Fighting Thrasher Jones

{25} Elastic Heart

Sabrina, Carlos, and I continued to live together as thoughts about Thrasher Jones gradually began to fade away. Between Carlos' witty jokes and Sabrina's caring words, I found myself enjoying my life with the two of them. I knew that I wouldn't be able to stay with them forever, but I was happily content for now.

"See you later," I said to Sabrina as she assisted Carlos to his feet.

"Bye!" She replied, stumbling a bit when Carlos lost his footing. He sheepishly smiled at me and he blushed, saying, "I swear I'm not drunk."

Sabrina rolled her eyes and chuckled as she waved. Just as I'd been about to close the door on them, she called out, "Oh, Drew!"

I popped my head back inside, asking, "Yeah?"

"Want to go dress shopping after school?" She offered with a hopeful smile.

"Uh," I said uneasily, "I don't have anyone to go with..." Now that I found out the truth about Benji.

Sabrina rose an eyebrow, dramatically mouthing something to me as she hitched a thumb at a clueless Carlos who looked just as lost as I'd felt.

"Carlos?" I said aloud.

Sabrina clasped her hands together, nodding enthusiastically. "That's a great idea!" She exclaimed, "Carlos, Drew just asked you to go the Sadie Hawkins Dance with her!"

I choked. Carlos' jaw practically unhinged and I mirrored his expression, gawking at Sabrina. "I did not hear all those words-"

Sabrina quickly interrupted her fiancé to say, "That's what you were going to say, right Drew?"

"Oh...I, uh," I stammered as my cheeks reddened. I averted my gaze to the floor, wishing I could disappear.

Carlos straightened and brushed himself off as he caught on to Sabrina's plan. "Pfft," he scoffed, "Of course I'll go with you, Drew. I hope you know how to salsa!"

I glanced at his crutches, skeptically pointing out, "You can hardly stand on your own, let alone dance."

Carlos pressed a hand over his heart in mock hurt. "You just wait," he said. "You never told me when the dance was."

Rubbing the back of my neck, I said, "Next week; January twentieth."

Carlos looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hm, I should be off of crutches by then," he said, giving me a wink.

"Okay," I laughed, backing out the door to ensure I'd make it on time for school.

*********

I walked down the bustling hallways of Crestbrook High with my head down until I passed by Jackson's locker. My eyes lingered on the dark blue tint that had been painted over the standard maroon color, reminding me of his stormy eyes. I felt a pang in my chest thinking about Jackson, but then Clara's story proved just what a conniving human he had been.

Nevertheless, sticky notes covered the locker with messages for the boy who would never see them. I tore my eyes from the heartfelt letters and powered forward until I had reached first period.

Tucking my notebook in the bin beneath my seat, I felt a tap on my shoulder and glanced up to find that Clara had chosen to claim the seat beside mine at the back of the class.