Be My Girlfriend

68

Jo's P.O.V.

The weeks after spring break passed in a blur. Everything felt... smooth. Almost too smooth.

Brittany and I fell into a rhythm that felt natural, like we'd been doing it for years. She picked me up most mornings, we hung out after school, and we spent weekends together whenever we could. There were still moments when I'd catch people staring, whispering about us, but it didn't matter anymore. We were happy. That's what mattered.

Reese and I, on the other hand, buried ourselves in schoolwork. Graduation was right around the corner, and with me being valedictorian, I had to get my speech perfect. Reese sat with me for hours in the library, helping me polish every line. She was brutally honest when something didn't sound right, but that's what I loved about her. She didn't sugarcoat anything.

"Jo, you're overthinking this," she told me one afternoon, tapping her pencil against the desk. "Just speak from your heart. You don't have to make it sound like some famous politician wrote it."

"I know," I said, rubbing my forehead. "It's just... everyone's going to be listening. Parents, teachers, the whole school."

"And they'll be listening to you," Reese reminded me. "Not some fake version of you. Trust me, you'll kill it."

She always knew how to calm me down.

At the same time, Brittany and I had started talking about what came after graduation. The thought scared me—Brittany in college, me with jobs, the unknown—but when I was with her, the future didn't feel so terrifying.

One night, while lying in her room with her head on my shoulder, she brought it up.

"New Jersey," she said softly.

"What about it?" I asked.

"Well, I'll be in Princeton and like what I told you before, you could come with me, find a job there, we'll live together and you know..." She said it like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I looked at her, searching her face. "Hmmmm..."

She smiled, kissing my cheek. "Jo, it's us. We can make it work. I know it."

And just like that, I believed her. I could picture it so clearly—sharing an apartment, cooking cheap dinners, laughing late at night, waking up next to her every morning. It sounded like everything I wanted.

So, yes, the weeks had been smooth. Happy, even. For once in my life, I felt like maybe things were falling into place.

But that illusion didn't last.

Two days before graduation, Brittany and I are walking towards the school parking lot, we came here to pick up our graduation gowns when her parents showed up. Both of them picking up Brittany along with her brother.

"Sorry, babe," she whispered, brushing her fingers against mine. "I'll make it up to you, okay?"

"It's fine," I said with a smile. "I'll walk."

It wasn't far, and the evening air was nice. I waved goodbye and started down the street, humming softly to myself. My thoughts wandered to my speech, to Reese's laugh, to Brittany's smile. I was almost home when I heard footsteps behind me.

I turned, and my heart sank.

Gizelle.

Did she follow me?

Her red hair was impossible to miss, fiery under the streetlight. She had that same smug look she always wore, the one that said she was about to ruin someone's day just for fun.