BLACK SHEEP ✘ 𝙙𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞 ᵗʰᵉ ⁿᵉˣᵗ ᵍᵉⁿ

#18: KARMA CHAMELEON (2x04)

I heard Paige mutter what sounded like 'whatever'. "Anyway, retro roller skating party—"

"Retro roller skating party? That sounds cool," Ashley's voice chimed in awkwardly.

Paige, who was already peeved, turned that mean streak on her former friend. "Funny how something is cool one year, and so totally uncool the next. Kinda like people."

We walked through the doors and I caught myself totally ignoring Craig, who was staring at me expectantly like we were talking—because we were, or he was. I shook my head. "Ugh. Sorry. It's early, and I missed breakfast. Total space case. Could you repeat that?"

He didn't seem to take it personally. "Um, yeah. I was just saying Joey's working late. Some inventory thing—or an audit thing. I didn't really catch it. Anyway, I'm watching Ange tomorrow night, and Joey told me you're, like, her favorite babysitter."

"Favorite, huh?"

"Something about slaying puppet monsters and the best grilled cheeses ever?"

"The trick is mixing all the cheeses available."

"So, how about it?"

I raised an eyebrow as he stopped at my locker before his, and as I stopped, I noted two things: he stopped to wait for me to finish putting away my stuff, and he remembered where my locker was. "How about what?"

"Babysitting. Or co-babysitting, I guess," he said as I spun the lock. "Joey gave the okay. It's only 'til ten, and he'd give you a ride home after."

I opened the locker and paused, turning to him. A simple yes would've been easy, maybe too easy. I already knew my mom would be on board at the prospect me having plans with a boy, platonic or otherwise, but Paige's comment was fresh, an open wound I haven't had much time to process, much less allow to heal. "I don't know."

"It'll be fun, I swear. We have snacks. Chips, pizza rolls, ice cream. And, of course, plenty of gory horror movies."

"Y'know, I don't think I like my pizza rolls with much gore."

"It's great. Adds texture and kind of an earthy flavor," he quipped, a little hiccup of nervousness in his voice. "C'mon. Food. Movies. Sparing your good friend Craig from impending boredom."

I loaded the spare books into my locker and groaned as it shut. "Okay! Okay..."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," I confirmed and pointed to him suddenly, his eyes going wide. "But I get to choose the movie."

The corner of his mouth tugged upward just barely. "Deal."

"Hey, Craig!" the shrill greeting of Emma and the other girl—Manny, I think?—met my ears as they rushed over to us, or to Craig specifically, leaving JT and Toby in the dust. Funny how, in retrospect, I didn't commit Manny's name to memory for literal years until she slow danced with my totally platonic friend. 

Craig smiled, and I winced.

They chatted about things he liked and agreed vehemently with all of them, reminding me of me only a year ago. They asked if they could walk with us until we got to homeroom.

Craig said something about unlimited free cable at Joey's like he lived with no rules at all.

I tried to steer the conversation to something else entirely. "Which means you checked out Cowboy Bebop and Evangelion like I said, right?"

Oh, the Adult Swim anime block. A cornerstone of my youth.

"I did! I did. They were bizarre. Lots of jazz and robots. Not really sure what was going on."