1000 Paper Cranes

Chapter 40 - 6

I arrived at school the next morning with a tub of cookies in-hand. My mom and I had been baking them in batches for the last few days. To be fair, my mom had done the majority of the baking; I had done a lot of burning. As I passed people in the hallway, I offered them a selection of oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, and peanut butter cookies. I had never been so popular before.

I loved seeing people smile as a result of something I'd done. I wasn't used to making people smile. It was wonderful. No wonder it had been such a big part of Robin's life. That's how people remembered her. She was somebody who made everybody smile.

By the time I made it to calculus, I only had a handful of cookies left. Jonathan tried to run me over to get to them, deterred only when Joanna hit him with a withering look. She would not be beat to the cookies.

"These are amazing," Jonathan said through a mouth full of cookie.

"Misters Johnson, Miss Johnson," Dr. Wilkes shook his head, smiling. "Remember your rules. Should you be eating in class?"

Instead of putting the lid on my tub of cookies, I offered him the last, lonely oatmeal raisin cookie. Smiling broadly, he snatched it from the tub and took a bite.

"Nobody breathes a word of this to anybody else," Dr. Wilkes gave our class a menacing, playful glare. "Or I'll make you all throw your cookies away. Deal?"

We all laughed and took a seat. Tensions were still running high in AP calculus. We had the AP exam coming up. We had final exams coming. But the chief concern among my classmates was the coming weekend and prom.

The hallways buzzed with whispers of perfect dresses and expensive manicures and limo rentals. Even somebody as oblivious as I was couldn't ignore the rumblings of who wanted to sleep with whom and whose parents were providing the alcohol. I couldn't figure out why prom was such a big event. We were 18, surely people didn't expect it to be the highlight of the rest of their lives. I hoped they didn't, at least

When I got to the library at lunch, I was surprised to find Jon and Joanna already waiting for me at my regular table.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, shocked, as I plopped my tray onto the table. I couldn't think of a single reason they would eat in the library instead of the cafeteria.

"It was Jon's idea," Joanna said with a shrug.

I regarded Jon for a moment, waiting for an explanation.

"You shouldn't eat alone," Jon finally conceded. "It's been a tough time for you. The cafeteria is a sucky place for you. I figured you could use your best friends."

I was still shocked by the oddly introspective side of Jonathan Johnson. I guess even the people you're closest to can surprise you sometimes. It was a sucky time for me. And it was nice to have my best friends.

"I don't think you've ever used that phrase before," I smiled as I sat.

Joanna and Jonathan gave me a confused look.

"Best friends," I could feel the smile growing. "I mean, you guys are my best friends, don't get me wrong. But, I don't know. It's just never been something we said."

They both laughed a little awkwardly.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I'm just being weird, I guess."

We ate slowly, trying to avoid conversation. There was no good conversation to be had. They didn't ask how counseling was going; they already knew how much I hated it. They didn't ask about school, because they knew it sucked for me. So we just sat and quietly existed together