Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
Sara
Here’s what’s going on inside my brain: I’m sitting next to Joe, yippee!
And also: But I’m directly across from Subwayboy, whyyyyyyy meeeee!
Rose sits on the other side of Joe and, oddly, Lulu’s at the end of our table. That’s strange. She’s not with her artsy friends today. Lulu is mysterious, though, so who knows why she does anything. She gives me a low nod of acknowledgment, so I toss her a wave.
And then I understand why this very specific group of people are sitting together.
“We were talking about the first Newspaper Club meeting after school,” Joe tells me. “Think you can make it?”
Oliver’s eyes jump to mine as he shovels rice into his mouth. The last thing I want is to spend lunch being scrutinized by him, so I focus on his brother.
“Oh—you’re all in newspaper?”
“Yeah, it’s been a little tough,” Joe admits, then gestures to Rose. “We didn’t get many applications, but we still had enough interest to form this group.”
“I don’t think people wanted to write an extra essay,” Rose adds, sparing a cool glance my way. “So we had to settle with you, Lulu, and these three juniors.”
I blink at her. Wait, I’m in the club?
And, hold on, did she say three juniors?!
Oliver’s watching me, one eyebrow raised.
He chews in silence, slow and deliberate, as if waiting for me to say something.
Next to him, a shorter boy with round glasses and dark, neatly combed hair perks up, his lips splitting into an overeager grin.
He’s sitting beside a girl with light-brown skin and rose-gold hair, two cute space buns on either side of her head.
She swallows her bite of tofu, then smiles at me.
Oliver should really take notes.
“So you’re all”—I point to everyone across from me—“juniors?”
“Yeah, so?”
There’s a challenge in Oliver’s tone. I’m about to respond when Lulu chooses this very moment to interject.
“I’m not. I’m whatever I choose to be.” She keeps a completely straight face as she picks up her juice and takes a long, slow sip, not breaking eye contact with me—not even when she sets the can down. “I’m all the grades.”
Uh, okay, Lulu.
“Nice to meet you! I’m Mickey Dean.”
The overeager boy next to Oliver shoots his arm out, extending his hand toward me and, in the process, knocks over Oliver’s soda. Oliver steadies the can before it spills.
“Well, actually, my name is Michael. But everyone just calls me Mickey. You’re Sara Lin, right? I read your article!” He keeps shaking my hand, our arms moving up and down as his words run together. “It’s such an honor to be in a club with seniors! I promise we’ll work superhard, right, Oliver?”
Joe and I exchange a quick glance, and I can tell he’s trying to withhold a laugh. Rose just cups her chin in her hand, huffy and indignant.
Oliver’s focused on scooping more rice onto his spoon. “Sure.”
“And I’m Cordelia,” the girl beside Mickey Dean says, beaming brightly. She has a swipe of shimmery highlighter on her cheeks that looks dazzling when it catches the light. “It’s so great to meet you.”
Eager anticipation swirls within me. They’re so nice. I can’t believe I haven’t crossed paths with them before. But it’s fine, because now I get to work with them—which means I get to work with Joe.
Ah! More time with Joe!
I have to stop myself from swooning right here and now.
“Wow, it’s really great to meet you,” I say earnestly. “I’m excited to officially join.”
When lunch ends, Joe tells me where we’re meeting after school, and my stomach does a double backflip in anticipation. He walks with me to our next class, but I can hardly concentrate as we sit through our history lesson, followed by science and calculus. All I can think about is Newspaper Club.
That—and Oliver.
I mean, he’s a junior! I should have put it together this morning when Joe said little brother. However, I was too stunned from A) realizing Joseph Yang lives right across the hall from me and B) processing that Joe and Oliver are actually related.
It gives me a confidence boost. Ha! To think I was intimidated by Oliver this entire time. He’s just a kid. A silly little junior one grade below me. I have a whole entire year of education stored up in my brain that he doesn’t have yet. So take that, Subwayboy.
But, ugh. He’s probably going to yell at me again for not prioritizing my studies. I mean, Mr. Day’s walking us through an equation right now and I haven’t been paying him the teeniest bit of attention.
Oliver and I are supposed to meet in the library after school today, but I’ll see him in Newspaper Club instead. Is he going to be upset that I joined? Even Patrick thought it wasn’t a good idea.
Oh! Right. Patrick!
I twist in my seat right as the bell rings. Without so much as a single look in my direction, Patrick flies to his feet, grabs his backpack from the floor, and flees the classroom.
It’s okay. I can catch up.
“Hey, Patrick!”
He picks up his pace—even though I know he heard me. The stinker.
I seize my shoulder bag next to my desk and hurry after him, trying to think of the right thing to say, but as soon as I launch out the door, I run straight into Lulu.
Stumbling back, I catch myself on the wall behind me. Once I’ve regained my bearings, I blink down the hall, but Patrick’s already disappeared.
“Geez, Lulu. You’ve got to stop doing that.”
She follows my gaze, her body falling eerily still. As if she’s imitating a statue. “I wouldn’t worry about him if I were you,” she says in this ominous tone. “He’ll come around. He always does—unlike the subway. It stops coming around after midnight, right?”
My reaction is visceral, arms jerking back as my eyes widen. “Wait, what did you just say?”
She sighs, like I’m somehow both unreasonable and a distraction. “Sara Lin, I’m late for a tarot appointment. The cards won’t read themselves.”
As she turns away, I clasp my hand around her wrist. “Hold on, why’d you bring up the subway? Did Patrick tell you something?”
I swear, if Patrick’s retaliating by spreading the Subwayboy story, I’m going to have a few choice words for him. I mean, if he keeps blabbing to everyone, then Subwayboy will eventually find out.
I can’t let that happen.
Her eyes linger on my hand, then she slowly drags her gaze up until her silver contacts bore into my eyes. “Tell me what?”
This time I lightly grasp her shoulders and gently shake her, whispering, “About the most embarrassing moment of my life.”
Lulu isn’t fazed. Because of course she isn’t.
“No.” She takes a giant step backward. “But doesn’t everyone already know? Secrets are a heavy burden to carry, Sara Lin. So, I leave you with a freeing spell.”
Before I have a chance to react, she swoops her arms into two huge circles—like she’s imitating a windmill—and then brings them together in a thunderclap above her head.
“Uh, hey?”
Tammy has suddenly appeared by my side, looking between me and Lulu, as if attempting to decipher what the heck is happening in the hallway. Lulu only levels her eyes on mine, bringing her arms down by her sides.
“Liberty awaits you, Sara Lin,” Lulu says, then draws her attention to Tammy. “Ready to go, Tammy Yokoyama?”
“Yup,” Tammy says, all chipper and optimism. “See you tomorrow, Sara!”
As they walk off, I’m left in a cloud of confusion. What on earth was that about? What does Lulu mean everyone already knows? She must be kidding—right? Or does that mean Subwayboy knows too?
Ugh, I really hope this is all just Lulu nonsense.
There’s no way Oliver remembers the night in the subway.
We ate lunch together today, for crying out loud.
He’s seen my face too many times since our last tutoring session, including this morning on our walk to school, and every time we lock eyes, he glares back at me with that bored look of disdain.
If he recognized me, I would know. I’m sure of it.
I check the time on my phone. Shoot! If I don’t hustle, I’m going to be late for the first Newspaper Club meeting.
And I can’t let that happen. Not if I’m going to get my act together and focus on my priorities, because newspaper is a priority.
Won’t it look good on my college applications? Isn’t it a school activity?
Okay, so what if Joe is part of the club? And maybe the perfect someone to grant me my first kiss? It just means everything’s working out in my favor, that’s all. A tiny coincidence.
Bring on the romance, universe. I’m ready.