Catch My Fall | ✔

16. An Acquired Taste

The candy grams came during third period. A red envelope with a heart-shaped sucker taped to the front. Inside was my ticket to the movie and a note from Andre.

If you were a vegetable, you'd be a cute-cumber.

I rolled my eyes at the corny line and stuffed the note back into the envelope.

Last year, Romeo sent me a candy gram. It was the deal with our group. Romeo sent mine, and Keraun sent Nia's. Romeo's note just said, " You're buying the popcorn." He actually didn't let me pay for anything and held my purse hostage when I kept trying. We cracked jokes about the movie the whole time, making up our own lines and outlandish predictions. Nia kept shushing us, making us laugh even harder.

Why was I even thinking about that? It was Nia's fault. She put thoughts in my head about Romeo and now I can't shake them. Especially not when he was very obviously avoiding me after I told him about my date with Andre.

In all the years I've known him, I've never once seen Romeo skip lunch to do homework in the library. Yet he'd been in there almost every day that week.

If Nia was right, he had years to say something. I even eliminated the guessing on his end when I asked him to the dance in middle school. He knew how I felt. He knew I was open to us being more, and he shot me down. Now all of a sudden he wants to be all moody because I wasn't waiting around for him anymore?

Well, that was his problem, not mine. That's why, when class let out, I didn't bother waiting for Romeo to come out of the classroom a couple doors down like I usually did. Instead, I passed him by, finding Andre goofing off with some of his friends.

Whatever confidence I had leaving that classroom dried up when I got in front of Andre. Because who was I walking up and interrupting people's conversations? Then Andre smiled at me and knees turned to jelly.

"You're Daya, right?" One of Andre's friends, a Latino who was my height with spiky hair, stepped in front of me. He didn't wait for a reply as he plowed on, "Is it true he was musty when you met him?"

"Oh my God," Andre groaned, running a hand over his face.

Again, I didn't have to answer the guy's question. "And you still agreed to go on a date?" He shook his head at the idea. "Look, if you're looking for a man with respectable hygiene habits," he said, narrowing his eyes at an exasperated looking Andre, "Then forget musty and get with Gusty."

Andre grabbed Gusty by his backpack, pulling him away like a rag doll. "Has that line ever worked on anyone?" His arm easily wrapped around my shoulders. The closeness felt comfortable.

"It was about to," he said, winking at me, but Andre was already leading me out the double doors.

● ● ●

Indy stood at the counter, eating the last of my favorite cereal while my mom talked her ear off about her magic mug that wouldn't let the ice melt. Indy seemed genuinely interested in whatever she was saying.

"That would be perfect for dance practice," Indy was saying when I found them in the kitchen.

Andre had texted that he was on his way and I still hadn't told my mom I was leaving with him. We were just going to school. It shouldn't have been an issue. Yet my stomach felt like it was full of rocks.

"I'm leaving for the movie," I said, wring the strap of my purse in my hands.

My mom did a double take, noticing I was a little more put together than usual. Indy helped with my outfit--a pink ditsy print dress with a pink sweater over it. It was cute and wouldn't be too uncomfortable to sit in the grass in.