Page 45 of Anytime I Want

“Honestly, I have no idea. It was totally random that she said the same thing I did. Hilarious, but random.” I wipe a tear away and try to calm my laughter. Josie and Chloe approach the table, trays full of food. I reach over and grab a fry.

“Wait. No. No eating.” Graham knocks the fry from my hand. “Chloe, how did you know that Julia said I was a bad kisser?”

“No way!” Chloe’s eyes bounce between me and Graham. “That’s hilarious. I was just kidding around. Good news, Graham cracker. She has no complaints.” Chloe winks.

Nathan makes a weird sound in his throat, clearly distressed by the conversation. Josie gives him a side hug and starts to rub his back. Nathan sits up a little straighter, his eyes wide, making a face at Graham. Graham smiles and nods, clearly approving of this new development.

I glance at Chloe, and she’s on her phone, totally oblivious to what is happening. I nudge her and nod towards Nathan, knowing that Chloe hates to miss anything. Chloe shrugs and looks back at her phone, not caring at all. That is a little strange. She never misses a chance to tease Nathan. He’s “uptight” according to her, but I don’t think that's true. I think he’s just more structured than she is, which admittedly, is a pretty low bar.

Nathan clears his throat. “Let’s be done talking about my sister's love life.”

“Deal. Should we talk about yours?” Chloe says, her eyes never leaving her phone.

“No.” Nathan glances towards Josie, and his face falls a little when he realizes that she isn’t paying attention.

“Fine, I can change the subject. Julia, tell us about the variety show with Mabel!” Chloe sets her phone down, leaning forward in interest.

“Variety show?” Nathan jumps in, clearly excited to talk about something new. “Like a talent show?”

“Yeah, Mabel wants me to participate, pretend to be her granddaughter.”

“Mabel. Grandma Mabel…” Graham muses, staring into space. “Why does that sound so familiar?” He shakes his head “Probably from a movie or something. The variety show! I can’t wait to come.”

“I don’t know. Mabel says I would be the star of the show, but I’m not sure I want to. It makes me nervous, but I said I’d do it.” I hold my hands up and shrug.

“Do it! Do it!” Nathan starts chanting, gesturing to the rest of the table to join in. Pretty soon the table next to us joins in, and I am sure they have no idea why. I put my hand over Nathan’s mouth, but it’s too late. It’s a thing, and no one can stop it now. I look at Chloe, chanting along and elbow her in the side.

“Stop it,” I look around, my eyes wide. “People are staring at me.”

“Start chanting. Then people won’t know it’s about you.” Chloe shrugs before standing up, pointing at Nathan and starts yelling “Do it, Nathan! Do it! Nathan!”I love that girl.Students all over the cafeteria start shouting, stomping their feet, some even climbing onto benches. One of the lunch ladies comes running into the main cafeteria, blowing her whistle.

“STOP!” she bellows between blows. Slowly the cafeteria quiets down, and her eyes laser in on our table. “Mr. Kealoha, Miss James. Are you responsible for this?”

“You know, I can see why you’d think that, but this time, lovely Ms. Lucas, it was not me. I am an innocent bystander. In fact, I didn’t even join in, trying to contain the situation for my gorgeous girlfriend. She doesn’t like loud things,” Graham explains.

“Doubtful, if she’s dating you,” Nathan mumbles. Ms. Lucas glares at Nathan before turning to Chloe.

“Miss James. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Chloe looks around quickly. “Uhm, it was Nathan?” Nathan gapes at her, but honestly, we all saw that coming. No way was Chloe taking the blame even if she made it worse. The lunch lady’s shoulders fall, clearing giving up.

“Just get out of here. I don’t want to see any of you until tomorrow. And clear your table.” She walks back to the kitchen. We grab our trays and head out of the cafeteria.

“Wait, I know where we should go,” Josie says.

“We have maybe three minutes until fifth period,” Nathan says, reverting to his role as the responsible one.

“The auditorium. I was talking to Mrs. Sundin, and she said that she wants us to say what song we are performing at the talent show!” Josie makes eye contact with me and I glance away just as fast.

“Oh, yes.” She smiles gently. “What are you singing, my darling?” Chloe asks, linking her arm through mine.

I shake my head. “I decided to go small, remember? I am just singing at the variety show, but I did sign up to help out backstage.”

Graham spins me around. “Oh! Maybe I should sign up, too. We could be together.” He kisses my cheek so loudly, the sound echoes off the empty walls around us.

“PDA.” Nathan shakes his head at us.

“Jealous?” Graham sets me down and stalks towards him, arms wide open. “Bring it in. There’s so much love for the Pritchetts!”

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