In Too Deep

“So… why aren’t we telling our friends again?”

Max was leaning against Jackie’s editor desk in the newsroom, his back facing the rest of the staff. Jackie didn’t even move her eyes from her computer screen as he hovered over her.

“They. Will. Be. Annoying.” She spoke through clenched teeth, tapping her keyboard harshly.

“Stella and Lexi would probably scream ‘I told you so’ for a week, wouldn’t they?” Max asked.

“Oh, it’d be longer than a week,” Jackie muttered darkly. “And Jeffrey and Scooter would probably join them. Do you still want to tell them?”

Max shook his head quickly. “No, not at all. But… still…”

”What?” Jackie grumbled.

“Where are we going to make out if both our rooms are out of the question?” Max asked seriously. This was a very important matter. “And don’t say the janitor’s closet, because that was definitely not spacious enough last night.”

Jackie had to fight to stop a smile from forming on her face. “Right here. No one ever comes to the newsroom after dinner. Eight o’clock?”

Max grinned. “And our excuse is….”

“Next issue comes out in two days,” Jackie said, shrugging. “There could easily be some touch-ups needed in the commentary section… which would require both you and me to fix…”

“Eight o’clock… that’s like eleven hours away….”

“Control yourself,” Jackie said as Max leaned dangerously close to her. She peered around his shoulder and saw Dina watching them closely. “Dina’s staring. Go back to your desk.”

“Fine, fine, fine,” Max said loudly as he walked away. “I won’t write a commentary on poofy hair if it’s so offensive to you, Jackie.”

A few people laughed. Jackie just glared.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

During study hall, Jackie, Max, Stella, Dina, and Jeffrey went to the library to work on some homework. (Scooter and Lexi had mysteriously disappeared… though everyone knew exactly what they were doing.)

The five of them sat down at a rectangular library table—Max and Jackie on one side, Dina and Jeffrey on the other, and Stella sitting at the end. Stella wasn’t interested in homework, however, as she had been giddily texting Antonio from Florida all day.

“That’s getting really annoying, Stella,” Jeffrey grumbled as Stella’s fingers moved rapidly over her cell phone, making constant beeps. She completely ignored him, and instead giggled at something Antonio just texted her.

Jackie snorted. “You haven’t had to deal with it all night. I don’t think she’s slept since she saw what’s-his-face last.”

“Antonio!” Stella snapped suddenly, correcting Jackie.

Max gave Jackie a look. “Yeah, Jackie. Geez! How could you forget?” Jackie rolled her eyes and pushed him slightly as Dina eyed them both suspiciously.

A few minutes later, Stella finally put her cell phone down and started on homework. The five of them lapsed into comfortable silence.

Max’s knee fell sideways, resting warmly against Jackie’s, unseen under the library table. Jackie breathed in and continued to do her work, ignoring the triumphant smirk that spread across Max’s face. He began to move his leg, massaging circles into Jackie’s knee.

Jackie took another breath and casually allowed her pen to fall from her grasp, landing in the small space between her and Max’s chairs. “Whoops,” she muttered lightly, turning to the side. Slowly, she placed one hand on Max’s thigh, where no one else could see it, and leaned forward to retrieve her pen, completely aware that Max could see down her shirt in this position. Max tensed in his seat, staring at Jackie as she recovered her fallen pen.

Jackie resumed her normal position with a slight smile, taking her time to remove her hand from Max’s thigh. “How clumsy of me,” she said, fixing her hair.

It was Max’s turn to take a deep breath. Jackie looked at him, and their eyes met. “I need to look something up in one of those giant encyclopedias,” Jackie announced, standing up. “You know, the ones way in the back of the library.”

With that, she turned on her heel and walked along the long rows of shelves. When she reached the corner of the reference section, she pulled down a thick tome and pretended to rifle through the pages until she heard someone approach. Jackie turned around to see Max.

“You are such a tease,” he said, taking the book from her hands and throwing it aside.

“I’m not teasing right now,” she replied.

In one swift movement, Max had Jackie pressed against the wall, and she certainly was not objecting. In fact, neither one even bothered to stand back up after a trip over the forgotten encyclopedia sent them sprawling to the library floor.

It wasn’t until the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard that Max pulled his lips away from Jackie’s neck. “Shit,” he mumbled, and they both quickly stood up and adjusted their clothes.

“You go back first,” Jackie murmured, picking up the encyclopedia and once again pretending to look through it.

Several minutes later, they were back at the library table with their friends, and Max’s knee was once again resting against Jackie’s.

Dina had a knowing smile on her face.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The next day in journalism, Dina approached the editor’s desk and held out a sheet of paper. Jackie stared at it a moment, confused.

“It’s my article,” Dina explained, smiling slightly.

“They’re not due today. I’m kind of busy….” Jackie trailed off, gesturing to her computer.

“No, really. You want to read this,” Dina enforced, sticking the paper in Jackie’s face.

Jackie raised her eyebrows. “Um… okay.” She took the article and leaned back in her chair. Dina began to walk slowly to her own desk, glancing back at Jackie’s face now and then.

I Know Your Secret
By Dina Paterson, Assistant Sports Editor

Max is a good kisser, isn’t he?

Everyone else may be too caught up in their own little worlds to notice, but I’m not blind, Jackie. It’s almost laughable how obvious you are. Every interaction between you two since we got back from spring break has practically screamed it to the world…

Jackie Bodello is dating Max Leopold. Last semester’s flames have reunited… pretty interesting front-page story, don’t you think?

Don’t freak out. Don’t jump on me like last time. I promise that this article is between you and me. I’m helping you. I don’t know why you’re hiding it, but if you want to keep it a secret from everyone else, you might want to try a little harder… participate in a few less spontaneous make out sessions in the library. Or soon everyone will know.

Oh, I almost forgot. The foundation has rubbed off of that hickey on your neck. I can see it perfectly, even from my desk on the other side of the room. Just so you know.

Jackie gasped as she clapped her hand to her neck, hiding the mark she had spent twenty minutes covering with foundation that morning. Crap. Damn. Shit. Fuck. Bollocks. I’m running out of cuss words, she thought.

“Something wrong, Jackie?”

Jackie looked up to see Scooter standing in front of her desk, a confused look on his face. “Uh…” was all Jackie could come up with in response.

“Oh, is that Dina’s article about the midget football team controversy?” Scooter asked, pointing to the paper. “She was telling me about it at lunch. Let me see!”

He snatched the article from Jackie’s hands, and she made a lunge for it. “Scooter, give it back!”

He held it out of reach and took a few steps away. “Wait, just let me read it.”

“No! Give it to me!” Jackie snapped, doing everything in her power to retrieve the paper, but Scooter kept moving and holding it above Jackie’s head.

The whole class watched in confusion as Scooter tried to push Jackie away. She avoided his arm and continued to reach for the paper, but Scooter was holding it directly above his head, looking straight up to read it.

Jackie grabbed the collar of his shirt and shook him. ”Give it to me!” she screeched.

It was too late. Scooter held the paper above his head long enough to read the entire thing, and his face slowly turned to an expression of disbelief. Jackie stopped shaking him and noticed his eyes on her neck.

“I can see it, too…” Scooter said loudly, raising his hand to point, but Jackie snatched the paper from his other hand and ran as fast as she could out of the room, not even stopping when Stella called out her name in confusion.

Max stood up at his desk, preparing to follow her, but Dina appeared next to him and pushed him back in his chair. She held a small bottle of liquid foundation in his face and whispered, “It was all you, Dracula,” before scampering to the newsroom door. “Just a girl thing! I’ll handle it!” she called out pleasantly, hiding the bottle behind her back, and then she left the room.

Max suddenly found himself and Scooter having some type of staring contest from across the room, and Max understood. Dina knew, and now Scooter knew.

And it was only a matter of time before everyone would know.