The Red String | ONC 2024

5. In the Cafeteria

Emma might have been vaguely curious about Logan and his dad, but by the time she got home that evening, she'd forgotten all about them. Her younger sister had won her school's spelling bee, and they'd decided to go out and celebrate as a family.

Emma's younger sister, Sally, was only in the sixth grade, but she was almost as driven to do well in school as Emma herself. Still, Sally had a few obstacles that made it harder for her than it ever was for Emma. The big one was her dyslexia. It made reading a chore, and spelling was almost impossible. She used to stay up every night, struggling to even figure out what her homework was asking of her.

But Sally hadn't let that stop her. She'd spent weeks studying, memorizing countless lists of words and using every available trick she could find. And now, all that hard work had paid off. When Emma walked in the door, Sally was standing there, a trophy in her hand and a huge grin on her face. She followed Emma down the hall and into her room. As Emma set her backpack down at her desk, Sally was right there, happily listing all the words she'd gotten during the competition and explaining how she just knew how each and every one of them was spelled. Emma couldn't have been more proud.

But the next day at lunch, the whole situation with Logan's dad came rushing back to her as she spied Logan from across the room. Emma sighed to herself. Did he always have to be here? She remembered a time, just last week, when her life didn't seem to be dominated by Logan Harris.

And of course, as soon as he saw her making eye contact, he headed right over to Emma and Abby's table.

"Hey." he said, setting his tray down next to Emma. She tried to take comfort in the fact that he didn't actually sit down. Maybe it meant he would say whatever was on his mind and then go away.

"Hi." she replied, not even bothering to look up. Across the table, Abby just stared at him, wide-eyed, sandwich frozen halfway between the table and her open mouth.

"Can I talk to you?" Logan asked. It was clear he was speaking to Emma.

"Sure." she shrugged. When he sat down in the chair next to her, she finally looked over at him.

"So... about that Homecoming thing..." he said slowly. "If you don't want to go with me, you don't have to."

Abby made a weird kind of choking sound that Emma tried to ignore. But it became a lot harder once she realized that her friend's choking had morphed into a seemingly uncontrollable giggle.

Emma turned to glare across the table. She was about to say something, but Abby spoke up before she got the chance.

"Since when are you two going to Homecoming together?" she asked. She'd clearly tried to make it sound like a genuine question, but she'd failed miserably. Her eyes positively shone, and the corner of her mouth twitched as she tried desperately to keep a straight face.

"Since she asked me last night." Logan said, glancing sideways at Emma. He had a grin on his face that she didn't like.

"Wait." Abby said, staring between the two of them. All of her glee had melted into absolute shock. "You asked him?"

"I did not!" Emma snapped. Then turning to Logan, she added, "If I recall correctly, your dad suggested it, and then you asked me!"

"So, you met his dad? And then asked him to Homecoming?" Now, Abby was looking confused. "But I thought you hated—"

"His dad came to school yesterday. To pick his son up." Emma cut in, before Abby could finish. It was true she hated Logan more than any one else in school. But she didn't feel right with Abby announcing it to his face like that. Besides, after watching Logan and his dad, she felt just the tiniest bit sorry for him.

"Yeah?" Abby asked, looking over at Logan curiously. Apparently, Emma's plan had worked.

"Yep." Emma grinned, not waiting for him to respond. "His dad took his truck away."

"He didn't believe me that we were stuck at school all Thursday night. And now he's pretending to be a 'responsible father'." Logan told Abby. Then, he turned back to Emma. "Thanks for explaining to him, by the way."

"No problem." she replied.

"So, wait. I want to go back to how you're going to Homecoming together all of the sudden." Abby said. "Because last I heard, you—" she pointed an accusing finger at Emma, "—were single and boycotting all dances this year."

"I still am single." Emma told her. Did she really think Emma would stoop so low as to date Logan? Didn't she know Emma at all? "And as for not wanting to go—"

"We don't have to, if you don't want to." Logan broke in. "That's actually what I came here to tell you."

"Found someone else already?" Emma asked, trying her best to make it sound like a joke.

She bet it was one of the cheerleaders that was always falling all over him. And no, she didn't care a single iota about Logan's social life. But it still kind of stung that she'd had a guy ask her to her first dance and then try to worm his way out of it less than twenty-four hours later. It didn't matter who the guy was; it hurt her pride.

"No, I haven't found anyone else." Logan told her, brows creased just slightly.

"Good." Abby cut in. "Because she's definitely going with you."

"Really?" both Emma and Logan asked at the same time.

"Of course." Abby beamed cheerfully. Seeing the look on Emma's face, she wisely turned and addressed Logan instead. "She needs to get out, have some fun once in a while. And who better to go with than the school's most eligible bachelor?"

Logan grinned, looking to Emma and back to Abby like it was a done deal. But Emma wasn't so sure about that. She saw a way to get out of this before it got too out of hand, and she was going to take it.

"But what about you?" she asked Abby as sweetly as she could. "How can I go if you're not going to be there?"

"Oh, don't worry." Abby grinned back just as sweetly. "I'll figure out something."

"Great." Logan said, slapping his hands lightly on the table in front of him. "I'm glad that's settled then."

He pushed himself out of the chair and grabbed his tray. After saying a casual goodbye, he headed for the opposite side of the room – to the table his friends were already sitting at.

"Well, that was interesting." Abby said, grinning as she took a bite of her sandwich.

"Why'd you say I'd go with him?" Emma asked. She still couldn't believe her friend would just throw her to the wolves like that.

"Because it really would be good for you to have some fun once in a while." Abby said. "And if you go to the dance with Logan and I get to watch, then I'll get to have some fun too."

"Oh, you're so kind." Emma said, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks!" Abby grinned. "After all, what are best friends for?"

Emma arched an eyebrow. "This is what best friends do? Set each other up with the most obnoxious kids at school? Well then, I guess it's a good thing I don't have any enemies. I'd hate to see what they do."

"You don't have any enemies that you know of." Abby smirked, pointing at Emma with the edge of her sandwich.

"Gee, thanks."

"Glad to help." Abbey said. "But seriously, you ought to give him a chance."

"Really? Why?"

"Because nobody can be half as bad as you think he is."

But Emma knew better. Just because Abby had clearly forgotten what he'd done in eighth grade didn't mean that Emma had. But Emma just kept that thought to herself. She didn't want to talk about it. Instead, she decided to focus on more important topics. Like figuring out who was the most obnoxious student that she could still reasonably trick Abby into taking to Homecoming.