Wheels

4

I sat down at the lunch table with mixed feelings. There was the whole Liza Lobbiton thing, which was totally irritating. But then Arthur was being a total sweetheart. It was like he knew something was wrong and that the text would fix it all.

Okay. I know it kinda seems like I'm the kind of girl who needs validation from boys to be happy, but that's totally not it, I swear. My last boyfriend was in the seventh grade, and that didn't really even count. I had met Arthur two weeks ago, and it wasn't like anything was going to happen with him anyway! He was just a friend. A good friend... That made problems go away just by saying something.

God.

Anyway, I sat down at Tessa and Pete and I's table, and opened my lunch box. I learned well into freshmen year that bringing my lunch was not only a healthier option than buying from the cafeteria- it was safer and tastier, too. Pete and Tessa sat across from me, both eating homemade meals as well. We were comfortably quiet for a few moments before Tessa, who always had something to say, spoke up. "Ok, Kacey. I need you to tell me how the whole Liza thing is making you feel. You're being very difficult to read right now."

I looked up from my celery sticks. Pete nodded in agreement with her. My eyebrows furrowed slightly and I shrugged, almost submissive to the idea. I realized then that I was the worst friend ever. I hadn't told them yet about Arthur! I bit my lip slightly. Maybe I did that on purpose without even knowing it. If I told Tessa now, she'd just get all excited and stuff and then get me all excited, and then when something didn't happen I would be super disappointed.

Pete spoke up. "I heard from Lexi Meyer that she was being a stark raving bitch to you in English." Tessa and I both looked at him weird, because Pete would never say the phrase stark raving bitch. Pete shrugged and bit into a carrot. "Her words, not mine."

Tessa and I each chuckled a little bit. "I mean, she wasn't really a bitch. She was just sort of passive-aggressive and her minions did most of the insulting for her," I said, shrugging and shaking my head in disapproval. "Let's just talk about something else. My mind has been solely on the election today." False. Arthur too.

Pete nearly read my mind. "Let's talk about guys then. I think I met the only other outed guy in my Algebra 2 class third period." Tessa and I exchanged a look.

"Do tell, do tell," Tessa teased, hanging on to Pete's arm like a nosy little sloth.

"It's not like I talked to him," Pete laughed, his face kind of turning red. "But he's a sophomore and his name is Tanner. I guess his dad's in the military and he moved here from Alaska or something."

"Ooooh," I teased in a sing-songy voice. "Tannnnnerrr."

"Oh, shut up," Pete rolled his eyes. "What about you guys- met any cute boys recently?"

Tessa piped up. "He's not entirely boyfriend material, but Rex from the pool and I have sorta been hooking up the past few weeks."

"Whoah!" I exclaimed, slightly shocked. "I thought you said you'd never hook up with a guy until the third date."

"Well, working the same lifeguard shifts three times in a row constitutes as dating, doesn't it? I mean, we're basically looking at each other naked. Anyway, no judgement, Kace." She said sassily. I raised my hands in defense.

"Sorry, sorry," I laughed lightly, not really saying anything about Arthur. I didn't want to. It would ruin it all.

But speak of the devil...

My phone, which was sitting face-up on the table, buzzed, the notification visible to both my friends. I grabbed it, and read the messages from Arthur. Think maybe we could hang out sometime this week?