"Come on, Stevey. When are you going to open your eyes and see that she doesn't want you?"
"I wasn't talking about Nancy," Steve says lightly. "I was talking about you, Sage."
"Steve,"
...
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SAGE WALKS out of class with Nancy and Jonathan.
They had become really close over the last few months. It was really random, an unlikely pair. Nancy isn't really the type to be friends with Jonathan, not because she doesn't want to be, but because of the expectations she and Steve carry on their backs.
Steve doesn't like Jonathan, but he does respect Sage for liking Jonathan, so he doesn't bad mouth about him in front of her. Only because he knows she'll do something irrational and expected. Steve and Jonathan have a history of violence that nor Sage or Nancy will understand.
When Sage walks out of class, she's greeted with Tina handing her a bright orange sheet of paper. Nancy receives one from her friend too.
Both girls look over the paper, while Jonathan simply walks beside them. "Come and get sheet faced? Funny." Jonathan chuckles, looking over Sage's shoulder to read the flyer. Sage's heart races a little in her chest, not that she'll show it or admit that he makes her nervous.
Sage turns back towards Tina, "Can I get another one?" she asks. Tina happily gives her another one, to which Sage shoves it in Jonathan's chest. "You're coming."
"What?" he takes the paper. "What? No! Of course, I'm not coming. She didn't give me one for a reason. I'd rather do anything else."
"I can't just let you sit at home on Halloween by yourself," Nancy laughs.
Nancy's relationship with Jonathan made Sage uncomfortable. It genuinely did. Nancy claims she only became friends with Jonathan to help set him up with her, but Nancy seems to be getting close to him for other reasons. Steve knows it too, but he tries to pretend to trust that she knows what she's doing. Sage has liked Jonathan all her life, much before Nancy knew Jonathan, much before she knew of his existence. They hang out on their own a lot, more than Steve and Sage are comfortable with. Sage tries to hide her uneasiness, but she knows something no one else does. "Come on, Jonny. I think trick-or-treating with Will will last until eight is fine. I know you're going to shower, listen to the Talking Heads while reading Vonnegut, Slaughter House-Five and eat cheese pizza for dinner. It's the same thing every day, over and over and over again. Come on, come out with us, have some fun. Get sheet faced."
