Nor (Wattpad Featured Story, WriteAffair finalist)

Chapter 17: Three's A Crowd

Today, Christmas vacation is officially over. It's the first welcome-back-to-school morning, January, and we're off to a great start because first of all, it's raining.

Kids are running from their cars, with magazines and files on top of their heads. No one seems to think to carry umbrellas, though there's a big, geeky group of guys strolling along in army-green ponchos.

I jackrabbit out of my car, darting through people as I race to the porch. My hair is a soaked curtain by the time I'm inside, twice its weight. My socks and shoes feel like twin mangrove swamps. I take a minute to duck inside the girls' bathroom (pickle-jar packed) and wait my turn. Not for a stall, but for one of the hand-dryers. The hair in front of me is familiar. "Elena?" I pipe up.

She turns around, a freckled face with droopy brown eyes. "Oh, hey, Nora."

"You got caught too."

"Who didn't? I saw this girl crying because the rain messed up her homework. The ink was all just, well, ink blots."

"That's harsh." We move forward a little. "Think we can make it?"

She smiles. "I'm sure the teachers will understand."

"Hey, Elena," a girl by the sinks calls. "You got any Kleenex?"

"No, Jamie."

"What I wouldn't give for some Starbucks right now."

"Me too. Guess it'll have to wait."

"Maybe later, huh? After classes today."

She nods at Jamie and her friends. "Absolutely. Count me in."

I wonder if Elena knows them from one of her classes or through softball. Whatever the case, they go on chattering and she forgets about me, though she does nod at my wave when I'm leaving.

Later at lunch, Elena doesn't join us. It doesn't surprise me, but not because of what I saw in the bathroom. When Pia joined Brian and me, she fit in perfectly, but Elena just seemed to fade. She didn't seem to have much to contribute when we talked, and she didn't agree with a lot of our opinions. So it makes no difference to me to see her missing from our usual table. It is, however, a large shock to see my cousin and Pia kissing. Full-on. In front of everybody. They can't see me yet, because I'm a couple of feet away, and when I come up, I stare really hard at them, my eyes wide and waiting, ears pinned for an explanation.

Pia nods her head at me. She looks different. Her hair is up in one of those half-head ponytails, and there is a dark trace above her lids, eyeliner, though a teacher would never see it if she made sure to blink fast. "Hey, Nora."

They're acting normal. It's almost believable, like all I saw before were some dolls in a play, just a dream-glance, nothing real. I put my bag on a chair and sit. I wait. I look at them, and they look at me. Brian's ears are burning, tell-tale. I decide to pick on him. Hey, he is my cousin, after all. "So, Brain."

"Yeah."

"When's it my turn?"

"Your turn for what?"

"Well, aren't you going to kiss me too?"

Ah, the blush explodes, spreading over his face. Bingo. He takes a while, but manages to smile as he responds, "No."

I pretend to be insulted. "Thanks. You do a lot for a girl's self-esteem."

"So when did you see us? December? The mall? Starbucks? The park?"

"School cafeteria, five minutes ago."

He blinks, both of them sharing a glance. "Oh."

"We were just about to tell you," Pia tells me. She looks amused.