Lemon, Lemon

The Solo Mission

Hoisting her school bag onto her shoulder, Gwennie hopped off the jeepney and onto the sidewalk, her shoes splashing through rain puddles with cheery plish-plish noises. The rains had stopped several minutes ago—lucky for her, since she'd forgotten to bring her umbrella. Then again, she rather liked walking in the rain. Those pinpoints of silvery coolness on her skin, the cool, crisp smell of the air... Ah, but she loved after-rain moments like these even more, when the clouds were a slow-moving stampede of dirty sheep leaving behind a field of pure blue, and the rain puddles were gleaming mirrors on the darkened street.

She drew in a breath, wishing that she was just here to enjoy the afternoon. Wishing she hadn't promised Sam that she'd go to St. Anthony and introduce herself to Jayden Lascano, with bonus points if she managed to ask him for his phone number and if she could friend him on Facebook, and a figurative trophy if she also managed to take a selfie with him. All on the pretext of returning Keno's shirt. She tried not to panic all over again at the thought of going on this high-level mission alone, especially since Sam had assured her just yesterday that she'd be with her. Of course, it wasn't Sam's fault that her parents had made her come home early for a family dinner, but still.

"Come on, Gwennie-pig, you have to do this," Sam had said during her initial panic attack upon learning that she, Gwennie, was on her own this time. "Look, Felice and Nadia have already messaged their crushes, and Meg's going on a date with Alyssa's cousin. You can still catch up if you try. I know you can."

Gwennie looked at her best friend with watery eyes. "Can't I have a crush on Kevin like you do? He's so much easier to talk to. And he's just in the other section, so he's easier to find, too."

"We-ell, I suppose you can," Sam said doubtfully.

"No, Gwennie, you can't." This was from Jo Ann, who had settled in the chair beside Gwennie, taking advantage of the unexpected break when their teacher got called out of the room for a phone call. "See, this is how it works: You pick a boy that you like, and you're going to try and make him your boyfriend within the school term. Kevin is Sam's crush, and stealing another girl's target is totally against the rules. Besides, you were the one who picked Jayden from that photo Alyssa shared with us. You can't flip-flop between guys. That's what girls like Dana do, and you know what everyone says about her."

Gwennie glanced over at the tall, long-haired girl sitting in the other corner of the room and staring out the window with a pair of earbuds in her ears, apparently oblivious to anything else going on inside the room. She knew what everybody said about Dana, and about why she often disappeared right after class, reportedly in the company of a sketchy-looking older guy on a motorcycle. She also knew that in school, Dana always seemed to be alone.

She looked away. No, she didn't want to be like Dana.

"'Can't I have a crush on Kevin like you do?'" Jo Ann mimicked, then rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Gwen, I don't think you understand how a crush works."

"Look, you're not going to be like Da—like her, okay?" Sam said. "Remember what Alyssa says: if you work hard and give it your one hundred percent, then you can achieve anything. Not doing anything at all when you could have is for losers. Besides, you've already got a lead in. Now's the time to press your advantage."

"What lead? And what do you mean, advantage?" Jo Ann wanted to know.

Gwennie sent Sam an imploring look. Last night, she'd flooded Sam's inbox with pleas not to tell anyone about Keno, although she couldn't quite explain why. She just didn't want anyone else to know about him just yet. Sam had been understandably bewildered but agreed in the end, so now all she said was: "Oh, some guy spilled lemonade all over her yesterday and let her borrow his shirt. He turned out to be a student at St. Anthony, and he, er, knows people from the soccer team. She's supposed to return his shirt to him today, and she's going to ask him to introduce her to Jayden while she's at it. Isn't that right?" she added meaningfully to Gwennie, who nodded.