Chapter 16

“When will this end?” Julissa muttered to herself.

She was sitting in her 7th period Health class not paying attention to anything their teacher, Ms. Drasher, was saying. Unlike the day before, the rest of her Tuesday just dragged and dragged, and it took everything for Julissa to concentrate. She couldn't think about anything other than what she'd seen with Calvin that day. She had replayed it over and over – it had replaced their date as the reoccurring image in her mind.

It was the same way as another hour dragged by through Ms. Podeksi's Trig class. Vaguely did she remember what they were discussing that day. She was too preoccupied with trying to sort through her thoughts revolving around Calvin. What was she supposed to do now? Was she just suppose to block him out whenever she saw him? Wouldn't it be especially awkward now, knowing how she felt about him? Seeing him with that girl in the hallway had sent her crashing back to reality. Informing her that - yes, they were friends, but that didn't change the fact that he was who he was.

Though it felt like forever, the very final minute of Trig class finally ticked loudly on the clock. It was followed by the shrill ring of the school bell announcing the end of the day.

She met Sue in the hallway as she typically did after class, but she had no intention of hanging around and crossing paths with Calvin again.

“Julissa!” Sue called, as she approached her locker.

“Hey.” Julissa hadn't looked her friend in the eye, hadn't smiled. She knew it wouldn't be long before Sue caught on that something was wrong.

“So are you going to the meeting today?”

“The meeting,” Julissa whispered to herself, as she loaded her backpack with books. She had almost forgotten about the newspaper meeting. She would still have to face Darren after she hadn't gone last week.

“I don't know.” Julissa was still was avoiding Sue's eyes, even after she'd closed her locker shut.

“Julissa,” Sue firmly said, coming close to her so she could hear her amidst the crowd of students in the hallway. “What's wrong?” Sue stood in her line of vision so she could finally look her in the eye. “You seemed so happy earlier today.”

Julissa bowed her head, absorbing the reality that her happiness had been diffused so quickly, before looking back up at her.

“It's Calvin, isn't it?” Sue asked, searching her eyes.

When Julissa didn't say anything, Sue just nodded her head. “It is,” she predicted. Already she seemed steeped in concern.

“What did he do?”

Julissa told her that she would explain, but they couldn't stay in the hallway. Naturally, the next best place to go was the Mac lab. So they went there and sat in front of the computers where the meeting would be starting in ten minutes. A couple of students who wrote for the paper were already there sitting at computers – including Gossip Girl. She and Sue sat far from her in the chairs that were closest to the door.

“I told Calvin today that I think we should just be friends.” Julissa had dropped her bag down on the floor and was facing Sue now.

Her friend already looked confused. “But what about the date and you guys kissing?”

Julissa twirled her hair around her finger. “That doesn't really mean anything.”

Sue disregarded her statement with a flick of her hand. “It means a lot, Julissa.” She said. “He likes you.”

Julissa eyed the Gossip Girl, dressed in a tennis skirt and heels, getting up and walking over to opposite end of their circle of chairs. She gingerly took a seat and opened up a magazine. “But I saw him today hugging some girl.” She made sure her voice was extra low as she spoke.

Sue followed suite. “Julissa, there's plenty of girls hanging all over him everyday.” she whispered. “It has to do with him playing football and being in the so-called popular crowd.”

“I know.” Julissa refocused on Sue. “That's why I told him we should stay just friends.”

Sue's eyebrows were still furrowed; her rounded lips twisted up in a grimace. “But he likes you,” she said, raising her voice a little. She glanced over at Nancy and made sure she was still reading.

She was.

“He's probably looking for you to be standing at your locker right now,” Sue finished.

“He probably looks for lots of girls to be standing at their lockers all day long.” Julissa had gotten to the heart of the matter now. She had concerns about whether he was honestly interested in just her.

Sue just breathed a deep sigh before saying, “If he honestly is serious, he'll show you with his actions.”

“Yeah,” Julissa said, glancing at the clock and seeing that the meeting was nearing. “I just don't know if I want to take that chance.”

Sue threw her hands up in the air as if she was exasperated. “So you're just going to give up on him?”

Julissa nodded. “I don't want to risk getting my heart broken,” she confessed. “He said it himself on our date – he's dated basically the whole cheerleading squad.”

“So let me get this straight,” Sue began, with a disbelieving glare, “Because some chick tried to mack on Calvin in the hallway, you're all of a sudden paranoid about him getting around the school?”

Julissa rolled her eyes. “It not that-”

Sue cut her off. “What do you expect?” Sue's voice had risen again as she gestured with her hands. “He's Calvin Alston, he's the most popular guy in the school.”

“Exactly.” Julissa was tired of going back and forth with Sue. “And I don't want to be that girl.” She said, emphasizing each word. “I don't want to be the girl whose heart he breaks on the way to next one. I'm just trying save myself from a big letdown.”

Sue just shrugged. She must've realized she wasn't going to win this one. She did tell her that she seriously needed to not over-think everything with Calvin, and just enjoy spending time with him, but Julissa didn't respond.

They just sat quietly as more students arrived for the meeting. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Darren coming in. He was clad in a navy dress shirt, green sweater-vest, khakis and brown loafers. His light brown hair was parted and swept to the side. He reminded her of a wanna-be Clark Kent.

“Welcome, everyone,” he said. “The meeting will be starting shortly.”

He leered at Julissa before sticking his head up and looking away.

“You staying?” Sue whispered.

“I guess I might as well.” Julissa was thinking about how she'd get home that day without Sue. She was also thinking about how she still wanted to be on the paper – even if she wasn't working on the big story. Actually, now that she thought about it – she did have evidence for that story, even if it was just the littlest bit. And she realized suddenly that even though Calvin was her friend, she still had a journalistic obligation to exposing the truth. It wasn't like she had to sacrafice a good story for the sake of her feelings anyway. Besides, if it were true that sneaky stuff was going on with the football team, Calvin deserved that embarrassment.

“I think I'm going to start working on my assignment again,” Julissa told Sue, right at the meeting was about to begin.

Sue seemed surprised. “What?”

“I have a little evidence,” Julissa confirmed, plucking a notebook out of her bookbag.

Perhaps exposing the football team's relations with the faculty would be the perfect way to get her mind off of Calvin.