Page 53 of Something Rad
Denise rolls her lips into her mouth, not answering right away. After a few long seconds, she finally fesses up. “Jesse Lamonte.”
I let her hands fall from mine. “Jesse,” I repeat.
“Yes,” she replies, defensiveness in her tone.
“You’re going to the dance…withJesse?”
“Well, that’s what I said!” Denise replies, exasperated.
“How?…Why?” I shake my head in disbelief.
“It’s pretty simple, Robbie. He asked me at lunch today. And I said yes.”
He asked her at lunch.
Today.
My head suddenly feels like it weighs ten pounds.
“Why would he do that?” I ask.
“Whywouldn’the?” Denise asks, taken aback.
“Because you’re my–”
“I’m not youranything, Robbie. Not anymore. How many times do I have to make that clear?”
Until it starts making sense.
“Why Jesse, though? What does he have that I don’t have?”
I truly wrack my brain to try to understand it. We’re both seniors. We both run in the same social crowd, which honestly makes this entire situation that much more screwed up. We both come from well known families in town, and though an optometry clinic isn’t necessarily the coolest business in town, it certainly beats being the town plumber. We both have sweet cars, mine being significantly sweeter, of course. We’re both on the basketball team. Jesse might be the captain, but it’s only because I turned down the role. I don’t care for all the official leadership crap, but I’m definitely the star player at the end of the day, and everybody knows it,includingJesse. We definitelydon’thave many physical similarities, and I’m not saying that as a point towards Jesse.
What could it possibly be?
“Robbie…” Denise says, shaking her head. “Look, you’re right. We did have a great summer, and I’ll always remember it. Truly. But, come on…”
“What? What is it?” I push. “What is Jesse Lamonte that I’m not?”
Denise throws her hands in the air. “Serious!”
My face falls. “What?”
“Robbie…are you really gonna make me spell this out for you?” Denise asks.
“Yes. Spell it out. Please.”
Denise crosses her arms, leaning back against her car. “Jesse’s sweet. And funny–”
“I’m sweet and funny,” I shake my head, interrupting her, not able to help myself.
“Youare. But if you’d let me finish.” She blows out a breath. “He’s sweet, and funny, and kind. But most importantly…he has a future. Aplanfor a future.”
My brows pull together.
“Jesse’s going to college, Robbie. He’s already accepted his offer, actually. UC Berkeley. Just like me. He’s going for pre-med too.”
“Jesse…wants to be a doctor?” I question.
