Have a Nice Day

An Unexpected Turn of Events

Hona was walking with me to our second class of the day the next morning when Crimson came barreling down the hallway towards us. She screeched to a stop right in front of us.

"Jace.....coming....." She panted. Hona grabbed my arm excitedly, but she looked at me stern in the face, all the while, my binder and books almost dropping out of my hands.

"Meep, listen to me. Don't even think about doing anything nice, okay? I want you to blow him off completely and leave him in our dust, okay?" She asked.

"Fine, I'll try, but I don't want you to help me, at all. Got it?" I asked. Hona was about to reply when I heard my name called from down the hall. I looked over to see Jace coming straight at us. Crimson quickly got out of the picture, and Hona pretended to get into her locker that just happened to be right next to us.

"Hey, Meep." Jace said, putting his hand in his pocket and holding his red binder next to his hip, like I had seen him do so much before.

"Hi." I replied, pulling my red-highlighted hair behind my ear.

"So, I was just wondering, um, do you want to hang out tonight?" He asked. 

The question caught me off guard, but I fought my curse.

"Oh, I can't. My dad's coming home tonight, he was on.....vacation, from his job, and he's coming home tonight." I said.

"Oh, well, that's too bad." Jace said. I raised my eyebrows. "I mean for us hanging out! Your dad coming home is good! It's good, it's just too bad that we can't hang out."

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

I looked over at Hona as I got out my phone, and she gave me a thumbs-up. The sickening feeling in my gut grew when I saw who the text was. My dad.

Bad news, Meep. Dorothy's arrival was delayed at least another four days due to Wesley's interference. I won't be back until Tuesday. Sorry!

"Who was that?" Jace asked. 

"That was my dad. He said he's not coming back until Tuesday." I said even before I knew what I was doing. I covered my mouth to try and catch the words, but they were already out.

"So then we can hang out tonight!" He said happily. "Where should I pick you up?"

"Oh, we can meet somewhere, it's no big deal." I said. 

Shut up, Meep! I yelled at myself inside my head.

"I can pick you up, it's not that hard. Where do you live?" He asked.

I put my palm to my forehead, taking big breath. I glanced over at Hona, but she stared me dead in the eye and shook her head, mouthing no.

"I live on the edge of town, it's the last house before you go out of Fairytale Central." I said, breathing the first normal breath in ten minutes. "It's kind of burried within the trees."

"Hello, people!" Hona called out, coming up next to me and putting her hands on my shoulders, smiling. "Ooh, Meep! Who is this hunk of hansom you're talking to?"

My face turned bright red. "Uh, Jace, this is Hona, my other-other best friend."

Jace held out his hand to her.

"Hello, nice to meet you." He said. Hona removed one of her hands from my shoulders and smiled. She brought her palm to her lips and spat into her hand, clasping it in Jace's and shaking it up and down in a handshake.

"Wish I could say the same." Hona replied, the smile never leaving her face. She let go of his hand and looked back at me while Jace wiped his hand on his jeans. "So, what are you talking about?"

"Uh, Hona, I think we're going to be late for class." I said, starting to guide her away. She stopped me.

"Oh, that's alright, you do know that you've been late before. What's today gonna be any different?" Hona laughed, pulling me right back in front of Jace.

"Well, I've been late too, but I guess that's because I really don't know where I'm going." Jace said.

"Oh, Meep has skipped entire classes before! Didn't you tell him?" Hona asked me innocently. "I can't believe you didn't tell him about getting suspended!"

"Hona!" I hissed through my teeth.

"Jace, dear, I can't believe she didn't tell you. So, last week, she got to school with some weird ingredients and stuff and made a home-recipe Love potion. She gave it to our teacher, but since it was Friday and it took time to actually work, she had to wait all weekend to see it work for herself. But, she accidentally put too much of an ingredient into the potion, and it bombed on her!

"The poor girl strolled into class the next Monday morning and the teacher was head-over-heels! You should have seen him fawn over her!"

"Hona, we should go." I said, pulling her arm, but she brushed me off and continued.

"She tried to talk about getting a grade fixed or something, then the next thing we all knew, he was kissing her! Right on the lips!"

"Hona!" I screamed, yanking her out of the way. She trailed me as I pulled her away from Jace.

"See you around, Gorgeous!" She called to him. I pulled open the door to the girl's bathroom and yanked her in.

"How could you?" I yelled at her.

"How could I? I just saved your butt!" Hona shouted back.

"From WHAT? You just embarrassed me in front of a guy!" 

"To save you from yourself! Trust me, you'll thank me later!" Hona assured me. She looked at my forehead. "Your makeup's running, let me help you." 

She grabbed a wad of paper towels and drenched them in water. She brought the wad to my face, but I grabbed her wrist.

"Don't touch me." I growled, a lump in my throat making my voice sound lower. Hona stepped back, pulling her wrist from my hand.

"Fine, but at least fix it yourself. Come on, bell's about to ring." She said, throwing away the wad and grabbing my arm. She started to pull me to the door, but I wrenched back from her too.

"I think you should go by yourself." I said, pulling back tears. She looked shocked, then angry.

"Meep, you are impossible." Hona said, pulling the door open. Just before she went out, she turned back to me and got in my face. "You know, you were the one that told us to help you."

"I never said that I wanted you to embarrass me." I replied calmly.

"But yet you didn't trust me when I did." She replied.

"I don't need your help anymore." I said. Her eyes looked hurt, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she turned around and left me in the bathroom alone.

I stayed in the room for a little while longer, trying to capture my emotions. Just as I reached for the door handle, I heard the bell ring.