THAT?
Geez. “Uh, Jared?” I say, smiling at him sweetly. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure,” he says. He stands up and follows me to the side of the cafeteria. Lexi gives me a knowing look. Kim glares at me (what’s up with that?), and Mel just shakes her head.
“So, listen,” I say to Jared once we’re out of earshot. “I thought I told you Lexi doesn’t like you.” Suddenly I’m very aware of the fact that Jared and I are having a private conversation. I also realize that I initiated this conversation, which is something I never would have done two days ago. Not only am I lying, but I’m acting like a completely different person. This thought worries me for some reason, so I push it out of my head and concentrate on making sure I use my Devi voice.
“Yeah, I know,” he says. “But I figured maybe if I talked to her, got to know her, she might change her mind.”
“No,” I say simply. “She won’t.”
“Why not?” he asks, frowning. Good question.
“Because Lexi is very determined,” I say. “She’s very, uh,
strong-willed.”
“Strong-willed?” He looks skeptical. What is his problem? Has he never run into a strong-willed woman before?
“Yes,” I say. “She doesn’t like guys falling all over her, because that’s what she’s used to.” Jared turns tolook at Lexi, and at that moment, unknowingly and brilliantly, Matt O’Connor sits down in the seat Jared was just sitting in and starts talking to Lexi. “See?” I say triumphantly. “Guys are falling all over her. Poor Matt.” I shake my head. “Lexi’s going to crush his heart to bits.”
“I see what you mean,” Jared says. He does?
“Uh, you do?”
“Yes,” Jared says, nodding. “What you’re saying is to play hard to get.”
“Yes,” I say, nodding emphatically. “Yes. Hard to get. Very hard to get. The harder to get, the better.”
“Thanks, Devi,” Jared says, grinning. “You’re awesome.” But when he turns around and walks back to the table, I don’t feel that awesome. All I feel is horrible.
“We’re going to be partnering up for our first major project of the year,” Mrs. Vasquez, my social studies teacher, announces later that afternoon. I glance around the room, wondering who I can ask to be my partner. “And I’ll be choosing the partners for you.” She looks down at us from the front of the room. Great. I hate when teachers pick our partners. I always end up with someone who expects me to do all the work. Or, even worse, someone who wants to do all thework himself, and makes it into this horrible project that I’ve had no say over.
Mrs. Vasquez moves down the rows, pointing at people and assigning them partners. She seems to be doing it totally randomly. I hold my breath, waiting to see who my partner is. “Devon Delaney and”—she glances down at the seating chart in her hand—“Luke Nichols.” We smile at each other nervously.
“So,” Luke says, once we’ve pushed our desks together. “Do you have any idea what you want to do the project on?” Richard Nixon? Bill Clinton? Any of the lying presidents should do the trick.
“Nope,” I say. “You?” That’s the other problem with school projects. The teachers either assign you some totally ridiculous topic that you have no interest in, or they leave it up to you, and you can never decide on something really cool, so you end up just picking something that inevitably turns out to be really lame. I wonder if we could get away with just doing a diorama. Those are always easy. And we always have plenty of shoe boxes hanging around the house since Katie needs lots of different footwear for all her different Olympic sports.
“I was thinking we could do something on the signing of the Declaration of Independence,” Luke says. “We could get everyone to help us do a video, like areenactment.” So much for no one having any cool ideas. How fun!
“That’s awesome,” I say. “It’ll be totally different
Geez. “Uh, Jared?” I say, smiling at him sweetly. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure,” he says. He stands up and follows me to the side of the cafeteria. Lexi gives me a knowing look. Kim glares at me (what’s up with that?), and Mel just shakes her head.
“So, listen,” I say to Jared once we’re out of earshot. “I thought I told you Lexi doesn’t like you.” Suddenly I’m very aware of the fact that Jared and I are having a private conversation. I also realize that I initiated this conversation, which is something I never would have done two days ago. Not only am I lying, but I’m acting like a completely different person. This thought worries me for some reason, so I push it out of my head and concentrate on making sure I use my Devi voice.
“Yeah, I know,” he says. “But I figured maybe if I talked to her, got to know her, she might change her mind.”
“No,” I say simply. “She won’t.”
“Why not?” he asks, frowning. Good question.
“Because Lexi is very determined,” I say. “She’s very, uh,
strong-willed.”
“Strong-willed?” He looks skeptical. What is his problem? Has he never run into a strong-willed woman before?
“Yes,” I say. “She doesn’t like guys falling all over her, because that’s what she’s used to.” Jared turns tolook at Lexi, and at that moment, unknowingly and brilliantly, Matt O’Connor sits down in the seat Jared was just sitting in and starts talking to Lexi. “See?” I say triumphantly. “Guys are falling all over her. Poor Matt.” I shake my head. “Lexi’s going to crush his heart to bits.”
“I see what you mean,” Jared says. He does?
“Uh, you do?”
“Yes,” Jared says, nodding. “What you’re saying is to play hard to get.”
“Yes,” I say, nodding emphatically. “Yes. Hard to get. Very hard to get. The harder to get, the better.”
“Thanks, Devi,” Jared says, grinning. “You’re awesome.” But when he turns around and walks back to the table, I don’t feel that awesome. All I feel is horrible.
“We’re going to be partnering up for our first major project of the year,” Mrs. Vasquez, my social studies teacher, announces later that afternoon. I glance around the room, wondering who I can ask to be my partner. “And I’ll be choosing the partners for you.” She looks down at us from the front of the room. Great. I hate when teachers pick our partners. I always end up with someone who expects me to do all the work. Or, even worse, someone who wants to do all thework himself, and makes it into this horrible project that I’ve had no say over.
Mrs. Vasquez moves down the rows, pointing at people and assigning them partners. She seems to be doing it totally randomly. I hold my breath, waiting to see who my partner is. “Devon Delaney and”—she glances down at the seating chart in her hand—“Luke Nichols.” We smile at each other nervously.
“So,” Luke says, once we’ve pushed our desks together. “Do you have any idea what you want to do the project on?” Richard Nixon? Bill Clinton? Any of the lying presidents should do the trick.
“Nope,” I say. “You?” That’s the other problem with school projects. The teachers either assign you some totally ridiculous topic that you have no interest in, or they leave it up to you, and you can never decide on something really cool, so you end up just picking something that inevitably turns out to be really lame. I wonder if we could get away with just doing a diorama. Those are always easy. And we always have plenty of shoe boxes hanging around the house since Katie needs lots of different footwear for all her different Olympic sports.
“I was thinking we could do something on the signing of the Declaration of Independence,” Luke says. “We could get everyone to help us do a video, like areenactment.” So much for no one having any cool ideas. How fun!
“That’s awesome,” I say. “It’ll be totally different
Similar Books
