Entry 10: Plan H – Reverse Psychology

Date: March 25, 2013

I weaved my fingers together. I unwove them and ran them through my hair. I cupped my hands over my nose and mouth and let out a shaky breath. I weaved my fingers together again.

I subconsciously glanced up at the clock for the fifth time and saw that it was four twenty-five in the afternoon. One minute had passed from the last time I checked. It had been fifteen minutes since the ambulance had pulled itself in front of the hospital and brought my mom in a gurney, but it felt more like an hour.

I was seated on one of those uncomfortable chairs placed out in the white halls of the hospital, and just two seats away from me was a woman hysterically crying. I had no idea if something terrible had already happened to her or maybe she was just really, really worried, but I certainly didn’t want to face whatever was about to come alone just like she was.

I reminded myself that I’d already called my dad and that he said he would be over right away. That reassured me a little.

After a minute or two of more restlessness and sickening anticipation, my dad finally arrived. He was still clad in the blackish-gray suit—the one with the pink pinstripes that my mom and I got him for Christmas two years ago—which I saw him wearing this morning before he left for work. But now his tie was loosened and the first button of his shirt had been freed.

I immediately got to my feet, only to realize that my knees were too weak to carry me. Thankfully, before I could make an embarrassment out of myself, my dad caught me in his strong arms and engulfed me in a hug.

“It’s going to be alright, kiddo,” he told me, although I noticed that he didn’t sound all that sure himself. He gently pushed me away to get a look at my face. “How is she?”

“I don’t know yet,” I said, sitting back down. My dad took the seat beside me. “They just took her away fifteen minutes or so ago. I have no idea what’s wrong with her. I just heard her puking and—”

Dad looked up all of a sudden, cutting me off, and abruptly stood. I whirled around to see a beautiful woman dressed in a white doctor’s coat approaching us. She looked familiar, but I was pretty sure I’d never met any young doctors with red hair like her before.

She was looking down at a clipboard, but when she stopped in front of us she looked up and fixed us with an emerald-green gaze. She asked, “Are you two the relatives of Mrs. Julie Warrilow?”

“Yes, I’m her husband,” my father answered and then reached over to squeeze my shoulder, “and this is our daughter. Do you know what’s happened to her, doc?”

“I certainly do, sir, and I would just like to say,” she said, pausing for a moment, almost as if for dramatic effect, before she finally continued, “congratulations.”

My dad and I stared at her, dumbfounded. “Ha?”

Her smile was brilliant as she announced, “Sir, your wife is one month pregnant.”

I thought I was going to faint right there and then.

My dad looked like he was ready to join me in the act of swooning, but he kept himself perfectly still and composed so that he could listen to all the details that the doctor was telling him. She explained that the reason why my mom became unconscious was because of all the accommodations that the baby was making as it settled into what was going to be its home for the next nine months.

“It wasn’t unusual that she became weak due to the changes occurring inside her body,” the doctor reassured us, “but I do insist that you let her rest if ever she does any heavy work or chores regularly. It would be best if she’d lie down every once in a while so that, in case another episode like this happens, she won’t have an accident.”

As they talked, I spaced out for a while, still relishing in the news I’d just received: my mom was pregnant—pregnant! I was actually going to have a little brother or sister. I wouldn’t be an only child anymore.

A tingle ran through my body, spreading out to my toes and fingertips. I restrained myself from squealing in excitement right there in front of the doctor and the woman who was no longer crying but was merely staring off into the distance with puffy eyes.

From all the secrets and stories I’d heard, having a younger sibling—or even an older sibling—seemed like such a pain, but I could already picture everything so vividly: I wouldn’t be alone in the house if Dad still wasn’t home from work and Mom was out doing an errand. I could spend my free time helping my sister doll up, or maybe watch Star Trek movies with my brother, and I would have somebody to share my books with, other than Nick. I couldn’t wait!

I glanced up at the doctor, and as she spoke, her body moved slightly, and the fluorescent light above her caught something pinned to her coat. I looked and saw her name printed in big letters: DR. STILLMAN.

I stared at it for a moment, mulling over that last name. Huh, I thought quietly to myself, what a coincidence. This woman couldn’t be related to Colin, could she? I mean, how many redheaded Stillmans could there be in LA?

My questions were soon answered when footsteps pounded on the floor, the sound getting closer and closer, and I craned my neck, trying to see who was making the noise. My jaw literally dropped (okay, maybe not to the floor, but just a few inches from its original position) when I saw Colin stroll into the scene as if he did it every day, carrying plastic takeout bags from McDonalds, and called out to the doctor, “Sis!”

To say I was surprised was an understatement.

The doctor—Dr. Stillman, Colin’s sister—had just finished talking to my dad about check-up schedules for my mom, and turned at the sound of his voice. “Colin,” she replied warmly and when he was right in front of her he enveloped her in a hug, “I wasn’t expecting you to come here so early.”

“Yeah, well, there wasn’t much to do at school so…” he said, pulling away from her, his words trailing.

She took one look at the plastic takeout bags he was holding and made a face. “McDonald’s again, Col?” she asked with more than just a hint of incredulity in her tone. “You know how unhealthy that is. I’ve told you this before, haven’t I?”

“Oh, come on,” Colin said, grinning, “it’s just once in a while—” As he spoke, he glanced towards me and my dad like he’d only noticed our presence right then. His eyes widened when they finally settled on me. “Seven? What are you doing here?”

“I was just about to ask the same thing,” I said.

Colin must’ve felt my dad’s intense gaze because he turned and grinned sheepishly. “Um, looking good, sir,” he said.

“Cody Stillman.”

“It’s Colin…sir.”

“Same difference.”

Meanwhile, Colin’s sister looked back and forth between her brother and me, as if she were watching a tennis match. With a small smile, she gestured at both of us. “So…I assume that the two of you know each other?”

“Yeah, she’s from school,” he said and then turned to me. “Seven, I would like to introduce you to the fantabulous Candice Stillman, the eldest of three siblings and an amazing obstetrician. And sis, this is Seven Warrilow—a wild one, this one is—and maybe you already know her dad, Mr. Sean Warrilow.”

My dad narrowed his eyes just a little tiny bit. “What do you mean by ‘a wild one’?”

Colin glanced briefly at me before replying, “She’s quite…vivacious at school.”

“Vivacious?” my dad said questioningly as he looked over at me with a cocked eyebrow. I merely smiled.

“Of course I know them; they’re the family of a patient of mine. I didn’t know their names, though,” Candice said, extending a hand towards me and smiling, “but now that I do, it’s a pleasure.” I took her hand and shook it, offering her a grin. She shook my dad’s hand as well.

“Wait, your patient?” he asked, surprised. He looked over at me. “Who’s pregnant?”

“My mom,” I answered, unable to hold back a smile.

At first, Colin merely stared at me in silence, and then he blinked and said, “Wow. I mean…wow! Congratulations!”

“Thanks. I’m a little excited, actually,” I gushed and then paused, rethinking if what I just said was truly accurate. I let out a little laugh. “Okay, maybe more than a little excited.”

“I promise you, it’s going to be awesome! I mean, the more the merrier—right, sis?” he asked, reaching over to drape his arm over his sister’s shoulder.

“Definitely,” she answered. “I still remember when Cass was born. You were like, what, two?” she asked as she turned to him questioningly.

“Yeah, I think so,” Colin said thoughtfully and then quickly added, “Cass is my younger sister, by the way.”

“Okay, well,” Candice addressed my dad, “we won’t keep you any longer. We still have to eat dinner.”

“Yes, us too,” my dad said, smiling politely. “We better go get my wife. What room is she in, doc?”

“Room 207,” she informed us. She extended her arm towards a certain corridor and said, “Go through this way and turn at the first corner. She’ll be the third room to the right.”

“Thank you once again. We’ll see you next Wednesday at nine in the morning, right?” he asked, putting his arm around my shoulders and steering me in the direction we were to go in.

“Right,” she said, nodding.

“Bye, Mr. Warrilow! Bye, Seven!” Colin called after us, “Say hi to Mrs. Warrilow for me!”

“Bye,” I replied, waving. When I turned away, I caught my dad staring at me peculiarly. “What?” I asked.

“Your smile is so wide, it’s actually reaching me,” he joked, moving away and pretending as if he was being shoved by some invisible force.

“Dad,” I said bashfully, “stop it, seriously.”

“I’m just kidding,” he said, reaching over and ruffling my hair.

We reached the corner Candice mentioned, but before we turned off, I looked back one last time. Colin and Candice were still standing there, but Candice was now nudging him at the side with her elbow and saying something I couldn’t hear. He replied with an irritated look, but I noticed that his face was slightly red.

My dad and I took another step forward and then they were gone from my sight.

***

Date: March 26, 2013

Early the next morning, earlier than I would’ve preferred on my first day of spring break, I sat shotgun to our car while the rain crashed down. I dipped my chin deeper into my scarf, seeking warmth from its soft, thick fabric. I gripped my phone with cold fingers and reread the message I’d typed there for the umpteenth time: Happy birthday, Colin! :)

I’d known it was Colin’s birthday the moment I snapped my eyes open this morning. Actually, no, I knew it days before, a week even, but I’d pushed it to the farthest corners of my mind.

But now that it was here, I was torn between sending him a greeting or waiting until I saw him at detention—which was where I was headed to now, unfortunately. I bit my lip, hard, and my thumb hovered reluctantly over the SEND button.

Why is it so hard to send a stupid message? I thought to myself irritably. It’s just Colin. It’s just his birthday. Who cares?

I took a deep, deep breath. Forget it. I could always say it to him in person. Greeting him now might make me look like I was excited for him (and I was). Finally reaching a decision, I pressed the backspace and dutifully erased the message.

“What are you doing?” a voice suddenly asked.

I jumped, having forgotten that my dad was right there beside me. Apparently the car had stopped at a red light and he took the opportunity to lean across and peer at my phone. I frantically hugged the gadget to my chest and murmured a guilty, “Nothing.”

He eyed me warily before settling back into his seat. “Really, now? You looked like you wanted to drill your finger through your phone.”

“Really, Dad,” I said exasperatedly, deleting the message and putting my phone on hold, “it’s nothing.”

We remained silent for a while, the wiper going back and forth across the windshield in an almost rhythmic beat. And then my dad chuckled to himself, breaking the ice. “You know, Seven,” he said, looking through the droplets of water on the car window, “I was just like that when I was sixteen.”

I turned to him and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, back then, although cell phones were the rage, a few still preferred to stick with letters. Your mother was one of them,” he said, reminiscing. “I used to write her tons and tons of letters, just to win her heart, and I had to hide them from your grandparents.”

“You wrote letters?” I asked, snickering at the thought.

“Hey, believe it or not, I was a pretty romantic guy,” he said, looking quite smug.

“Fine, I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt,” I said, grinning. “But Mom told me she gave you a pretty hard time back then. How’d you make her fall for you?”

I really loved listening to my parents’ love stories. I loved listening to anybody’s love story, actually. After all the heartbreak and deceit I’d seen and heard around me, it was just nice to know that maybe true love wasn’t only found in books and chick flicks.

With a knowing smile, he leaned forward and lowered his voice, as if he was sharing a secret recipe that might be the key to world domination. “I applied a little thing I call ‘reverse psychology’.”

The light turned green and he looked back to the road, easing the car around the corner. I caught a glimpse of The Book Station and Patrick inside, opening up the shop. Thunder rolled in the sky.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“It’s doing the opposite of what you planned to do,” he said. “For example, there was a time that I was getting tired of your mother rejecting me again and again, and I just stopped. I didn’t want to, but I did. Do you know what happened next?” I shook my head. “She went after me.”

I gave him a dubious look. “Are you sure you’re not making this up, Dad?”

“Hey, where’s your faith?” he asked, placing a hand on his chest, right over his heart, and pretending to look hurt.

I laughed.

We soon reached my school and I pulled out the dark blue umbrella I’d brought from home. “Bye, Dad,” I said, reaching over and kissing him on the cheek before popping the umbrella open and exiting the vehicle, “thanks for the ride.”

My dad waved goodbye and then drove the car away, tires crunching the wet asphalt. I headed inside the school, folding the umbrella and shaking off some of the water I’d gotten in my hair.

“Whoa there, doggie,” someone said, and I looked up from under my curtain of black hair. Colin stood a few feet from me, unbuttoning his coat with the hood still up, droplets visible on the hard cloth. He was watching me carefully with a small smile.

I didn’t mean to, but the sight of him made me smile too. That deepened his.

“Hey,” I said and then added, “happy birthday.”

“Aw, that’s sweet, you remembered,” he said, grinning as he shrugged off his coat. Underneath he wore a teal checkered shirt.

“Blame Facebook,” I said defensively, pulling my scarf off and trying to sound indifferent.

“But thanks,” he said, and I told myself that I was only imagining the twinkle in his eyes.

“Sure,” I replied.

We made our way down the empty hallway, unfamiliar with the lack of the usual crowded bodies and noisy chatter. We reached the library where we’d been told to go to. There we found Mr. Zach, the substitute teacher for almost every subject, sitting by one of the long tables.

“Both of you take a seat,” he instructed us in a dull voice and I took a seat at the table beside the one he’d been using.

“Hey, Big Zach!” Colin said, mentioning the nickname the students had made for Mr. Zach, who was, as his namesake implied, pretty big. Right then, his button-down shirt looked like it was going to burst, his necktie was stained with what looked like tomato sauce, and his pants, when he sat down, rode halfway up his calves, exposing his matching brown socks and a little bit of his leg hair.

Mr. Zach jabbed a fat finger in Colin’s direction and hissed, “Shut that mouth of yours and sit.”

Colin pouted, looking quite adorable in my opinion, and said, “You wound me, good sir. And to think, it’s my birthday today.”

“Well, happy birthday,” Mr. Zach deadpanned and then rolled his eyes. When Colin took the seat beside me, Mr. Zach said, “Alright, you guys better sit still and keep quiet. I’ll be in the office, which is just across the hall, where I can hear everything, do you understand?”

Without waiting for us to respond, he turned away and squeezed his body out of the doorframe.

I dug my hand into my bag and retrieved the book I was currently reading. Opening the page to where my bookmark was, I picked up where I’d last left off. I was only able to finish reading one paragraph when Colin suddenly got up to his feet and pressed his back to the wall. I watched as he inched towards the purposely left ajar door and peered out.

“Colin,” I whispered, afraid to be heard by Mr. Zach, “go back to your seat.”

“Now’s not the time to be a good student, Seven,” he said, still looking out of the door. “I’m hungry.”

“You didn’t think of getting food before coming to detention?” I asked him, shaking my head.

He turned back to look at me. “I don’t exactly wake up earlier than seven o’clock just to get breakfast, so no, I didn’t think of getting food before coming here,” he said, rolling his eyes at me. He extended a hand to me. “Now, are you coming or what?”

“Me?” I squealed. “No way! I’m not getting into any more trouble just because you want to eat.” I decided not to dwell over the fact that Colin was asking me to go out and eat him—almost like a date.

Colin opened his mouth to reply, but then the sound of heavy footsteps suddenly came and his eyes went wide. He sprinted to his chair and had just landed on the seat when Mr. Zach poked his head inside the room and glared at us. “Didn’t I tell you two to keep quiet?!”

I trained my eyes on my book, not planning on responding, but Colin said with a whine to his voice, “But, Big Zach, I’m hungry.”

“Well, suck it up, pretty boy,” the substitute teacher spat. “You’ll have to wait until I dismiss you from detention.” He was just about to leave again when he sharply turned back to warn us, “Another noise and I won’t be so lenient anymore, got it?”

And with that, he left.

The moment he was out of sight, Colin sprang up to his feet once again, but as he passed by me, I reached out and grabbed the hem of his shirt. “Didn’t you hear what he just said?” I hissed under my breath.

“No, because all I hear is your cowardice,” he told me matter-of-factly as he began putting his still slightly wet coat on.

I scowled at him. “I’m not a coward.”

“Oh, yeah?” he asked, crossing his arms and looking down at me. “If you’re not a coward, then prove it. Drop that book of yours, stop dreaming of another person’s adventure, and come have your own with me.”

I looked up at him, meeting his eyes. I knew I shouldn’t do this. I’d already gotten myself into detention thanks to Colin, and I didn’t want any more trouble. I just wanted to sit back in my comfort zone and read until all of this was over and I could go home.

Is that really what you want? my mind whispered.

I didn’t answer the question—both Colin’s and my own. I sat there for a while, thinking it over, until finally I rolled my eyes and said, “Oh, alright.”

As I started to get up, Colin pumped his fist in the air and half-whispered, half-yelled, “Yes! Who knew I was so good at convincing people?”

I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. “We’ll just get some food real quick and then come back, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever—come on!” he said excitedly and then reached out to grab my hand. I didn’t have the time to digest the sensation of his skin against mine because Colin pulled me towards the door of the library, his steps quick and light.

I was just about to tell him that we were surely going to be seen, but I glanced up at the teachers’ office and found Mr. Zach leaning back in a recliner and reading a comic book with a black pair of headphones covering his pink little ears.

He probably wouldn’t hear a thing even if some monk was standing right in front of him and banging on a gong like there was no tomorrow.

Nevertheless I tried not to let my sneakers squeak against the polished floor as we raced down the empty hall. Colin was dashing off like a leopard on the trail of prey, his long legs easily carrying him across the floor, while I was just stumbling along after him.

But I had to admit that the feeling was amazing—the pumping of your heart in your chest, the wind in your hair, and the bounce in your feet that’s almost like flying.

By the time we reached the entrance of the school building, though, the feeling was gone and I was left wheezing like a dying horse.

“See? It wasn’t so bad, right?” he asked, grinning at me and not even looking close to tired.

“Please…that was…nothing,” I panted, trying to keep up my smile.

Colin laughed and said, “Okay, come on. I know a convenience store really close by.” He moved to open the door but I held him back by his forearm.

“Wait,” I said, “I forgot to bring my umbrella.”

“It’s no biggie,” he said, raising his voice over the roar of the rain as he swung the door open. “We can share my coat!” He pulled the collar of his coat open and draped it over both of our heads. I had to scoot in closer to him, our sides pressed up against each other so that I could fit underneath. “Ready?”

I nodded quietly, suddenly forgetting how to use my vocal chords while I was this close to Colin. We ducked out of our shade and into the rain. My fingers found their own way to Colin’s shirt, gripping it as we ran. Our shoes and jeans got wet from the puddles but we didn’t stop until we were at the driver’s side of the car.

Colin fumbled with the keys for a moment, and once the door was unlocked, he pushed me in. I slid into the car and then hopped over to the passenger seat so that he could take the spot behind the wheel. After slamming the door shut, he turned the key in the ignition and immediately switched the heater on. My hands were numb from the cold.

“Next stop: the convenience store,” Colin said, smiling.

It was only when we’d pulled out of the school’s parking lot and my fingers felt more or less alive, did I take in the interior of Colin’s pickup truck. It was pretty clean, but not spotless as if it had its dashboard wiped three times a day. I’d been in other guys’ cars and I knew a couple that were obsessed like that with their ‘babies’.

He had some schoolbooks littered on the backseat, and a backpack had been carelessly thrown onto the car floor by my feet. I didn’t want to look into his glove compartment or risk being called a creep but I did take a clandestine sniff. His truck smelled like—well, him.

As I shifted in the leather seat, I wondered how many girls had sat in the very spot I was in. Maria was one of them. I remembered her asking for a ride from Colin during that party. My stomach clenched at the memory of the party. I remembered Kiera and the game and the fact that Colin had kissed her—

“We’re here,” Colin said, his voice breaking through my reverie. The car jerked to a stop as he parked beside a blue Chevy.

He hopped out of the car, shielding himself from the harsh hits of the rain with his coat again. He ran over to my side of the car and clicked open the door. “Come on,” he told me and then I was right back underneath the coat with him.

We sprinted towards the one-story building with a glowing sign that beckoned us like a beacon of light.

Inside, it was empty save for an Asian guy who sat behind a counter playing a game on his phone, and a middle-aged woman shopping quietly.

I’d never been to this particular convenience store before but it was designed just like any other: aisles stacked with bags of chips, candies, delightful snacks and other kinds of prepared food. There were three refrigerators humming with life containing cold drinks; a side bar with a hot water dispenser and packets of coffee, cream and sugar; and four tables high off the ground, surrounded by stools.

“Go ahead and take a seat,” Colin said, nodding at one of the stools. I did as I was told while he walked off to the aisles and took something I couldn’t see. He turned to the counter and handed them to the Asian guy. After paying for them, he went to me and gave me what looked like a red Styrofoam cup. It had some foreign words that I couldn’t understand and was sealed at the top.

“Instant cup noodles?” I asked.

“Yup,” he said, taking his own cup noodles in one hand and grabbing my wrist with the other. He dragged me towards the side bar and started ripping the seal off.

“But I already ate breakfast,” I said and then flipped the cup around to look for the price tag, “and how much do I owe you?”

“It’s just noodles. It’s light on the stomach,” he said, tearing a packet of ingredients that he found inside the cup with his teeth. He poured the contents on the dried noodles. “And you don’t owe me anything; it’s okay. Oh, that reminds me.” He reached into his pocket and brought out a few bills. He shoved them into my hand.

“Wait, what for?” I was more than a little surprised at the money he was suddenly giving me.

“Think of it as my compensation for buying me and my friends’ lunch yesterday,” he said, shrugging.

“You mean when I was your slave?”

“What, did you really think I’d make you pay for all that?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me in surprise. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he emptied another packet over the cup. “Geez, have some faith in me.”

“Okay, but what about this?” I asked, raising the cup in my hand.

He laughed and said, “Stop worrying already. It’s my treat.”

I didn’t have a response to that, so I just pocketed the money and took the little folded part of the seal, pulling it to open the cup. Seeing as it was already paid for, I figured I might as well eat it.

As I tried to mirror what Colin had done with the packets, I sneaked glances at him from the corner of my eye. He was already moving towards the dispenser to fill his cup.

I was still hesitant on believing that he paid me back and bought me something—although it wasn’t that expensive anyway—just because he was being nice. Was Colin being nice?

I shook my head. No way. If he were being nice, he would hand me back the black notebook. He said that I should have some faith in him, but how could I when he’d been laughing at all of my failed attempts to get back what was rightfully mine?

Speaking of the black notebook, this was a pretty good chance to strike. But what plan could I use? I’d been too excited over the baby yesterday to think of another one.

I pressed a button on the dispenser and steaming hot water fell in a steady stream into my cup. I watched as Colin moved towards our table, holding his hot cup with the tips of his fingers and blowing at the steam. When I was satisfied with the amount of water, I stopped the hot water and started walking to our table as well.

Colin told me to wait for the noodles to soften before mixing it, and while I did, thunder rumbled outside.

Just like that, I suddenly remembered what my dad told me about reverse psychology. A plan, albeit a small one, started to form in my head, but I was still a little doubtful that it would actually work.

“Okay, I think it’s ready,” Colin announced, stabbing his noodles with a plastic fork and unearthing the spices that had drifted underneath. I did the same with mine and decided that I wouldn’t know if I didn’t try.

I cleared my throat as Colin slurped the noodles into his mouth hungrily. “So, um, I was thinking. You said the money’s compensation for the lunches I bought for you and your friends, right?”

He merely grunted as he began on another forkful of noodles.

“Well, why not just give me back the black notebook instead of money?” I asked, scooping up a modest amount of noodles and slurping on them. It was hot and the ingredients we’d poured made it spicy, but it was delicious.

He bit on the noodles to cut them off and laughed as he chewed. “Because I’m not ready to give it back,” he said simply.

“What! Why?” I asked. I felt the blood drain from my face. “Don’t tell me—are you copying the secrets I wrote in there?”

Colin looked horrified that I’d even suggested it. “No! I wouldn’t do that,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m just…waiting to see what other plans you have left.” With a naughty smirk, he turned back to his noodles.

Here comes the drama, I thought as I scowled at him. “You know what? Forget it. I’m tired of—of this stupid sick game that you’re playing on me. You can have the black notebook if you want it so much.” I looked away and focused on eating my noodles, drinking the soup angrily—if there was an angry way of drinking soup—and waited for Colin to call my bluff, to say that he would keep the black notebook to himself.

But to my shock and relief, Colin snapped his head towards me and asked, “Wait, what? Why?”

I fought the urge to grin. It worked! It actually worked!

I narrowed my eyes in an attempt to glare at Colin. “Why do you think? It doesn’t look like you’ll be giving it back to me anyway. No matter what plans I try to come up with, you’ll always just overthrow them and laugh at my face.” I tried to play the victim card, and from the worried look on Colin’s face, the black notebook was practically already in my hands.

I could taste sweet, sweet victory.

“Seven,” Colin said, reaching out to touch my forearm. “You’re not serious, are you?”

It was pretty hard to think properly with his hand on my arm like that, but I did my best by deepening my scowl. “Of course I am! I’m not like you, Colin. I don’t always make fun of everything.” I rolled my eyes for good measure.

Colin opened his mouth, perhaps to apologize or admit defeat. I never knew because suddenly he just stopped, as if he realized something. Seconds ticked by and my stomach twisted into a knot when he still wasn’t cowering in defeat like I expected him to. And then his lips curled into a smile as he said, “Okay.”

My head turned so fast that I heard my bones cracking. “Say what?”

“You don’t want your black notebook anymore? Fine,” he said, shrugging as if it couldn’t be helped, “but don’t eat your words later on.”

“No! Wait, I-I-I take it back!” I quickly stammered, waving my hands around.

Colin burst into manic laughter. He went on for a while like that, clutching his stomach and slamming his fist on the table while my face turned redder and redder each time. He was making so much noise in the now empty store that the Asian guy gave us a dirty look.

When he was done, he wiped a nonexistent tear from his eye and chuckled. “Whew, that was a good laugh.”

“I hate you so much right now,” I grumbled, frowning.

He laughed and ruffled my hair playfully, saying, “I love you too.”

Those four words made me freeze, the frown disappearing like vapor. Did he really just say that?

I slowly raised my head. Colin still had his hand in my hair but he’d stopped mussing it. He just sat there, mouth hanging slightly open and eyes wide. It lasted for only a second, and in the next he was grinning and returning to his cup noodles. It was so quick that I almost convinced myself that I was just imagining things.

I turned back to my own cup noodles and busied myself with filling my mouth. I tried not to think about what he’d just said, but every time my mind replayed the scene my cheeks grew hotter. I drank the soup quicker, the burning in my throat distracting me from already distracting thoughts.

After several intakes of the soup, I was starting to think that I’d transformed into a dragon or something. I was practically spewing coals. “Colin, so…hot,” I coughed.

“That’s what she said,” he coughed back, tears welling up in his eyes. “First one to finish wins. Loser buys the water.”

I shook my head. I didn’t think I could take another spoonful.

“Come on,” he said, fanning himself with his hand, “we have to get back anyways. Ready?”

It looked like he wouldn’t let me out of this one so I closed my eyes and nodded weakly.

“Go!” he rasped and practically dove towards his cup noodles. I frantically scooped up all the noodles at the very bottom of the cup and chewed them as fast as I could. I cut a glance towards Colin and saw him hurriedly drinking the soup with his spoon, the reddish liquid decreasing at an incredible rate.

Maybe it was some kind of competitive bone that I didn’t know I had in my body, but I knew I wasn’t going to let him win.

I threw the spoon down on the table and took the cup with two hands, bringing the brim to my mouth. I chugged on the remaining soup, each gulp feeling like I was swallowing fire.

I slammed the cup on the table with a bang and took a deep breath. I was done! I turned to Colin, expecting to see him giving me a smug smile and tease me for being such a loser, but I was surprised to see him still struggling to finish his cup noodles.

“I won…I actually won!” I exclaimed. I knew it was only a small petty challenge but it felt nice to win against Colin for once. I hopped off the stool and did a little victory dance. “I won! Oh yeah, I won! In your face, Colin!”

Colin watched me from his seat, his chin propped against his fist. “Yes, it is in my face,” he said, smiling. He almost seemed satisfied. With a chuckle, he got off the stool. “I’ll go buy the water.”

I was a little bummed that he wasn’t sulking like a spoilt child, but I wasn’t going to let him rain on my parade. Once I got the bottle of water in my hands, I downed its contents in record time, the cool liquid washing out the spice and soothing my throat.

“Alright, we need to ditch this place,” Colin said, pointing to the silver clock above the doors. It showed that we had half an hour of detention left.

We threw away the now empty cups and left the premises. I wasn’t quite sure, but I thought I heard the Asian guy sigh, “Finally.”

It wasn’t raining outside anymore so I didn’t have to share a coat with Colin, sadly. When we’d both climbed into the truck, he turned to me and asked, “So. Any regrets?”

I shook my head with a satisfied smile. “Nope,” I said, twisting my neck to look over at him, “I actually had fun.”

Colin grinned at my answer and ran his tongue over his lips as he looked away, preparing to drive the car out of there.

It was the truth. Although, yes, I wasn’t able to get the black notebook back again, I definitely couldn’t say that I’d wasted my morning. I also couldn’t say that I’d bored myself to death, which I probably would’ve if I’d chosen to stay behind at school.

It only took a little while for us to get back at school. We burst through the entrance of the building and ran down the hallways, only slowing down when we were near the library. We skidded to a halt and Colin craned his neck to check on Big Zach. He gestured to me that everything was clear, and then we both tiptoed back into the room.

I slid into my seat and took my abandoned book while Colin buried his face in his arms, pretending to have slept the entire time.

After a few minutes, I heard Big Zach yawn from the other room. Something creaked and after a nasty sneeze, he hobbled into the room, the fingers clutching his comic book now stained with cheesy powder. “Alright, you guys are dismissed,” he announced and, without waiting for our response, walked back to the teachers’ office.

“That was close,” I whispered, pressing a hand to my still pounding heart when I knew he was out of earshot.

“Not close enough,” Colin said, chuckling under his breath as he shouldered his backpack and started to get up. Something went ding! and he immediately shoved his hand into his pocket to pull out his phone.

As he stared at the screen, he said, “Oh, I’ve got to go. You’re going to be okay after this?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I asked, slowly backing out of the room.

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, looking at his phone and rolling his eyes, “maybe you’ll manipulate the cab driver with your say-one-thing-mean-the-other trick just so that you can get a smaller fee. You never know—maybe he won’t figure it out as fast as I did.” He tried and failed to stifle his snickers.

It took me a minute to understand what he was getting at, and when I finally did, I was having a pretty hard time trying not to throw my book at his head right then and there.

I didn’t think that joke needed a reply so, I clenched my jaw, turned on my heels, and started making my way out of there. Colin didn’t go after me—not that I was expecting him to—but I heard his laugh echo in the empty hallway. He called after me, “If it makes you feel any better, you helped make today the best birthday for me!”

That would’ve normally made me giddy with happiness. But right then, I didn’t care. I walked away fuming, both at the fact that Colin was rubbing it in my face that I’d failed pathetically—which I was already aware of without any of his help—and at myself. Birthday boy or not, he was a jerk. I was supposed to hate him.

So why didn’t I?