Kissing Frogs

FOUR || Guilty as Charged, No Need for a Trial

|FOUR|

"You were wrong," I sang as I sunk down in the desk beside Hugo's the following morning.

Everyone was slowly filing into the classroom, dusting off snow and avoiding small puddles of melted water. Conversation buzzed in all corners of the room, and our teacher wrote the first lesson of the day on the board while we waited for the bell to sound.

Hugo sat up straighter and pursed his lips. "Doubt it."

I ignored his snarkiness and propped my chin in my hand dreamily. "I met him."

His eyes narrowed. "Him? Who's him?"

"The one," I replied with a soft grin and a light blush.

Hugo crossed his arms and looked at me expectantly, like I needed to explain myself. I was happy to oblige.

"Remember all those times you told me to delete MySpace?" I asked, smugly. "Remember how you said everyone was fake? Remember all the moaning and groaning-'Ingrid, you can't do this...Ingrid, you can't do that-'"

"Yeah, yeah," Hugo interrupted, the curiosity in his eyes quickly turning to un-amusement.

"You were wrong," I sang again, this time more pointedly. His expression remained unchanged. "Guess who has a boyfriend, now?"

At this, his eyes widened in alarm and he began to shake his head. "No, Ingrid. Bad idea."

I scowled at him and lightly slapped a hand on my desk. "Is not!"

"Do you even know who this guy is?" he asked, scowling right back. "He could be lying. People lie all the time on the internet! They use fake names, and fake pictures, and fake personalities!"

"His name is Zak and he has a purple streak in his hair and he's absolutely amazing," I told him, lifting my chin and crossing my arms stubbornly.

Hugo paused and just stared at me, mouth slightly unhinged. The bell rang and everyone shuffled over to take their seats, but Hugo didn't even blink.

"That's it? That's all you know?" he asked in a low voice that I almost missed among the other whispers. He looked like he wanted to shake me, but he was stuck in his seat leaning so far forward I thought he'd fall out.

I sighed heavily and fell back dramatically against my chair. "You just don't understand love, Hugo. If you were a good friend, you'd be happy for me."

He shook his head and was about to argue with me when Mr. Riesman hushed us for attendance. Since he couldn't say anything, he just sunk back and turned away from me, jaw clenching. He wasn't having any of it.

But, why? Why did Hugo have to be so argumentative all the time? Why couldn't we just agree that he was wrong and celebrate my new relationship status? Why couldn't he just be a normal friend?

Maybe it was a boy thing. Maybe I needed a girl friend. She would understand, jump up and down squealing with me while we talked about how cute Zak was. But, looking out at the nine other girls in my class, I immediately knew that I was fresh out of luck.

Nobody wants a friend who is the "boy crazy" Frog Girl.

One time I told Hannah who I had a crush on, because, despite the mean gossip, we were getting along. Big mistake. She went behind my back and told everyone. That boy didn't want anything to do with me, and his posse giggled and pointed whenever I looked in his direction.

Hugo was all I had.

Put out, I mirrored him and turned away, crossly. I had to find a way to prove to Hugo that what Zak and I had was real. Maybe I'd let him come over to watch Zak and I talk. That would make him see.