Almost There

- 8 -

"No froggies have died yet, so better than expected."

"It's early," said Amy. She took a sip of orange juice. "Believe me: froggies will die."

"Technically they're already dead by the time you get to them," said Zack. "The pigs too. I remember Pig Day."

Tess looked down at her meal of French fries and a burger, suddenly feeling less hungry than she'd been a moment ago.

"If I'm going to be a doctor, I guess I'm going to have to dissect a critter or two," said Jacqui, shrugging. "I gotta learn it...doesn't mean I gotta like it."

"You're going to be a doctor?" Tess asked, surprised. "Wow—that's amazing!"

"Maybe. I'm keeping my options open. I think studying medicine would be interesting. Things are changing so fast in the medical field that there'd always be something new to learn, you know? New advancements, new technology. I figured Anatomy was a good place to start to see if I'm into it enough to spend a small eternity in school."

Tess bit into a fry to save herself from having to come up with a response. She hoped her expression looked encouraging. To Tess, spending a small eternity in school to pursue a career that would mean continuous study for the rest of forever was an overwhelming thought. Thank goodness for doctors, but it sounded horrifying to Tess. She liked learning new things as much as the next person, but there was a difference between a healthy challenge and—

"Tess?"

At the sound of Isaac's voice, Tess turned, another French fry halfway to her mouth. She let it drop back to her plate. "Hey, Isaac."

He held out his cell phone. "Ready to give me your digits?"

Jacqui had turned, too, and she gave an incredulous laugh at Isaac's choice of words. "Digits? Really?"

"Isn't that what all the cool kids say these days?" Isaac replied, grinning.

Tess took Isaac's phone. He had already created a new contact for her; he had entered Tess ♥ in the name field. Her cheeks flooding with heat, Tess typed her cell number into the blank Mobile slot. "Will you text me so I have yours?" she asked.

"If you insist," Isaac said playfully. He accepted his phone back and tapped to save the contact. "I gotta go catch some friends, but I'll text you."

"All right. See you later," said Tess.

As he walked away, Tess followed him with her gaze. When she turned back to her table, she caught Jacqui's expectant stare. Tess blinked, drawing back from the intensity of the look.

Jacqui raised her eyebrows. "Um?"

"Um what?"

"You're dating Isaac?" Mackenzie looked past Tess at Isaac's retreating form. "Woah." Once Isaac had dissolved into the lunch time crowd, Mackenzie glanced toward Tisha.

Tisha seemed like a quiet girl; she had not said anything to Tess since their introduction the day before. Now, Tisha was looking down at her plate, her expression blank.

"I'm not dating him," Tess said. She was so embarrassed that her voice came out in a whisper. She glanced down the table, catching Amy's curious look. Amy smiled quickly, the way a person does when caught staring, and then looked toward Tisha, too.

An uneasy feeling came over Tess. Was there something going on she didn't know about?

She didn't have much time to consider the weird glances and Tisha's carefully-schooled expression. Jacqui nudged her, drawing her attention, and then put up her hand, her fingers spread. "He just collected your number," she said, tapping the tip of her index finger and then folding it down. "I saw that he put a heart emoji next to your name in his phone." The second finger folded down. She continued, ticking off each observation. "He said he'd see you later. You're as red as a beet. And that look he gave you? That was a smolder, Tess."

"Smolder?" Tess echoed.

"Smolder," Amy confirmed. "Oh my God. I can't believe you're dating Isaac."

"I'm not—"

"You are totally dating that guy. He's cute! Tess, I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Jacqui was about to say something else when Tess's phone buzzed. She looked down at Tess's pocket, then up at her face, her eyes alight with excitement. "Go on, what did he say?"

"You don't know that's him," Tess said, the strange tension at the lunch table fading from her mind in an instant.

"Check your messages or I'm going to pick your pocket!"

Tess swatted Jacqui's reaching hand away, laughing. "Oh my God, Jacqui, give me some privacy. Jeez." She reached into her pocket to take out her cell phone. The screen was illuminated, displaying a text from an unknown number: Guess who?

"We're locker neighbors, we're basically best friends, okay?" said Jacqui. "So I'm gonna need you to keep me in the loop."

She went on, but Tess didn't hear whatever she said next. She was looking at the message and smiling, her heart brimming with excitement. Maybe things in Virginia would not be so bad after all.