james.
“you’ve changed,” luke says, standing in line at the snack bar, “he’s changed you.”
we’re talking about the boy who is liking me back, who is maybe going to kiss me sometime, who has asked me to go to prom with him. i am still in my euphoric stage, when the world is brighter because he’s in it and because, yes, he’s as interested in me as i am in him.
but luke’s words feel like a cold dash of water along my spine. i try to keep my smile up. “what do you mean?”
“i don’t know,” he says, “i— blue doritos, please,” because he’s made it to the front of the line in the small room in the back of the high school cafeteria, and the lady behind the counter is waiting for his money. he hands her a few dollar bills and i step up to order cookies and then another friend shows up to say “hi” and the conversation is averted to another time. i never really get an answer. from then on, i can only see james’s flaws.
