Mark My Words

82 | A Little Reminder Required

"I don't expect you to understand. I'm just a bit bummed about it," Rosalie confessed. "When was the last time you got under a nine, Lennie?"

"Freshmen year," he said.

"Seriously?!" Ray shrieked. Juliana jumped to attention, eyes wide, as Lennie shrugged indifferently. Evidently, he was used to Ray's outbursts. Ray gestured to Lennie, staring at Juliana as she said, "I'm dating a fucking nerd."

"You know that before we started dating," Lennie said.

"Yeah, it's not exactly in the fine print," Jamie-Lee said, and grinned when Lennie looked dully at him from over the book cover. Jamie leant back on his hands and tipped his head back to Rosalie to say, "I'm still thinking on what we talked about."

The dread from chemistry class that morning lifted. "Oh, that's fine. Honestly, just ranting about it gave me an idea," she confessed. "I still might need your help though. I'm thinking closer to the date, when it's nicer outside?"

Jamie pursed his lips curiously. "Outdoors? Why?"

"Because we'll be practicing out on the fields again—around track season, I mean," Rosalie explained.

Jamie hesitated again. "... During practice."

"Yeah. Well, after practice, before it ends," she explained. She furrowed her brow. "I think?"

Juliana put her pen down and said, "Okay, what the Hell are you two talking about."

Rosalie looked at Jamie, who looked back, mouth falling into the shape of an "O". He grimaced a little and shook his head. "It's... a surprise," Rosalie said with a sweet smile.

Juliana put her hands on her hips and said, "You can't lie your way out of this."

"It's not a lie, I'm just trying to convince you to drop it," Rosalie said, and Ray snorted beside her and gave her a nudge in the arm.

"Good fucking luck," she said, and Juliana stuck her tongue out at Ray for it. "I'm just saying that dropping things isn't your specialty. You still bring up that time I stole your graham crackers in elementary school."

Juliana gasped in horror and said, "I forgot about it for a while, but now I remember, you bitch!"

Jamie cracked up as Ray tore a page from her notebook, crumpled it up, and chucked it at Juliana. Juliana dodged it and twisted around to watch it ping off of the table behind her and onto the floor. She pointed to it and said, "Pick it up!"

"No," Ray said.

"Ray!" Juliana squeaked, horrified. She got to her feet, swung off of the bench, and went to pick up the litter herself. She shook it at Ray and said, "You know, sometimes I wonder."

Ray waited for her to finish, but when Juliana said nothing, Ray threw her arms up, laughing, and said, "You wonder about what?!"

Juliana shrugged, expression dull. "I just wonder, you know."

Rosalie didn't realize she was smiling until she burst into giggles. She clasped a hand over her mouth when Juliana looked at her and, likewise, Ray did as well. Jamie-Lee threw his head back and laughed, still perched atop the table until the exact moment they were all interrupted by a teacher entering the lunchroom and saying, "Hey—off the table!"

Jamie squeaked as he scrambled off of the table, his feet hitting the ground as he saluted the teacher and said, "Yes, sir! Sorry about that!"

The teacher squinted at him as Rosalie stifled her barely contained laughter. Jamie held his ground until the teacher turned away. He slumped forward then with a breath of relief and said, "Aye yai, yai, I really can't get another detention... That was a close one."