Page 55 of Mr. Broody

His mom looks like she’s mad.

“Hi, Micha.” I wave.

“Is your dad here, Bodhi?” She’s not smiling.

I want to say “no, he’s busy” because I want him and Miss Jade to be alone, but I know I’ll get in trouble if I don’t tell her.

“In the birthday room.” I point at it.

“I’ll be back in a couple hours, Micha. Have fun.” She hugs him and kisses his cheek. “Happy birthday, Bodhi.”

“Thanks.”

Micha takes off his shoes and tosses them at his mom. “Here, Mom.”

She catches them without dropping my present. Moms are so cool.

“Come on,” I say, running toward where our other friends are.

“Bodhi, my mom was mad I didn’t have an invite. She called your dad,” he whispers, and I stop before climbing in.

“I told you to say you lost it.”

“She woulda been mad at me, and then I couldn’t come. Is Miss Jade here? Did it work?”

I nod and smile.

He smiles too.

We did it.

Twenty-Four

Jade

As soon as I walk in and see the surprise on everyone’s faces, it’s clear to me that the invitation was a formality. Do the teachers always get invited, but then they decline nicely? Man, this is embarrassing. I should’ve consulted Mrs. Hassels.

Henry stands and comes over. “Hey.”

Tweetie and Conor stand against the wall with smug looks while Kyleigh sits on Rowan’s lap, giving me a quick wave and a smile.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

Henry’s hand lands on my wrist and frees the gift bag from my hold. I ignore the tingles that race up my arm from his touch. “Why are you sorry?”

I look around again, and yeah, they for sure didn’t know I was coming. Even Henry looks a little wide-eyed. “I think there was a mix-up.”

“Why do you say that?” He steps away from me to put the present on the table with the rest of them. I have no idea if Bodhi will like what I got him, but I picked something he showed a lot of interest in.

Henry walks back over to me, but the room is small, and his friends are within earshot, so I let the subject drop.

The door to the room opens.

“Well, I made it.” The woman’s tone makes it sound as though she had to fly across the country with five layovers to get here.

I stiffen, thinking Henry has invited another woman here. Someone who is more than a friend. But no, he would’ve told me by now if there was someone in his life. That’s just who he is.

I turn around to see Trina, Micha’s mom, standing just inside the room. She volunteers once a week at the school and does a snack patrol to make sure everyone has a healthy snack. One time, she took Pringles away from a kid and handed him a bag of prepackaged apple slices. There’s an argument to be made that whatever they spray on those apples to make them last for more than a month isn’t any healthier than the Pringles, but I let it go.

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