"FINE" LIES

Empty Desk

Tuesday, October 21

When I walked into English class, I looked at Andy's desk. It was weird. Even though sometimes I didn't wave, I still missed him being there to wave at me.

I sat at my desk. I watched Hannah come in the class. She glanced at Andy's empty desk and went to her seat. She was looking at me. And I knew she wanted to ask me about Andy.

"Do you know what happened to Andy?" Hannah asked.

I nodded. "He got suspended. He was in a fight."

"Oh, when will he be back?"

"Friday."

"Okay, thanks." The last part sounded forced. I knew I was the last person she wanted to say that to.

"You're welcome."

At lunch, I sat at my old table. Andy wasn't here, so I couldn't sit with him. And I didn't feel like sitting in the hallway.

"Danielle," Maia cried, "you're back."

"Yeah," I said.

"Where's Andy?" Anna asked.

"He got suspended. He was in a fight."

"With who?"

"Kaiden."

"Hey, Danielle," Scarlett said, "can I come over today?"

I knew she wanted to talk to me alone about this.

"Sure," I said.

"What were they fighting about?" Reina asked.

"Oh, I don't know," I lied. "But it was pretty bad."

"It's weird to imagine Andy fighting," Anna said.

"Yeah," Maia agreed.

"Yeah," I said. "Andy is an interesting person."

When I went to Science, I was so bored. Kaiden was gone. Andy was gone. For the next three days, suffering would be high in that class.

At end of the day, I met Scarlett in front of my bus. When we got to my house, we went up to my room.

"What was their fight about?" Scarlett asked.

"Kaiden was saying things about me," I said. "And Andy wanted him to shut up. And I guess Kaiden got mad and swung at Andy."

"Wow! It's like they were fighting over you."

"What do you mean?"

"Here's what I think. I think Kaiden only dated you to make Andy jealous. And when you tried to make that long term by telling him something you've never told, he broke it off. So when they fought, it was like Kaiden was doing it for Andy to get away from you and Andy was doing it for you."

I took in what Scarlett said. I did agree with her. It would make sense if that was the reason.

"You never told me what happened with you and Andy on Sunday," Scarlett said.

I thought back to that day and smiled. "He showed me his comics. We kissed. And we watched Tv. It's not that big."

"Wait! You guys kissed?"

I nodded, smiling thinking back to the way Andy's lips felt.

"Oh, my gosh, you two are so cute!!!"

I smiled.

"When are you two going to go out?"

"I don't know. I feel like it's early for me to be in another relationship."

"But you're so cute together."

I smiled. My phone rung. It was Andy. I answered it.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," Andy said. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. School was boring without you."

"I was sad I couldn't see you. You probably still looked beautiful like always."

I smiled.

Scarlett looked at me. "Are you talking to Andy?"

I nodded.

Scarlett took my phone from me. "Hey, Andy, this is Scarlett. Danielle just told me about the kiss you guys shared."

I tried to get my phone back from Scarlett, but she kept pushing me away.

"I think you two should get together like soon," Scarlett said.

I was finally able to reach my phone and get it back.

"Andy," I said, "I'm back."

"And I'm guessing you want to talk to Scarlett after that."

I smiled a little. "Yeah."

"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay, later." I hung up. "What did he say?"

"Nothing much, just that he'll think about it."

When Scarlett's mom came two hours later, Scarlett left.

About an hour or two later, I went downstairs for dinner. I was happy to see that my mom seemed happier. She had a glow about her today.

"Mom," I said, "you look nice."

She smiled at me. "Thank you, Danielle."

"How was school?" my dad asked.

"It was okay," I said. "Two of my friends got suspended for three days."

"What friends?" my mom asked.

"Kaiden and Andy."

"What happened?" my dad asked.

"Kaiden was saying bad things about me and Andy wanted him to stop. And I guess the way Andy said it annoyed Kaiden and he swung. Then they just both started fighting."

"What did Kaiden say?" my mom asked.

"I don't know. It had to be bad for Andy to lose his temper like that. I mean they both hate each other, but Andy has never lost his chill like that."

"Maybe it's you," my dad said.

"What?"

"Protecting someone you love can make people do crazy things." He glanced at my mom.

It'd make sense, but I didn't need Andy to protect me. I was fine protecting myself.