortable place between us. Kevin’s a great guy.
“No problem. It’s the least I can do,” he replies. “Besides, it’s not like I get to work on a nineteen ninety Honda Prelude every day,” he continues.
I giggle. “Hush your face. Lexi may be old, but she’s a classy gal. She just needs a little TLC every once in a while.”
“Riiiight. Well, your dad already took care of the bill, so here you go.” He hands the keys over to me. “She’s out front if you want to go see her.”
“Thanks. I think I will.”
I run my fingertips along Lexi’s shiny(ish) blue hood before rushing to fling open the door and jump inside. Sticking the key in the ignition, I turn it, then smile when the engine starts up.
“Ah, you’re a lifesaver, Kevin,” I exclaim, pounding on the steering wheel. “I was getting a little tired of my dad saying that it was time to let my girl go.”
He laughs. “Well, maybe it is.”
“Oh, no…not you too?” I groan.
“Hey, I just call ’em like I see ’em. I haven’t seen anyone drive around a Prelude in a couple years. They’re kind of a dying breed, Dani.”
“Well, Lexi gets me where I need to go, which is all that counts in my book,” I reply, turning my attention back to my car.
“Yep, and I guess I’ll keep fixing her,” he comments with a cheeky smirk. “She’s probably only got about two more years left in her, anyway.”
“Okay, Dad,” I quip while rolling my eyes and closing the car door. He just laughs.
“So, Dani?” I hear him ask through the closed window.
“Yeah,” I reply, rolling it down.
“Are you going to Gunnar’s party tomorrow?”
“Shhh! Not so loud.”
“Sorry. It’s the first time I’ve ever been invited. I didn’t realize there was a protocol.”
“It’s okay. It’s my first time going too, but the party’s kind of a secret, and I’m trying to stay off my dad’s radar.”
“Understood. Hey, I saw the flyer you made up. It looks awesome. But then again, you were always great with designing stuff like that.”
“I’m going to kill Gunnar. He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone I did the flyer,” I whisper.
“He didn’t tell me. I knew just by looking. It had you written all over it.”
“Oh...thanks. Hey, I’d better get going. I’m doing some last-minute Halloween