There's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate

There's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate (41)

"The end of the year talent show is the best part of the year," Mr. Benson was telling us, and I could tell that only a few kids in the class really cared. I wasn't one of them. "Except for prom and graduation, of course. Some people even said that it was better than the senior fair."

Anything could have been better than the senior fair. Not only had I been dunked in the dunk tank unfairly, I had been kissed by Hunter. So I was sure whatever talent show he was talking about would be better.

"Sounds like a snore fest," Alex whispered from beside me, and I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing out loud. It did sound like a snore fest, but I was sure it would be better than that stupid senior fair. Even if Jesse wasn't going to be there...

When one of the office aides walked inside the classroom, I didn't even think anything of it. They came in all the time to give the teacher notes from the office, so it wasn't like it was out of the ordinary. But it was definitely out of the ordinary when I heard Mr. Benson call out, "Jordan Emery, you're needed in the main office right away."

That definitely wasn't something that I was used to hearing. I hadn't ever been called out of class, not once. What was it for now? Jesse and I hadn't pranked each other in the longest time... Not since we started going out. And since Jesse wasn't here anymore, it couldn't have been about him... right?

I glanced at Alex before getting up from my seat and walking out of the room. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but it wasn't like he was going to jump up and stop me for any reason.

All my life, I hadn't ever been called up to the principal's office unless it had something to do with Jesse. But now, even though it wasn't a principal and just camp counselor Matthew, that's still where I was.

As I waited in his office, I couldn't help but fill irritated. Why was I in there for? I hadn't done anything wrong, had I? I didn't think I did...

"Good morning, Jordan," Matthew greeted me happily as he walked into the room. I was kind of expecting him to be angry, since I thought I was in trouble, but it was Matthew. Happy, bright, excitable Matthew that seemed never to be angry. "How have things been?"

"Good," I answered, even though it was pretty much a lie. "I've been... good."

"That's great," he continued on smiling, completely oblivious to the fact that I definitely was lying to him. "I have some great news! Great news indeed!"

I didn't really think anything he could have said would have made me feel better. The next day I was going to be flying all the way back to California for my brother's wedding, which meant I'd be seeing Hunter as well. And I definitely wasn't looking forward to that...

Before I could ask Matthew what the good news was, he blurted it out excitedly. "You're valedictorian!"

I blinked at him, not very surprised by this at all. I knew this was coming. I knew it had been coming ever since I entered high school.

I knew that he was expecting me to act excited, but I didn't really care very much at all. I had seen it coming from a mile away. I was actually starting to wonder when they would call me in and tell me that I was valedictorian, and I couldn't really believe that I hadn't thought of that when I was sitting in the office by myself.

"Oh..." I blinked once again, trying my best to act like I was surprised. I never had been a good actress. "Really?"

The smile on Matthew's face faded for a moment as he said, "Well... the original valedictorian was Jesse, but..."

I blinked at him once again, but this time I was now shocked. I didn't know what I was more surprised over, the fact that Jesse was smarter than me or the fact that he was supposed to be valedictorian. I hadn't ever seen his grades before, and I had always just assumed that his grades weren't the greatest...