To stay or to go? That was the question. To sit here much longer staring at a still-packed paisley lunch sack was not an option.
I glanced up at the door. Nope. No sign of Jax or Rose.
“I saw Jax headed this way after class.” Andrew’s voice beside me made me tense.
I glanced over to see him watching me with a hint of a smile, his gaze soft and his eyes this pale shade of blue that was almost gray. I blinked. Was he…?
His lips hitched up higher on one side.
Oh yeah. He was definitely reassuring me.
Gah! What had my life come to that the king jock was trying to make me feel better. I had other friends, thank you very much. It wasn’t like I was some leper and Jax was the only person who would sit next to me. I shifted away from Andrew. I only sat with Jax out of habit, that was all.
But Andrew’s pitying remark had me gripping my bag of food and reaching for the satchel I used in lieu of a backpack. “Yeah, I’m sure he’ll be here soon,” I mumbled. “But I’m just gonna, um…”
And then I was gone, sentence unfinished and my presence likely forgotten before I’d even walked away.
I searched the cafeteria and it didn’t take me long to find the girls.
‘The girls’ was what Jax called them, like he didn’t know their names. He did, they just never ranked high on his priorities since they didn’t move in his social circle. They, like me, didn’t really move in any social circles.
I wouldn’t say we were outcasts, necessarily, we were just…in between. Most of them were either involved in the art department or took AP classes with me, which was how I’d gotten close with them.
Avery spotted me first and her mouth widened into this beaming smile that on anyone else would look ridiculous, but she was just sweet enough to pull it off.
She shifted closer to Maxine to make room for me. Maxine, who we all called Max for short, was Avery’s best friend who worked on the newspaper. I sat between Avery and Charlotte, a quiet brunette and one of the smartest people I knew.
“What happened? Did you get booted from hottie island or something?” Maxine asked, a smirk on her face as she looked up from her burger.
I laughed. “Not booted, just…forgotten.”
Max rolled her eyes. “Jax still living it up in la la land with Rose?”
I nodded. “They are still smitten kittens.”
Avery sighed. “I think it’s sweet.” Her eyes lit with genuine happiness at the new couple’s bliss and her smile was the ridiculously sweet kind one normally only saw on Disney princesses. With her long blonde hair and big blue eyes she could totally pass for one, too. All she was missing were some talking animals who did her bidding.
“It’s gross is what it is,” Maxine scoffed, swiping her long dirty-blonde braid over her shoulder as she took another bite.
Charlotte nudged me with her shoulder, her voice soft as a whisper as she said, “Well, you know you’re always welcome here with us.”
“Absolutely,” Avery said. “Join the club.”
“Thanks, guys, but you know what they say…” I tipped my head down and made my voice nasally. “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.”
I got three blank stares.
“Groucho Marx?” I prompted, looking from one to another. “No?”
Silence.
Okay then. I shoved my apple into my mouth to keep from blurting out any other random impersonations.
Jax would have laughed, I assured myself.
Well, maybe not laughed. He probably would have rolled his eyes, but he would have been grudgingly amused.
Well, maybe not grudgingly amused. But he would have at least recognized the famous quote.
“I wasn’t even aware we had a club,” Max said.
“Of course we do,” a harried looking Hazel plopped down at the end of the table, Emma and Lulu taking the seats on either side of her.
And now it was complete. The six girls I hung out with when I wasn’t with my bestie were all here.
“Why are you guys so late?” Max asked.
Lulu answered, her long red hair falling into her face as she leaned over to grab her lunch out of her book bag. “We had a bio quiz. It ran over.”
“But more importantly, what’s this club talk about?” Emma asked, already smiling. Short and curvy, with a heart-shaped face, Emma had the kind of personality that made it seem like she was forever on the verge of laughter, she was just looking for an excuse.
Hazel, the only athletic one in the group, was her best friend, but also Emma’s opposite. She was tall, thin, and far more serious. “The smart girls club,” she said, reaching for the drink she’d set down.
Emma groaned. “Really? What kind of lame club is that?”
I laughed as the two of them bickered over what our ‘club’ could be called.
“The lonely hearts club.” Avery interrupted them with that announcement and we all looked over to see her giving a sheepish little grin. “What? It’s true.”
I arched a brow and looked around the table. Every one of us was single, and as far as I knew, we always had been. She wasn’t wrong…
Charlotte laughed softly and I knew she was thinking what I was thinking. The title totally fit.
Max shrugged. “So we’re single. That doesn’t mean we’re lonely.”
Not one of us responded right away and a weird silence fell over the table.
“There’s nothing wrong with being single,” Hazel added abruptly.
“Of course not,” Lulu added.
Silence fell again.
“It only sucks if you like someone and they don’t like you back,” Avery said. She still wore a smile, but it held a tinge of sadness.
Emma winced. “No progress with lover boy, I take it?”
Avery wrinkled her nose and shook her head. ‘Lover boy’ was what we’d all
