“Wait, were you planning on asking Amber?” Hunter asks.
My eyes shoot to David. I didn’t even put together that that’s why he was stressing it, and now I feel kind of bad.
“Well, now I’m not. I don’t want to embarrass her.” David slumps his shoulders.
“As her best friend, trust me on this. She won’t be embarrassed.” Bo winks at David, and his cheeks get darker. Knowing I’m not the only one she winks at is somehow both a relief and a disappointment.
Bo doesn’t make any sense to me. She usually ditches school dances, so I figured they weren’t her thing. And that made me think she wasn’t much of a romantic, or someone who would even want to go to a dance. But she’s apparently a fan of the public proposals. Maybe she would want to go, if she had someone to go with. . . .
Bo snaps a picture of me, which erases whatever was in my head. Class is almost over, and she hasn’t finished the portrait, so I guess she wants the picture to finish later. I try peeking one last time, but she slams her sketchbook shut. Ugh. Looks like I’ll have to wait until whenever she decides to let me see it. Hopefully before the art show all the way in freaking March.
Once October is in full swing, the only two things anyone cares about are homecoming and Halloween. The uniforms take the fun out of Halloween, so the hype for homecoming is a million times stronger. Public homecoming proposals are now a regular occurrence. So far, Hunter is the only one who’s asked me, which isn’t a surprise, because I don’t talk to that many people.
You can always expect at least one proposal to happen at lunch. It seems like almost everyone who goes to homecoming here makes a huge spectacle of it. There were a few public prom and homecoming proposals at Rover, but never this much. I wonder how Bo can stand to see so many proposals and still feel all mushy about it. It’s not like she—or I—can ever have that kind of cutesy public display at this school without getting tomatoes thrown at us.
Bo and Amber are huddled together across the lunch table on Bo’s phone, and I feel a little left out. At least David’s left out, too. I pull out my phone and confirm a few more Etsy orders to keep my mind from wondering what they’re talking about. We sold a wave of friendship bracelets, which I’m glad for, because they’re my favorite to make.
“What are you guys doing?” David finally asks, and I look up from my phone. I have to admit I’m curious.
“Trying to find Bo a girlfriend.” Amber says it like it’s no big deal. I shouldn’t feel jealous, especially because I already told them about Jamal. I needed to keep my lies straight. I don’t know why it felt so much worse to lie to my friends than my mom. I guess I feel like with my mom, it’s out of necessity, but with Bo, Amber, and David it feels selfish. Especially since Bo is one of the only ones at this school who might actually understand my situation. Still, I can’t risk the truth getting back to Mom.
“Don’t you have to be eighteen to use dating apps?” The thought of Bo getting a girlfriend gives me a weird sinking feeling.
“No need to call the cops, we’re just browsing!” Amber waves away my question. “What do you think of Jamie? She’s cute, right? She’s studying social and cultural analysis at ASU! Which we all know is basically queer studies. Sounds like Bo’s type of girl.” Amber shows me her screen, with a picture of a girl with blue hair and a lip ring.
“Yeah . . . she’s cute.” I force the words out of my throat.
“Hey, have you guys ever wondered how many people at this school are actually closeted?” David asks. I was almost glad for the subject to change. I think he’s just trying to be included in the conversation, but the question makes me queasy. “Like, statistically speaking, Bo can’t be the only one who’s not straight.” I almost choke on my food.
“It’s none of my business, so . . . ,” I say. Hopefully he’ll change the subject.