I look past Hannah through the frame of Mrs. Rubio’s door at the river of students. Who knows how long we havebefore the festival committee members start showing up.
“Were you trying to flirt with me that night?” I ask. After realizing that I love Hannah, I started picking over some of the details of our relationship, trying to pinpoint exactly when the two rocks that sparked our fire officially collided for the first time.
“It wasn’t obvious?” She laughs a little.
“Like I said,self-absorbed.” I blush, realizing that she really did lay it all out there and I completely breezed past it.
“You have no idea what it was like,” she admits. I glance up at her, analyzing the emotions behind her eyes. “You in that bikini… then you went straight over to Jameson…”
“I’m sorry,” I blurt out, reflexively but also genuinely.
“Don’t apologize. It was the first time I realized that I wanted you for myself, and I was frustrated because it occurred to me as you were walking away, to him.”
“Hannah Banana!” Rowena shouts, leading a group of field hockey players into the classroom. “See, I told y’all I knew where I was going.”
I step back from Hannah, hyperaware of how close we were. Rowena cuts through the dense air between us and immediately starts talking to Hannah about their coach’s approval for the delayed practices on committee days. I lean against Mrs. Rubio’s desk and greet some of the field hockey players. I try to let go of the night swim memory, of Hannah’s admission that this was the night when she realized she liked me.
Once we are all crammed into the room, every desk taken, and Mrs. Rubio is back at her desk with her fresh iced tea, atthe ready to take down notes, Hannah takes the lead.
“Before we get started, I just want to say that my being the copresident is more of a formality. Clarity and I are both grateful that all of you are here to contribute to the committee, but Clarity has been doing this way longer than me. She is the real president, so I want to let her be in charge.”
She turns to look at me, giving me a smile and gesturing for me to go ahead.
“Thank you, Hannah. And, I just want to say, I’m grateful that you and your team have offered to be here. Without you, this year’s festivals wouldn’t be possible. Now, our first order of business is figuring out a new location—”
“Why can’t we use the location we’ve always used? I like Butterfly Field,” a voice interjects.
Everyone turns to face the doorway. Standing there, unexpected and—frankly—unwelcome, is Kristen.
“Ummm,” I say, processing an answer while simultaneouslynotpanicking at the fact that Kristen is now in the same room as Hannah and me.
We agreed to be just friends, so there’s nothing for Kris to catch.
“I heard that it turned into a lake,” one of the field hockey girls says while I take a deep breath through my nose.
If she could read my mind, Kris would catch the way I keep picturing Hannah in her bathing suit…
“No, I think some developer bought the land,” Jonah, one of the veteran committee members, says.
Which is sonotjust-friends behavior…
“Actually,” Mrs. Rubio cuts in, “Metro Parks services intervened because after flooding over the summer, the land buckled and it’s not safe anymore.”
“Why don’t we take a short break,” I suggest, needing to escape my thoughts, this room. “Use the bathroom, get water, or snacks. We can meet back here in ten minutes!”
Hannah gives me a look, scrunching her brows together in confusion. But everyone else is all too happy to get up from their desks and file out of the room into the hall.Thank God.
Before Hannah can say anything, I grab Kristen by the wrist and yank her into the hallway with me.
“What are—” “Why is the—” “you doing—” “entire field hockey—” “here—” “team sitting in on your meeting?” We talk over each other.
“You first,” Kristen says.
“What are you still doing here? I mean, I thought you would’ve gone home by now or followed Vincent off a cliff.”
She rolls her eyes, catching my sarcasm. “Shutup. I was finishing a photography assignment.”
“Oh.”