Page 13 of Lonely Hearts Day

“Right.”

She looked at the invitation again. I wondered how she got it. “Good,” she huffed. She held the heart out to me like it was a piece of garbage she no longer wanted in her possession. When I took it, she brushed her hands together with a sour expression on her face. That’s when Micah joined her, seeming to slither in out of nowhere. He hardly even looked at me. His hair was full of product and his snide face looked the same as it had in sixth grade.

“I talked to her already,” Cassidy said.

Micah looked at me. “Just because you’ve never been in love, Scar, doesn’t mean you have to make fun of the people who are.”

I recoiled, surprised by his statement. “I’m not making fun of you. I just want people on the other side of that equation to feel happy today too. Couples have dozens of celebrations all year round. We should getone.” Then the other part of his statement hit me. “You keeping track of my love life, Micah?”

“Just an educated guess.” With those words they left.

Jack was walking toward me. His gaze followed Micah and Cassidy and then he gave me his wide-eyed expression until he reached my side. “School royalty graced you with their presence? What did they want?” he asked.

Jack had changed a lot over the last year. He had grown like four inches. We’d always been about the same height before, but now I had to look up at him. His limbs, which used to look lanky, fit his frame better, but the growth spurt had made him even thinner.

“They’re mad about this.” I held up the invitation. “And apparently well versed in my love life.”

“What love life?”

“Rude,” I said even though he was very right.

He cringed. “I didnotmean for it to sound like that. But...”

“Well, that’s what Micah said too.” He may have ditched us four years ago, but apparently he was still keeping tabs.

“How would he know that?”

“We must still be squirming around in his brain somewhere, not giving him peace.”

A girl in line in front of me turned around and said, “Can I have that?”

I flipped the paper heart in my hand. “This?”

She nodded.

“Are you single?” I asked.

“Yes.”

I handed it to her.

When she turned back around, Jack chuckled under his breath. “You’re asking people that question?”

“Well, yeah... you’re not?” I asked.

“I’m using my intuition.” He paused. “I’m only asking people I know.”

I shoved his shoulder and he smiled. His hair had grown out and he’d gotten new glasses, both of which somehow made his smile seem even more smiley. I couldn’t explain it, but it did.

“Bob and Linda from Bob’s Burgers,” I said. We’d been doing this since last year. Stating our ultimate couples. They changed all the time.

“They’re a good one,” he responded. “Speaking of cool parents, do yours know that this year’s party is going to be, uh, bigger?”

“My parents have been asking me to throw another party since last year. They thought I had finally become social or something.”

“You’re pretty social.”

“Not party-throwing social though,” I said.