Yours Truly, Ramona

chapter twenty seven | hopeless.

"So," I say as Luis and I exit the stagecraft lab after school. "You and Mary... How are things?"

Luis shrugs, walking towards his locker to put his math textbook away.

"Fine."

"Have you talked to Reece?" I ask once we've approached the wall of lockers. Luis puts in his combination and I lean against the metal boxes as I watch him discard his textbook.

"Nope. Reece hates me because I'm not defending her."

"Oh god, she's still mad about Mary hacking her SnapShare?"

"Yep," Luis spits, slamming his locker shut.

I push myself off of the lockers to once again walk beside him through the bustling hallways.

"Well did she? Did Mary hack Reece?"

"No."

"How do you know?"

"Because," he begins with an exaggerated breath. "Mary was with me on Tuesday night when the hacker posted on Reece's profile. And we weren't on our phones, Mona."

"Ew."

My face crinkles in disgust as we walk around a corner, my mind immediately traveling to the gutter.

"We weren't fucking, either. I know where your mind is going. We were watching a movie and her phone was across the room. Neither one of us stood up for two hours. There's just no way it was her."

I nod, taking his words into consideration while we pass by numerous empty classrooms and exhausted teachers that are packing up for the day.

"And that's why you defended Mary in the lunchroom?"

"Yeah. I know she didn't do it."

"Have you tried telling Reece that?"

Luis and I step into a quieter hallway to continue our conversation, still engrossed in Reece's dumb, pointless, freshman drama. It's stupid, it really is, but a part of me still wants to know every juicy detail.

"No. She won't talk to me. She thinks I betrayed her or something because I stood up for Mary."

I fold my arms across my chest, shaking my head in annoyance, and look up at Luis' tired, irritated eyes.

"Freshman."

He nods in agreement.

"Not to mention, I don't really want to talk to her. Haven't you noticed the way she's been acting lately? She's not the same."

"Well someone did ruin her innocent reputation. Now all the freshman think she's a lesbian stoner."

"No no no. I'm talking about even before the hacking situation. Hell, even before she became friends with Mary," he recounts dramatically. "She's different. Keep an eye out and you might notice it too."

"I honestly haven't noticed anything. Then again, I'm barely around her, so I wouldn't know."

Luis opens his mouth to respond, but he's cut off by a smiling Jasper who's approaching us from down the hallway.

"Hey there, beautiful," he exclaims when he reaches me.

I'm expected to be pulled into a hug, but I'm surprised when he pulls me by the arm and puts his lips on mine instead. He kisses me with the same hunger and longing that he always does, and it's a kiss that leaves me giddy and smiling in the middle of the hallway, oblivious to the other annoyed students—one of them being my best friend.