The Lunacy Fringe

After lunch, Felix and I walked to Music together. Once we were far enough away from everyone else, his fingers laced through mine. But this time, it was with my non-broken hand, so I could feel his palm in mine instead of the scratchy cast. I smiled at him, and he sent it back. Neither of us said anything. I didn’t know where we stood, but it was nice.

When we got to class, we both sat down at the piano together. Miss Kay had been making us work together since I broke my arm. There were other things we could have done and probably done better. Still, she said she liked seeing us overcome the challenge of working together one-handed. We were kind of terrible at it, but it was always fun.

When Miss Kay was talking, I tried my best to pay attention to what she was saying. Music was always my favorite class, even if Felix wasn’t there. But even though I was trying to focus on her words, I couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss. And every time my hair fell into my face, he would reach out and gently tuck it back behind my ear again. My skin would tingle, and my stomach would flutter.

After class, he took my bag and walked me to the class I shared with Martin and Freddy. He didn’t say anything, though. Instead, he just smiled and handed the bag over once we reached the door. Then he walked away, leaving me standing there with my head swimming and butterflies dancing in my chest.

Billie, of course, was waiting impatiently to get her claws into me. Study Hall was supposed to be a free period for us to work on homework and class projects. Still, Billie and I usually just whispered and passed notes to each other.

“What happened?” she asked when we went to take a seat at the farthest table from the door so that we were the farthest away from everyone else.

“When?” I replied, setting my bag down.

“What do you mean when? When you and Felix showed up late to lunch with messy hair acting all goofy and guilty.”

“Billie, shush.” I put my finger to my lips and motioned to the other side of the room where Meg was sitting with one of her friends. Then Billie turned back to me and waved her hand.

“I don’t give a shit about Meg,” she said. “So tell me what happened.”

“Nothing happened.” She gave me a look that showed me very clearly that she didn’t believe a word.

“You’re a big fat liar, and you know it.”

“Oh my god. We can’t ever be late?”

“You’re never late with Felix. Either you fell and almost died, or you were in the janitor’s closet with your pants around your ankles.”

“We weren’t in the janitor’s closet, and my pants stayed on the whole time. Is that something he’s done before?”

“Not that I know of, but I definitely know YOU have never been late with Felix. So where were you if not a closet?”

“A locker.”

“Wait, you were IN a locker?” I shook my head and laughed.

“I don’t think either of us could fit,” I reminded her.

“Well, it would have been really cramped, but I bet you could make it work if you tried hard enough.”

“I don’t think that’s a scientific possibility.” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over the table.

“So what were you doing with the locker then?”

“Leaning on it mostly. Pressed against it actually, probably more accurate.” She snorted.

“Please tell me you were just making out.”

“We weren’t gone THAT long.”

“You could have made it work.”

“I really don’t think you know how it works.”

“I’m a virgin. So shoot me.” I nodded.

“I’m still pretty sure it takes longer than that. I hope it does, anyway. But to make this very clear, I will not be losing my virginity at school. I’ll never have sex at school.”

“Are you really a virgin?”

“You’re surprised?”

“No—I mean—I just tend to assume anything I do isn’t normal.”

“You’re perfectly normal. We both are.” She shrugged.

“Get back to the story,” she said. “You, Felix, a locker, messy hair, guilt all over your faces.”

“We were just kissing.”

“Okay, I know you weren’t having sex in the hallway, but no one just starts kissing for no reason. So you need to give me more than that.”

“Ugh, he held my hand in English, and then when we were walking out after, my ribs locked up because I fell asleep in History. So I had to take a break, and he stayed with me. Then he helped me back onto my feet and then….”

“He put his tongue in your mouth?” I nodded thoughtfully.

“Yeah, pretty much.” She leaned against her elbow and sighed dreamily.

“That’s so sweet. Did you like it?” I couldn’t tell her how much I did because I was still kind of embarrassed. My knees had been weak all day. My head felt fuzzy and dazed. Butterflies burst to life in my stomach every single time I thought about him.

“Obviously,” I said. She sighed.

“We need to have a more in-depth discussion about boys. Where we can’t be overheard. Can I spend the night?”

“I mean, sure. I’ll ask my dad.”

“Sweet.”

After class, we headed out to meet Quinn by the fence. He was leaning against it, squinting in the sun as we approached.

“Give us a ride, fool,” Billie said. He had his arms over his chest, towering over her like a tree looking down at a squirrel.

“Right oh, lady friend,” the tree replied. I was pretty sure she wanted to be more than his lady friend. “Where to?”

“Ruby’s?”

“Is that the new restaurant on Palm with the fried crab?”

“No, stupid.”

“I know. I know. Sheesh. Felix, want a ride?” he called over our heads. I turned as Felix appeared on the other side of Billie. He nodded once.

“Yeah, sure,” he said. He didn’t look at me.

When we got home, Felix was the first to get out of the car, as usual. He turned around when we pulled into the driveway and nodded to us.

“I’ll see you later, Detroit,” he said with a knowing smile that made my insides turn to mush. Then he climbed out and disappeared around the jasmine fence. Billie grabbed my arm and yanked me toward the house. We hurried up the stairs to my room to talk in private.

“So what will you do if he asks you to prom?” she asked, throwing herself down on my bed. I went to my record player to put on some music.

“I don’t know. I guess I haven’t really thought about it.” She picked up a magazine and began flipping through pages full of musicians. I dropped my bag on the desk and took a seat.

“Liar,” she sang.

“What is your deal today?”

“I’m sorry! I have no life! I’m desperate for romance!” I laughed and kicked my feet up onto my bed beside her.

“Go make out with Quinn then.”

“Psh. Yeah, right.”

“You know you want to.” I nudged her with my foot. She rolled away onto her back, lifting the magazine above her head.

“Well, duh. But don’t change the subject.”

“I guess—I don’t know—I’d probably say yes.” She nodded and turned another page.

“You should buy a dress just in case.”

“And what if he doesn’t ask?”

“Go anyway. Who cares?”

“I just don’t want him to think I expect him to ask.”

“He won’t. He’ll know I forced you into it. I’ve been forcing him to go to dances since the eighth grade.”

“Fine. You win. Again.”

“As usual.” She turned a page and then dropped the magazine on her face.