Page 98 of Finding Fate

23

Heart to Heart

“Emma, calm down,” Annie whispered to her friend during health class a little more than a week later. It was the Friday before Thanksgiving break, and even though they were all excited about starting the holiday weekend, Emma was so excited she was practically bouncing in her seat.

“Mr. Girst is getting annoyed,” she added when Emma didn’t relax. The teacher had sent warning looks in their direction several times already, and Annie didn’t feel like giving him a reason to keep them late today.

“I’m sorry. I’m just so excited!” Emma whispered back. “They’re going to announce Homecoming court nominees before the bell today.”

“Oh…that’s right.”She had forgotten. Of course Emma would be excited. She’d always wanted to be Homecoming queen.

After Homecoming was canceled last month, students had put together a petition for a make-up game. They knew it wouldn’t count towards the regular season; the Sharks already knew they hadn’t made the playoffs, but the seniors didn’t want to miss out on the Homecoming traditions. Luckily, Summer Grove had agreed, and the game was scheduled for December before testing began.

Annie smiled to herself. She had spoken with Megan at the student council meeting yesterday after school, and while she couldn’t share the results, by the grin on Megan’s face, Annie was confident in thinking the effort she’d put into spreading the word for people to nominate her friend had worked.

She wouldn’t bother to tell Emma any of this. She’d let her sweat it out a bit. It would be more exciting for her that way.

She went back to work on their assigned paper, quickly flipping through the pages in the text for reference before answering the last short essay question.

Not wanting Mr. Girst to see that she was done and assign her more work, she pretended to check over a “difficult” answer and glanced over at Jet. He was still working diligently, his brow furrowed in concentration, and his left hand pressed to his temple. He popped his fingers against his head.

Annie watched him scratch out an answer vigorously and flip to another page in the text. She could tell he was having trouble, and she wished she could help him out. History was never his subject. Actually, most subjects weren’t, but he tried. At least, he always managed to keep his grades up enough to participate in athletics. Barely, but hey, he was passing.

He scribbled another answer in the space and looked up at her in a way that expressed his loathing for the subject. She gave him a sympathetic smile and turned her head back to her desk for the remaining minutes of class.

“Hi, everyone! This is Megan Diaz, your student council president. I’d like to have your attention for a few minutes, please,” they heard the perky cheerleader voice say over the announcements just a few minutes before the bell was scheduled to ring.

Emma dropped her pen and immediately turned around to look at Annie. Several other students stopped as well and started shoving their things into their bags, Jet included. Mr. Girst frowned, not appreciating the interruption of his class time.

“First of all,” the voice continued, “I’d like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope y’all all have a great week off. Enjoy it. It’s our last break before Christmas vacation!”

“Second of all, I’d like to announce this year’s Homecoming court nominees! But please remember that these are just our nominees. We’ll be voting for our three members of the official homecoming court when we return after the break.”

“Okay, okay, get on with it,” Emma muttered to herself, wringing her hands together on Annie’s desk.

“Alright, are you ready?” Megan’s voice rang suspenseful from the intercom.

“Yes,” Emma groaned, making Annie laugh.

“Our homecoming court nominees are…Margaret Jackson, Beverly Whitfield, Susan Molina, Emma Kooper, and Annabel Dearly.”

Emma had begun to squeal at the mention of her name, but when Annie’s name was announced, the girls stared at each other in surprise. Who in the world would have nominated her? Wasn’t it common knowledge that Annie despised her involvement in anything that required the use of a dress or makeup?

The bell rang moments later, and Mr. Girst reminded them to turn their papers into the basket at the back of the room, finished or not. As people passed by, they shared their congratulations with the two friends. Emma turned away from Annie to respond to the attention, her surprise dismissed as she reveled in her own excitement. Annie silently started putting away her things that she had neglected to before.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Jet urged her. She had been moving so sluggishly that she, Emma, and Jet were the only three left in the room other than the teacher.

“Right,” she agreed offhandedly, swinging her bag onto her back and grabbing her long completed work from her desk to turn in on her way out.

“What the hell was that?” she asked when they stepped out into the hall.

Jet lifted his shoulders and raised his eyebrows to show he didn’t have a clue.

Emma let out a small comprehending gasp. “I bet I know,” she said and dug her phone out of her bag. She swiped through her password and flicked to the screen she needed to show them.

Annie couldn’t believe what she read.

“TELL ANNIE PAYBACK’S A PAIN!”

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