Phoebe

The next day I decided to avoid everybody.

Sara, Dava, Kara, and Lisa would be looking for me anyway, I knew, because I still hadn't gotten back to them about the list. And I was sure that they already knew that Ivy had dumped Kevin because the school was constantly buzzing with gossip, just like I was fairly certain they wanted the list so they could kick Kevin while he was down. I had one extremely good reason for not handing over the list and one fairly decent one. The more important reason involved me practically promising Joey that the list would be destroyed. The second didn't quite make sense, but still counted. Now that my sister and Kevin were over, I didn't really harbor any bad feelings toward the guy. Sure, he was still an awful sexist pig, but at least he wasn't my -- or rather, my sister's -- problem anymore.

I didn't have any classes with Sara or her friends, and for that I was thankful. But the entire school had the same break. There was that ten minute span, plus the minutes between class, plus -- worst of all -- a thirty minute lunch.

But I managed to successfully avoid everyone up until lunch. I knew there was no way I could go into the cafeteria and expect to get away, so I headed to the library. I sat at the table where I met Joey and where I plotted against Kevin. My stomach growled with hunger, and I searched my bag for food, any food. After finding only a peppermint and a pixie stick, I knew I was going to have to distract myself from thinking about being hungry. Munching on the peppermint (coincidently, I don't even like peppermint, so how did one get in my bag?), I began to read a book about Truman.

A book thudding against the table startled me from my reading. I looked up. Upon seeing Joey, my heart did an odd flip and flutter.

"Thought you might be here," he said, sitting down across from me.

"Yeah," was all I said back.

Joey opened his mouth to say something then changed his mind. He kept doing that for a while before finally just speaking.

"You know what I like about literature?" he asked.

When I shook my head no, he continued on. "I like how it can be built upon continuously. For instance, Harry Potter. You go on the internet and search for Harry Potter fan fictions, and I'm sure you'll find millions of stories by dedicated fans. This also applies to published works, of course. Like in the 80s...there was this lady by the last name of Ripley. She took one of America's -- Georgia's actually -- epic novels and made a sequel. Do you know what epic novel I'm talking about?"

I shook my head.

"Yeah, I didn't know it had a sequel until just recently actually. Gone with the Wind was written in 1939 by Margaret Mitchell and forty-something years later another woman comes along and finishes what Mitchell herself probably would have done had she not died before her time. The book is called Scarlett."

He pushed a book toward me and I picked it up. Sure enough, right on the cover it said it was the sequel to Gone with the Wind.

"After Rhett left, Scarlett got to thinking. She knew Rhett wouldn't divorce her. He had told her so. But she couldn't fathom a life without at least trying to win back his love, and so she took the train to Charleston. She moved in with Rhett and his mother, and Rhett let her stay with one condition. She had to leave after the ball season was over. So she attempts to win back his love before time runs out.

"Somehow she convinces him to take her sailing. But a storm comes and they both nearly drown. However, they make it to land and, um, celebrate surviving, if you know what I mean. Scarlett thinks they'll get back together, but shortly after getting back home, Rhett tells her to leave. But she decides to leave when no one but Rhett's sister Rosemary is home. So Scarlett leaves a note for Rhett's mother and hurries off back to Georgia. But Rosemary burns the letter. The evil bitch. Sorry for the harsh word, but it's true....

"Rosemary's actions cause a panic. Somehow Rhett is able to divorce Scarlett -- which doesn't really make any sense to me seeing as South Carolina is really weird about divorces even today -- by saying she abandoned her station as a wife. Anyway...Scarlett ends up in Ireland after reconnecting with her father's family. She finds out she's pregnant. She buys a city. She gives birth and, you know, lives pretty happily in Ireland. She really grows up mentally. She also sees Rhett a few times. Finds out Rhett married someone like Melanie. Then finds out the wife died after giving birth the a kid. There was this whole other cross-purpose thing, but you really have to read the book to find it all out.

"Long story short: Rhett comes back; he finds out that he has a daughter; the parents make up; the family becomes whole again. So essentially, what I'm driving at is that there is always a happy ending to every story. You just have to wait for it."

I had listened to Joey intently as he rambled on about the book. I found myself wanting to read it as he went on and on more. It really did sound interesting, but what drew me in was the happy ending. Did this mean what I thought it did? But one thing puzzled me and ate away at the happiness of the possibility.

"Why didn't you say anything? Why did you go back inside?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You turned and left."

"No, that's what you did," he accused. "I was going to close the front door."

"Close the front door?"

"Yes!"

I felt my face redden. "You were just going to close the door?"

"Of course," he said, "it's still pretty hot out. There was no need for me to let the cold air out anymore. But then you ran off."

"I 'ran off' because I thought you were rejecting me."

He laughed insanely and I joined in. It was so absurd, and yet it made perfect sense.

"I'm glad I listened to Ivy. You know, for a girl who dated such an idiot, she's pretty smart."

My eyebrows knitted. "Ivy told you what exactly?"

"Oh, not much. She just told me that I needed to talk to you and that you would probably be in the library hiding from everyone. Which reminds me of two things actually. First the whole Dava, Lisa, Sara, and Kara thing is taken care of. I took the liberty of telling them at break that the list was lost in a horrible tragic computer, uh, fire. They weren't too distraught though. I think the whole "Kevin got dumped" thing was enough for Sara to move on with her life. Second, I brought you something."

Looking right to left and seeing no one, he opened his bag and pulled out a small square box. Pizza. The librarian would freak if she saw food in her library, but I couldn't welcome a better sight.

"Dude, I think I love you," I said happily, accepting the delicious food.

"I think I love you, too," he replied.

It would have been sappy had it not been absolutely perfect.

The table disappeared between us as our lips met. I knew as I was kissing him the answers to those questions he had asked me two days ago.

I didn't know where I was going to be in five years or ten or twenty. I had no clue what career I wanted or where I wanted to go college even. I didn't know if I was going to marry or have oodles of children. I didn't know if going to Europe was in my future either. The only thing I was absolutely certain of was that I was going to be with Joseph Reed for a long, long time.