We sit in Alex Weston’s garage
and listen as Mel and three
other girls try to coax
brilliant ideas out of us.

It’s our senior year!
It has to be the best float ever!

My knee is sore.
I should have wrapped it before I left.
And my back’s hurting

TJ has been Mel-ed into sitting beside me.
He’s cute enough
but he looks like he might
possibly throw up and
since I know that Mel
probably said something to him
about me, I think that I
might be the cause of his nausea.

And this makes me think of Ben
and that I still need to answer him
about Saturday.

TJ tries to smile but it ends up looking
like he is gritting his teeth in pain.
I feel sorry for him.

But not sorry enough apparently
because when he offers me a ride home
I say “No thanks.”

Mel is going to kill me.