[ C h a p t e r - T e n ]

Chapter 10

My phone rang and I immediately reached for it, pressing it to my ear as I answered the call. “Savannah? I had a great time with Waverly.”

“Really?” I asked, slightly disappointed. I tried not to show it. So what if he had a good time with her? It doesn’t mean that they’re dating.

“Yeah, I asked her to be my girlfriend,” Jonah told me. Who cares? Not me.

“You did?” I heard my voice quaver.

I heard him laugh. “Yes, I realized her beauty a while ago, but I thought she was shallow. Turns out, she’s smart, likes video games, and she speaks her mind.”

“That’s me! I like video games! I speak my mind! I’m not very smart though, but Waverly isn’t smart! She’s shallow!” I cried out.

My alarm shook me awake and I immediately sat up, my eyes bugging out of my head. Did I just dream about Jonah? And Waverly? Being together? And I was jealous? I shook the thoughts out of my head and stood up.

It’s Wednesday, the day where I could be spending the hours after school talking to Jonah but instead I have to report to work. Monday and Tuesday were snow days and I either sat on my bed playing video games, scrolling on the internet, or talking on the phone with Jonah.

At first, our conversations were about how he was going to get out of his date with Waverly. After that topic passed, it was him asking me what the dance was like. Seeing as I’ve been to the dance once with my ex and it was last year, I wasn’t exactly sure. I spent the whole night ogling my then boyfriend instead of hanging out with the friends I did have.

***

When I got to school, it went by in a blur. I talked to Jonah every now and then but I avoided him whenever Waverly was by his side, which was always. In all of the classes, the teachers went on about their plans for the holidays which usually included flying out to see family. When lunch came around, I realized that my table was still buried under at least a foot of snow and I had no place to sit unless I sat with Waverly.

“Hey," Jonah greeted me.

I turned to see Jonah, who was finally alone, standing beside me in the lunch line. Waverly was already at the table, her salad placed in front of her. “Hey.”

“Are you still angry about the salad joke?” Jonah winced at the memory.

Earlier today, Jonah was talking to me and Waverly decided to hobble over (like a little witch) and I ignored how she protectively latched onto Jonah like he was her property. He asked what we were having for lunch today and Waverly laughed and replied that she was having a salad. She then proceeded to poke my stomach and say ‘maybe you should have one, too, Samantha.’ She even got my name wrong, for crying out loud.

“No, I’m okay,” I shrugged carelessly. I wasn’t lying but I wasn’t telling the truth; what she did embarrassed me and that’s what she wanted to happen. I'm not going to give her the satisfaction of getting upset.

After we paid for our lunches, Jonah already convinced me to sit at the table with him. I just shrugged and sat down, trying to ignore Waverly’s glare. 10 minutes into the conversation, I learned that Waverly’s dress was a teal color and she had gray pumps, she also had her dress in the locker room because she knew her mother wouldn’t approve of the dress. She explained how she was going to get ready at school aside from going home to shower and do her hair and makeup.

I couldn’t take the talk of her dress anymore and Jonah’s matching tie so I abruptly stood up, giving them the excuse that I had to use the bathroom and walked away, in the direction of the exit. I tossed my food in the trash can before I began aimlessly walked around. We had twenty minutes left until lunch was over.

I saw two familiar faces in the nearly empty hallway. All of the sophomores and freshman were (supposed to be) in class while the juniors and seniors are (supposed to be) in lunch. “Sierra! Sabrina!”

The two girls turned to face me; it was obvious that they were hiding something. “What are you girls doing?”

Sabrina looked around nervously before sighing. “Just come with us!” she grabbed my hand and dragged me in the direction of the girl’s locker room.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

Sierra looked back at me and smiled widely. “Sabotaging something.”

I just followed them into the room where they quickly began opening and closing lockers until they reached one with a lock on it.  Sierra peeped into the small holes of the locker. “She has a lock on it!”

“Thank you, captain obvious,” Sabrina snapped back to Sierra. Sabrina flipped the lock and gave Sierra an annoyed look. “The bimbo left the piece of tape with the combination on the back.”

“It’s probably there just in case she forgets,” Sierra snorted. I watched as Sierra entered the combination.

“What are you guys doing?” I hissed as Sabrina opened the locker to reveal a teal dress. Sierra pulled scissors out of her bag.

“Recognize this dress?” Sierra asked, laying the dress on a bench. I looked over the piece of cloth. It was short and teal, at the bottom of the locker, gray heels were sitting on a small box. My eyes widened slightly.

“That’s Waverly’s dress?” I asked, watching as Sierra made the first cut on it. She was cutting from the bottom up, creating a square. She allowed the scissors to glide up the dress about 8 inches up and about 6 inches across. She then cut down it again.

“Yes," she replied while she cut a large square out of the bottom. I heard voices enter the gymnasium hallway and I began to freak out. The girls quickly placed the dress back on the hanger and put it into the locker, grabbing the large teal square and shoving it into Sabrina’s bag. They clutched my hand and pulled me into one of the small showers with them, closing the curtain.

“My dress is in that locker; don’t take it out or touch it. The combination is on the back of the lock, just in case I forget,” Waverly’s voice entered the small room. I stifled a laugh along with the other two girls. Sierra was right; she did keep in there just in case she forgets.

“Can we go now?” Hailey asked, her voice impatient. “I want to get back to Wyatt.”

“Not everything revolves around Wyatt,” Waverly snapped. “Fine, let’s just go.” We waited a moment after they left the room before we let out our laughter.

“She’s not going to be able to wear her dress,” Sierra told me.

I furrowed my eyebrows. “We cut off the whole back of it,” Sabrina snorted as she held up the teal square.

“How do you know she doesn’t have a backup?” I questioned.

“Last night, right before she called Jonah, he made us record him saying stuff like ‘Yeah,’ and ‘I’m listening,’ and then he went out to skate. She didn’t even notice that the voice started to stutter from being played back too much. We learned that she paid 200.00$ to get it custom made and that she was keeping it in the locker room,” Sabrina laughed.

I slowly shook my head as the bell rang, a small smile making its way onto my face. “Can I have that piece of cloth?” I asked. She nodded and handed it to me. I smiled and shoved it into my pocket before walking with them out of the locker room.

***

I could imagine how Waverly was freaking out right now, tears were probably rolling down her face. I couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty but slightly happy. Although we ruined a 200.00$ dress, I saved whatever chances I had at friendship, right? I arrived at work with a huge smile on my face that not even Shaw could wipe off.

“Why are you so cheery? Isn’t your dream boy off prancing around at Winter Wonderland with some other girl?” Mere asked once I entered the store.

I shrugged as my phone started to go off. Jonah’s name popped up. I turned to look at Mere. “He’s going to call back. When he does, say that I’m busy working. If he tries to blame anything on me, give me an alibi. Say I was here working since the moment school let out,” I threatened her.

She nodded and I sat on the counter beside her. The phone rang again and Mere answered it with a smile.

“This isn’t Vanna. Yes, it is I, the great Meredith.” Mere joked.

Before I could even wonder what he was saying to her, Ms. Antoinette, my boss, appeared and beckoned me. I slowly made my way over to her. “Can you take inventory?”

I pursed my lips before nodding and staring at Mere before I walked into the small square room. The clipboard hung on a tack and I placed it in my hands, preparing to count the wide stacks of videogames and consoles that lined the numerous amounts of shelves.

***

30 minutes into the job, I heard footsteps approaching the door. My back was turned and I let out a relieved sigh. “Finally, Mere, now can I get some help?” I asked with a sigh.

“It’s not Mere,” I turned slightly to see Jonah standing in the doorway with his eyebrows raised and his arms crossed.

“Hey…Jonah,” I smiled at him, laughing nervously.

He decided to cut right to the chase. “What did you do?”

“What do you mean?” I asked as he took out his phone. He dialed a number and pressed a few more buttons before I heard loud sobbing.

It was a voicemail. “Jonah! Pick up the phone! We can’t go to Winter Wonderland! Someone ruined my dress! They cut a huge square out of it!”

I scratched the back of my neck. “That’s…tragic,” I bit my lip to stop from laughing. Why would she send a message, to the guy she likes, crying and sobbing?

“Do you know what I’m wondering?” he asked as he took a step forward. I took a step backwards before realizing that’s how stupid girls in movies get cornered.

“Why you sent her to voicemail?” I offered with a small smile on my lips. He shook his head as he took a step forward. I took a step sideways, in an attempt to exit the room but he blocked my path.

“Guess again,” he hissed. I’ve never seen this side of Jonah; it’s scary…yet attractive. Now, I can see the bad boy thing working out.

“Why you’re so close to me?” I asked as I moved to the side but it was to no avail; he simply moved along with me. It was like we were dancing.

“Not quite,” he told me, leaning in slightly. I leaned back so my back was at a tilt. It was causing pain to shoot up my spine. He moved his head so that he was whispering in my ear. “Where’d you go when you left during lunch?”

“To the bathroom,” I quickly answered. He slowly leaned back, eyes meeting mine as he pursed his lips and tilted his head to the side. I slowly allowed my back to straighten out as he examined my face.

“I don’t believe that," he replied, clicking his tongue. His eyes traveled down to my jeans. “What’s that sticking out of your pocket?”

My mind began to race. I didn’t empty out my pockets at home or in my car. “My underwear,” I told him. Horrified by my ‘on the spot’ lie, my jaw clenched at how stupid I sounded.

“Can I see them?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow. He went to reach his hand down to my pocket but I slapped it away.

“No, you pervert,” I scoffed. I lifted my chin slightly as I crossed my arms. Before I could even say anything, he reached his hand down and swiped the small square of teal cloth out of my pocket and held it in front of my face.

In an attempt to get it back from it, I swiped my hand and tried to grab it but he quickly turned around. I jumped onto his back and reached my hand over his shoulder in an attempt to get the cloth back. “Give me back my underwear!”

“It’s not your underwear!” he replied, trying to wriggle me off of him by moving. I latched onto him like one of those monkeys you win at a fair.

“Give it back!” I replied, reaching over him a bit too far. I started to fall over his shoulder and into a pile of empty boxes. He tried to make a run for it but I wrapped my hands around his leg.

“Let go of me," he reached down and tried to pry my hands off of him, dropping the cloth onto the floor. I grabbed it with my mouth and dived away from him, accidentally trapping myself in the corner. “Give me the cloth.”

I started growling at him with the cloth in my mouth. He took a step back and I took that time to shove the cloth into my back pocket and sit back down. “Give me the cloth, Savannah.”

“No,” I told him and he tried to yank my arms so I’d stand up but I quickly laid down. He tried to grab my hands but I put them under my back. He glared at me and I stuck my tongue out at him. “Loser.”

In a second’s time, he was leaning over, tickling me like a lunatic and I was laughing loudly. I cringed away from him when the tickling became painful and he was smirking down at me. “Stop!” I barked through laughs.

“No, I don’t want to,” Jonah laughed evilly. “This is fun.”

“G-get off of m-me,” I laughed loudly, pushing him but he wasn’t moving.

Ms. Antoinette cleared her throat. “Employees only, young man.”

Jonah slowly stood up and nodded while I sat up on the floor, trying to catch my breath. A small smile was playing on her lips. “Who are you?”

“I’m Jonah,” he quickly replied, standing up straight and smiling at her. When I finally stood up, Jonah stood beside me. “Well, I better get going. Have fun, Savannah,” Jonah said mischievously. I furrowed my eyebrows as I watched him pull the teal cloth out of his pocket. My mouth was gaping open.

“Close your mouth dear, you’ll catch flies,” Ms. Antoinette smiled.