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

Chapter Eleven: Just a Shirt

As I walked through the hall to get to lunch, Kandy greeted me with a hey and pulled me aside. She studied the blue flannel shirt that clearly didn't go with my pants and smiled. "I was wondering if you'd like to hang out on Sunday afternoon. We could walk downtown and maybe get some gelato."

Kandy Olsen wanted to hang out with me? I didn't think I had plans. Sunday was family day for Bri's family (and the rest of Germany, too, for that matter), so she usually couldn't hang out then, and with my other close friends scattered across the various towns close to Edelweiss, it was rare for me to hang with anyone on Sundays. I didn't think we were going anywhere this weekend unless Mom and Dad got the urge to visit a castle or hike among ancient Roman ruins.

I returned her smile. "I'd like that. I'll need to check with my parents, but I don't think we have anything going on."

"Awesome." Her attention returned to my clothes. "So, which boy belongs to this shirt? I've seen three guys on the varsity football team wear this pattern, Tim, Javier, and maybe Riley."

"This old thing?" I gripped the shirt. "Yeah, Riley is my hero today. My pants have a hole in them, and he spared me from having two horribly embarrassing days in a row."

"That was really nice," she said. "I know I told you that Tim's an ass...and he totally is, but he has a lot of nice moments, too."

Weird. Why was she working him into the conversation, other than his having this same shirt?

"I'll keep that in mind." I looked at the time. Bri's patience would be tested if I waited any longer to get to her. "I'll let you know tonight about this weekend, okay?"

As I began walking toward the cafeteria, I removed my earrings, clearly from the pain my ears were in, I'd accidentally grabbed the kind that weren't hypoallergenic, and tucked them into the pocket of the flannel. True to form, Bri was standing outside the cafeteria with her arms folded to her chest. Shreya and Amaria were at her sides, though they weren't scowling. Their smiles reached their eyes as I came around the corner. As they both said hi, Bri studied the shirt.

Amaria's braids had been altered to where her curls showed at the end and she'd added teal streaks to a few of them. I was instantly jealous of her hairstyle. "I love your hair, Amaria!"

Her smile widened. "Thanks! My mom worked on it until about midnight, but I think it was totally worth it."

Bri hadn't moved a muscle. "So, it's true?" When I didn't respond because I had no clue what she was talking about, she added, "You and Riley are a thing? And you weren't even going to tell me." When I still said nothing, she pointed at the shirt.

Excuse me. Where did she come up with this? "We're not a thing. When I fell this morning, my pants ripped. Riley pointed it out to me and lent me his shirt. That's it. Nothing more." Why did I have to explain myself? Why did it matter when she was planning to accept Caleb's offer to take her to Homecoming? Jeez.

Her scowl remained in place. "You could've borrowed something from me."

"I probably could have, and I would've shown my underwear to half the school in the process. Everyone is still talking about Barfmageddon. Do I really need to add ASSault to my list of embarrassing things to happen to me this week?"

Shreya and Amaria nodded with understanding. When Bri stood silently, I changed my tactics. "So, have you talked to Caleb today?"

Bri gave me an incredulous look. "No. We've been waiting for you. I didn't want to just show up at his table and look stupid."

"Okay..." Clearly, I was going to have to do all the work when it came to her love life, so I moved forward, still incredibly annoyed. "Let's help Caleb win." I turned to Bri. "You might actually want to smile, so he doesn't get the wrong impression." Although scowling Bri was just about as right of an impression as could be when it came to her sometimes.

Amaria tapped me on the shoulder. "I heard about yesterday. Are you okay?"

"Embarrassed, but I'm okay."

Shreya gave a sympathetic smile. "The gossip mill will move on to something else tomorrow."

I laughed. "I'm counting on short attention spans and not giving them anything to gossip about, but for some reason, drama seems to have its grips on me the past couple of days." Bri tensed at my words, so I knew just what I needed to do. Like always. "Do you ladies have any ideas on how to help Caleb win?"

Amaria laughed. "Can we include pictures of Teflon Tim's body and Riley Jones's face, and somehow say that Caleb is a combination of both?"

Shreya giggled. "Caleb is okay, but he's nothing like those two. He is funny, though. Maybe we should use his humor."

Caleb was alone at a large table when we walked into the mostly empty cafeteria. Posters, pencils and markers, along with Caleb's school lunch of mega-chicken minis (yuck), broccoli (double yuck), and an apple, dotted the table. I motioned for Bri to sit next to Caleb, while Amaria, Shreya, and I sat across from them. I split my ham sandwich in half and offered it to Caleb, who willingly accepted it.

We scarfed our lunches, then began working on the "Caleb Drake 4 Homecoming King" posters. With our help, the posters were finished in just a few minutes, so I talked to the girls, while Caleb and Bri talked to each other. I heard Bri mention she was running for queen and Caleb affirm how awesome it would be for both of them to win.

"Hey, Bar, I mean Emily," Caleb said. "Are you running for Homecoming Queen?"

I shook my head. "No. I don't think I have a chance at winning."

"That's not what I heard," he said right as the bell rang.

Where had he heard that? I wanted to ask, but Bri, Amaria, and Shreya had gone silent. Now was definitely not the time to ask, but there might never be another time. As I was formulating my words, Bri's lips pressed into a straight line as she looked from Caleb to me. She quickly plastered a fake smile onto her face. "Emily is not running. She's going to help me. Isn't that right, Emily?"

My words were gone in an instant. Inhaling deeply, I stood up and grabbed my lunchbox. Why couldn't I run too? Why did Bri get to dictate what I could and could not do? It all came down to our friendship. If I wanted Bri to be my friend, I had to play by her rules. About a year ago, she'd ghosted me for a few months, and I still didn't understand what had happened. Those three months were my least favorite time in Edelweiss, and they had been enough for me to know I wanted to keep her as a friend.

"Yeah." My voice didn't have much enthusiasm, so I forced a smile onto my face. "Bri's going to be our Homecoming Queen. I'm sure of it."

Wanting nothing more than to exit the conversation, I made my way to the door and didn't bother to say goodbye. I wasn't sure I could without losing my cool or breaking down in tears.