All's Fair in Love and HoCo (ONC 2022)

Chapter Nine: Gossip Boy

"How was school, Emmy?" Mom asked from in front of the stove. She dumped refried beans into a pot and squished the can-shaped blob down with a wooden spoon, then checked the rice—probably yellow—and the taco meat. When she turned around to look at me, I noticed a smattering of ingredients on her apron. Thank God she was finally using her birthday gift. Only took a couple months.

The counters were a wreck from all the cooking. Mom had the blender out, a green sauce which I suspected to be cilantro ranch dressing inside it. Various vegetable juices pooled in the large cutting board's reservoir. Atop the cutting board were chopped lettuce and sliced black olives, four scooped-out avocado shells, two limes and some garlic peels. A large bowl held fresh salsa, that on any other day would've been delicious, and a smaller bowl had homemade guacamole. Two bags of tortilla chips and one package of tortillas sat beside the cutting bowls. So, we weren't really having tacos. It was nachos, but still the smell was too much of a reminder of my twice-tasted lunch.

I gave her a rundown of the day's events and begged to be excused from eating dinner. After Mom's reluctant acquiescence, I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and carried it and a glass of apfel schorle upstairs over my ten-year-old brother's objections that it wasn't fair I was already getting to eat when he'd been home for a few hours and I was getting to eat in my room. Elijah would get over it eventually.

I sat down at my desk and scarfed the sandwich. For now, it would do, but I'd have to make another once the food was put away and the smells faded. A quick glance at the mirror told me that in all of today's mishaps, my makeup had somehow managed to last. It looked as good now as it had in the morning.

I needed to start working on homework and the interviews, but Riley probably hadn't arrived home and eaten yet, so I'd have to wait. I grabbed my phone and texted Bri. "Caleb's gonna ask you. Also, he's running for king. Wants to know if we can help him with posters. I told him I can help tomorrow."

A few minutes later, her return text pinged through. "R U serious? He's running for king?!" I affirmed it. "OMG! Should I run for queen? B so awesome if we won 2gether."

I read the text over and over again for a couple minutes. Hadn't Bri gone on and on about how she had no desire to run for queen just this morning after I'd said I might be interested? It was a full 180. But still. She was my friend and she'd support me. I needed to support her.

"You should. I can help you make posters too. Just bring the stuff tomorrow." I plugged in the cell phone and immediately went to work on reading MacBeth, not stopping until the assignment was finished.

I took a sip of the apple soda. The brand was different than my usual, so I balked at its lesser carbonation. It was still good though and not nearly as sweet as American soda. I would miss it when we left.

A krankenfarht pulled my attention outside. The car was across the street in front of the house beside Caleb's. I didn't know who lived there now, but I hoped they'd be okay and had gotten the medical treatment they'd needed. The krankenfarht pulled away after a couple minutes, and I started my math homework.

At 7:30, I looked at my phone. A message from Riley with his phone number and saying he was ready for the interview was waiting for me on Instagram, so I grabbed one of the interview sheets—it happened to be Tim's—and a pencil before dialing the number.

He greeted me with a breathy "Hey, I was beginning to think you weren't going to call."

"Sorry, I finished my homework first." I tried keeping the annoyance out of my voice.

After a couple seconds of awkward silence, Riley said, "I heard you sat with Tim Henry on the activity bus."

I laughed. Word travelled around Edelweiss a little too fast for my comfort... and Riley was paying entirely too much attention to the gossip about me. "Did you also hear Dalton accused Tim of trying to steal his girl?"

It was Riley's turn to laugh. "I see you didn't answer my question though."

"You never asked a question. I just volunteered more information since you seem to be interested in what's going on with me, but if you have something to ask me, feel free. I'm an open book."

The blender blared downstairs at the same time Riley said, "Do you like Tim?"

Who was he scouting for? Was it Tim? Another senior? Someone completely different? And what business was it of anyone's? These boys were driving me crazy. Their gossiping was every bit as bad as any of the girls. Maybe worse.

"I don't dislike him." I inspected my fingernails. The blue fingernail polish was chipping. I'd need to make time to paint them tonight.

"And if he asks you to Homecoming?" Riley's voice trailed off.

"I'll cross that bridge if I get there."

"Hmm." The slurp of a straw sucking up the last of a drink sounded through the phone. "Is there someone else you want to go with?"

I wanted to shout "You," but the thought of rejection terrified me. Just because he'd actually talked to me today didn't mean he wanted to go to the dance with me. He was probably assessing the probability that he'd get sick because of me or that I'd get sick again. I had full confidence he'd ask for and obtain a new seat in A&P. Tired of playing Twenty Questions, I ripped a page from a notebook so I could jot down Riley's answers. "Let's start this interview."

It was over within a few minutes, and I was sure to include a grammatical error or three in his answers. It was the least I could do for the trouble he'd caused.