Agnes in JackieLand

Chapter 3

The rest of the afternoon had been a blur for me. I wasn't paying attention in class, and for the first time in my life, I didn't take any notes. Instead, I doodled hearts and flowers in the margin of my binder, while daydreaming about Mason Jensen. Never in a million years had I ever believed that I would be going on a date with him. Well, maybe in my dreams once or twice.

I avoided Graham like he was the bubonic plague. The last time I saw him was when I left the cafeteria with Mason, and he was scowling at us. It was making me so mad that he was acting like this.

Didn't he want me to have friends? He was the one when we started grade nine who kept hounding me to put myself out there and join a club or team to make friends. He had been wrong. Taking his advice, I joined the Thinktank, Astronomy club and Mathletes. I was the president of all three clubs and still hadn't made any friends.

People were intimidated by me, or maybe they were weirded out by my neurotic obsession with being perfect. I was guessing the latter, but was being perfect so wonderful?

This year I quit all the clubs to focus more on my classes. But I had been giving my neurotic ways a lot of thought today. Being perfect had not gotten me anywhere, but being this normal teenager got me a date with Mason Jensen. So maybe joining a more popular club might be beneficial after all.

After school, I decided to take the bus instead of getting a ride home with Graham. The bus driver looked shocked to see me, and my usual seat had been taken over by a grade nine with red hair and freckles. Moving to the only seat available, I sat down and stared out the window. I watched the flow of students make their way to their vehicles, and saw Graham get to his truck; notice I wasn't there, and look around the school parking lot. I turned away from the window and slumped down in my seat. A message alert pinged on my cellphone, I knew it was him, but I ignored it.

"Can I sit here?"

Looking up, I saw a pretty brunette standing in the aisle. I nodded, and the girl sat beside me; no one had ever sat with me on the bus before. This was new.

"Thanks," the girl said, smiling at me. "I'm Liv."

"Aggie," I replied, choosing to use the name my dad and Graham called me.

Liv chatted about average teenage girl stuff all the way to my stop. I was not at all used to this kind of teenage interaction. So, I mostly smiled and nodded. The girl took my phone and put her number in it, making "Aggie" promise to text her so they could hang out. What an extraordinary day. This was a birthday to put in the books. Why did I ever think that turning seventeen would be boring?

"How was your day, birthday girl?" my dad asked as I entered the kitchen.

I dropped my bag on the nearest chair. "It was interesting," I said as I grabbed a chocolate chip cookie from the plate my dad sat on the counter.

My father looked at me through fake eyelashes and bright blue contacts. "A good interesting, or curious interesting?"

"Both, I think." I took a bite of the still-warm cookie and sighed; he made such good cookies. "I know it's a Tuesday night, dad, but I've been invited to a beach party. Can I go?"

My dad tried to hide his shock by putting the kettle on the burner and turning it on, but I caught the expression on his face. This was his dream, for his daughter to fit in. Taking in his flared black dress pants, silk fuchsia blouse and matching pumps, I doubted I would ever fit in. People didn't understand people like my dad, especially teenagers. They were the cruelest of them all. I could never bring someone here.