by Jen Calonita
“I’m fine now.” I looked around.
She’d been here, hadn’t she? I couldn’t help but smile and wonder.
* * *
The second day of school went fine. I didn’t get lost. I didn’t forget my schedule, and I didn’t get hit with a ball. I did, however, use the girls’ bathroom on the second floor with Clare and found the positivity wall was still there. Girls were already adding to the messages and creating new ones. I was glad to see that one of my retakes had worked out.
I sat with Clare, Reagan, and Jada at lunch, and we talked about Thunder Shores for almost thirty minutes. Jada laughed so hard at Clare’s impression of Beverly, the most popular character, that Gatorade came out of her nose.
“Did anyone see?” she kept asking as we walked out of the cafeteria.
I looked around. I saw Dougie, Shardul, and Jake at one table, and Laura and her new friends at the table beside it. No one was looking our way. “I think you’re safe,” I said as we walked out.
But when I stopped to throw out my lunch bag, I felt someone’s eyes on me. I turned around.
It was Laura. We stared at each other across the crowded cafeteria. Finally, I gave a little wave. Laura waved back.
It wasn’t much, but it was enough.
On my way home on the bus, I talked with Reagan and Jada for a while; then I pulled out my phone and clicked on Instagram. This time I took a selfie right there on the bus and hashtagged it #seconddayof7. I thought for a few minutes about what I wanted to write.
First day was the worst, I wrote, but second day is looking up. Anyone else get completely lost everywhere they went yesterday? Then I changed my hashtag to #bemorereal #fairviewms and clicked share. I spent the next few minutes scrolling through my feed. The German soccer player seemed to be eating a lot of gelato in Italy this week. Suddenly I saw the alert. My post not only had likes, it had tons of comments, and from people I didn’t even know followed me.
dougdman: Dude, got stuck in locker room for ten minutes looking for way out!
candykisses: Sat in wrong French class and had no clue. #firstdayworstday
mara8late: Every teacher pronounced my name wrong.
marisolp: Couldn’t open locker. Had to carry books all day.
Marisol was commenting on my posts? I couldn’t believe it. The comments kept going. It seemed like anyone and everyone I knew and didn’t know at Fairview had tons of comments about the first day of school. I scrolled through them and saw a familiar handle.
lauraslitlife:
It was always simply a heart emoji, but it was there, just like our friendship would be in some way.
The important thing was that I wasn’t alone. I smiled and slipped my phone back into my pocket. Then I put my head back and enjoyed the ride.
I wouldn’t be writing this “thank you” if it weren’t for a fateful afternoon spent talking books with Beverly Horowitz and Kelsey Horton. Thank you both for welcoming me to the Delacorte Press/Random House family and for letting me sink my teeth into a project that I love so fiercely. Kelsey, I couldn’t have asked for a better editor on this project. You helped me keep track of Zoe’s past, present, and future, and I couldn’t have done it without you. Special thanks also goes to the rest of the Delacorte team, including Michelle Cunningham, for the beautiful book design; Alexandra Hess; and Colleen Fellingham.
Dan Mandel, thank you for being such a great partner in everything I do. And to Elizabeth Eulberg, Kieran Viola, Sarah Mlynowski, Jennifer E. Smith, Tiffany Schmitt, and Lindsay Currie for always being my sounding board.
Finally to my family—Mike, Tyler, Dylan, Jack and Ben—I’d never want another retake with this crew. Thank you for being my everything.
Jen Calonita is the author of the award-winning Fairy Tale Reform School series and Secrets of My Hollywood Life, as well as Conceal, Don’t Feel, and Mirror, Mirror in the Twisted Tale series. She lives in New York with her husband, two boys, and two Chihuahuas named Captain Jack Sparrow and Ben Kenobi.
jencalonitaonline.com
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