Page 28

Chapter 28

Julia

I get in the front seat of my car the next morning and honk the horn. I’m trying hard to be okay, but I'm a little embarrassed and irritated about last night. I feel dumb about getting so worked up over the dance-posal but also letting myself go down the rabbit hole. Almost in unison, Graham and Chloe open their front doors and start towards the car.

“Honking this morning? Bad night?” Chloe climbs into the back seat.

“It’s whatever. I'm fine.” I wave her off before pressing on the horn, trying to get Nathan to hurry.

“Julia, it’s pretty early. Maybe lay off the horn,” Chloe says, looking at the house next to hers, as if expecting the grumpy old man to come and start yelling at us. I can never remember his name, but it’s not uncommon for Chloe to complain about him.

Graham climbs into the front seat and leans over to give me a kiss. I try not to stiffen, but obviously I don’t succeed because Graham gives me a weird look. I give him a smile to soften whatever just happened. Clearly, I am more than a little irritated, but Graham’s eyebrows only furrow more, so I guess it didn’t work.

I start to press my hand on the horn again, but Graham grabs it, nodding towards the house. Nathan is coming out the front door, shaking his head.

“Calm down, J. I’m coming, we won’t be late, your perfect attendance certificate is still in your grasp. Oh wait, you skipped school for the heck of it. Chill out,” Nathan grumbles, climbing into the back seat. He reaches forward and pats Graham on the shoulder. “Good news, my mom is on top of it.”

“Nice.” He offers Nathan his fist and then gives no explanation. I want to ask, but I am not my best self this morning. If I start talking at all, Graham will know I’m bothered and how do I explain to him that I’m worried he won’t finish The List? I know I should trust him but old habits die hard.

“Uhm, Jules?” Graham is looking at me. Well actually, they are all looking at me. “School?”

“You’d think for all the honking, she would’ve squealed out of here,” Nathan mumbles.

Chloe hits him on the shoulder. “Leave her alone. She’s going through something, obviously.”

I shake my head and put the car in reverse. I zone out again, getting to the school on autopilot, ignoring the conversation going on around me. I park in the first space I can find and jump out of the car. I am halfway to the courtyard when I hear Graham calling my name.

“You forgot these.” He holds out my backpack with one hand, the other hand stretched toward me too.

“These?” I take my bag and arch my eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, backpack and me.” He smoothly grabs my hand and tangles his fingers with mine. I look down, a small smile breaking through my current crusty exterior. “Now, girlfriend. What’s wrong?”

I wave my free hand in the air, as if batting away my bad mood. “Nothing. I must’ve had a bad sleep.”

Graham makes an obnoxious buzzer sound, drawing the attention of so many people in the courtyard. “Try again.”

I open my mouth to disagree, but somehow he knows and keeps making the sound. After four buzzers, I give in.

“Okay, fine. I’ll tell you. But it’s stupid.”

“I disagree. But go ahead.”

“IthoughtyouweregoingtoaskmetotheWinterFormal...” I keep pushing out words, but they are really just sounds. I look at Graham, and his eyes are wide, his mind clearly trying to keep up with what I said. I take a breath and slow down. “I thought you were going to ask me to the Winter Formal and you didn’t, and I’m disappointed, but I’m trying not to be.”

“Wait, is there a deadline? Was I supposed to ask you already?”

“No. I was with Chloe yesterday, and she made me think you had a plan. But it’s fine. I don’t need anything big. I can just ask you here. Graham...” His hand covers my mouth and I let out a squeak in shock.

“No, don’t do that. I do have a plan. Just, wait. Okay? I promise it’ll be worth it. I have a whole team working on this, and I’d hate for it to go to waste.”

“Will you tell me when?” His hand is still covering my mouth so it comes out muffled. He drops his hand.

“I will tell you nothing. But, I will walk you to class and give you a kiss before I say a dramatic goodbye until lunchtime.” Graham wiggles his fingers, prompting me to grab his hand. I let out a laugh before taking his hand, pulling him toward my class. I’m glad I didn’t tell him about finishing the list. That issue I’m going to work out on my own.

***

Graham

As soon as lunch ends, I walk Julia to class, and then meet Nathan by the car. We are going to his house to help our moms set up the dance-posal.

“Last night, my mom was up so late, cutting out all kinds of things on her craft cutting machine thing,” Nathan says, pulling out of the parking lot. He nods to a couple kids hanging out by the gate, his eyes narrowing on Josie.

“You could just ask her out, ya know?” I tease.

“Sure, because that was so successful for you and Julia,” Nathan bites back.

“Nice. You and your sister’s moods are in sync today. I stand by my suggestion but will keep it inside. For now. I make no promises that it will be forever. Or even longer than a few hours.” I offer him my hand. He hits his fist against it, and we sit in silence for the rest of the drive. Thankfully it’s a short drive, because I’m not great at being silent, but I am a good friend. So, quiet I am. I jump out of the car, adrenaline starting to rush into my bloodstream. I bounce on my toes while I wait for Nathan to get his bag.

“Mom!” Nathan calls, entering the house.

“Nathan? What are you doing here?” Aunty Theresa's head pops around the corner at the top of the stairs.

“Graham said you and Aunty Em were okay with us skipping class and helping?”

“Ah, Graham. Makes sense. Well, since you’re here.” She gestures us up the stairs. Nathan takes a minute to punch me in the arm, hard, and then we head up the stairs to Julia’s room. We walk around the corner and are met with total chaos. Gray squares of different sizes and shades are attached to the wall around Julia’s door. My mom is smoothing long brown strips of some kind of wallpaper on her door, making it look like an old fashioned wooden door.

“Graham, how nice of you to bring someone else into your delinquency,” Mom says, glancing over her shoulder with a smile. I stop holding my breath now that I know she isn’t actually mad.

“Yeah, about that. I was hoping you could call the school for us.” I give her my best smile.

“If you are actually helpful, I will give the attendance secretary the best excuse phone call she’s ever heard,” Aunty Theresa declares.

“Uhm. How about you just do it online? We don’t need this to be memorable,” Nathan says, kicking thin white paper out of the way. “So how do we help?”

The next three hours, we are the best helpers we can be. We haul blocks, curtains, paper, and pails. We stack, unstack, and restack all of the things, while our moms cock their heads side to side and change their opinions over and over again. By the end of it, Julia’s room is unrecognizable in the best way. The bed has a faux wooden frame, making it look like a four poster bed. Her window is covered with gauzy white fabric. Her closet door is covered with a vinyl fireplace (my mom taught me vinyl after I called it a giant sticker), and surrounding each door, there are gray vinyl stones. Both sides of the door look like it is made of old wooden slats, and they’ve even taken her doorknob off, replacing it with a latch. My mom brought over all of the fake plants we have in the house and surrounded her door with them. They made cardboard turrets to put over the door. I stare at the room in complete awe.

“Mom. Aunty T.” I pull them into a big group hug, squeezing them so tightly, they start to cough. “This is the most amazing castle ever. Julia is going to love it.”

“Well, the list did say to build her a castle. And this one will last for as long as she wants it to.” Aunty Theresa looks around the room and nods in approval.

“Yeah, except for the forest. Your dad will most likely want those back sooner rather than later.” Mom grimaces, leading me to believe she didn’t ask him to borrow them.

Aunty Theresa clapped her hands. “Okay. Nathan, hurry back to the school to pick up Chloe and Julia. Don’t leave them waiting, or else they’ll suspect something.” She waves him out the door and points at me. “Graham, in Nathan’s room there’s a costume for you and a sign for you to hold up.”

Nathan gives a salute and heads out while I go into his room. On the bed, there is a light brown suit, but not a normal suit. It looks like something a prince would wear: tight pants, a loose shirt with no buttons, a jacket with puffy sleeves with so many buttons (side by side, not one single row, which confuses me a little), and boots that go up to the middle of my calf. I hurry to get dressed, and I have to ask my mom for help with the jacket, but we manage to get it done. Right as I am finger combing my hair, my phone buzzes with a text message.

Nathan

ETA 5 minutes.

I show my mom the screen and she claps her hands and squeals. “Oh, this is so exciting! I need my camera. Where is it?” She rushes around Nathan’s room as if she left it there fifteen years ago, the last time she used a camera instead of her phone.

“Ma. Your phone. Also, you cannot be in here for this. I’m a good sport, and I love to share things with you, but this is weird. Just me and Julia, k? Promise.”

“Oh, pish. I’ll hide.”

“Okay, compromise. You and Aunty T wait in the trees and give us a few minutes, then you can come in?” I’m not an idiot. I know there is no way she’ll be able to stay hidden if she’s in the actual room with us.

“Deal!” She shakes my hand and runs to grab Theresa and hide. I take a deep breath, check my hair and my breath because, you know, and pick up the sign. I haven’t even looked at it yet. The moms have discolored it somehow, making it look old-fashioned. It is a scroll, and I carefully remove the ribbon. It unrolls and in huge letters, in the style you’d see at a renaissance fair, it says “We’ve slayed dragons together. How about we slay the dance floor? Winter Formal, my fair lady?” It’s not the best phrasing, but the sign is quality. I chuckle, rolling it back up as I hear the front door open.

“Okay, okay. I’m going. Why are you being weird?” Julia says, sounding exasperated. I hurry to get into her room and am barely situated when I hear her gasp.