❀2022 Watty Shortlister❀
❀𝗔𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗲́𝗻 𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗻̃𝗼𝗹❀
Much against his will, River Allen can't drag his gaze away from the new student, seventeen-year-old Dawn Gray Brooks. It isn't that she lives in a ragged, teal dress, and ca...
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"I'm going to ask Stacey out." Sebastian bounces on his backside, shaking the table.
"Don't ask Stacey out," I say. Here I am, trying to look collected and not give off the I'm-desperate-to-run-into-you-Dawn stench. If any of my friends caught a whiff, they'd pray on us like ravenous beasts.
"Why not?" We are sitting under the willow tree by the cafeteria that overlooks the school grounds. We are supposed to be heading to class in no time. The bell is about to ring. Yet she is nowhere to be found.
Is she skipping classes again? Did she catch a cold after getting soaked on Friday? Maybe she got sick during the weekend and won't be here for days. My heart sinks at the thought. My gaze flicks to the gate every five seconds. My neck is so stiff I could use it as a baseball bat were it longer. My palms are sweaty, and I feel young, dumb and clueless.
"Because she is Stacey," I say. "You can't ask her out. I mean, look at her." The girl in question, captain of the cheerleader squad, is sitting at the next table over with two other stunning seniors.
"I am! She's a Betty." Sebastian says, to which Thad bursts out laughing hyena style.
"Ugh," I say, rolling my eyes at him. "You sound so stupid." I should've watched my tongue. Usually I would, but today Dawn is not here, and I'm giving zero fucks.
"What? That's a thing. A Betty is a thing." Sebastian and his bird brain, I swear I can't today. How I have lasted this long without losing it in front of the entire gang beats me.
"You need to stop pretending you're not into that 1995 movie 'Clueless'." I scoff and roll my eyes at him, but not before checking the damn gates one more time.
"Ha! River called your bluff, dude." Thaddeus chuckles.
"Say it, don't spray it, man," I say in his direction, watching him toss the empty coke can in the trash.
"River is right, you got it from the movie or something, right?" Thaddeus plays with the salt pot, spinning it and pouring salt into his hand before flicking it over his left shoulder.
"That's how people learn new words, Thad, bro." Sebastian taps at the screen of his cellphone. "Netflix."
"Go figure, I thought that's what reading was for." My shoulders slump in defeat as I sigh. My friends are morons, and Dawn is still a no show. Damn it.
Another laughing fit and I can't help but look at the gates one more time. Is it the tenth time? The twentieth? The two hundred and seventh?
"This is my year." Sebastian taps his puffed-up chest. "I'm getting a girlfriend."
"Lorna will freak." Thad giggles, tossing his curls with each snort.
"Lorna is all flirt, no game, I'm done waiting. I won't be a single Pringle anymore." Sebastian shoves up his sleeves as if he's readying for battle.
