Jenna laughed. “That’s what I thought. We’re partnering up. Why don’t you and Jo start down on E hall?”
Good move, Jenna. If Jenna openly trusted us to be alone together, maybe the 'bots would lay off. They wouldn’t feel the need to protect her from the Big Bad Boyfriend.
“Sounds good, Jenna. Thanks again for calling me to help,” Josephine added with a smile. Her smile was a little less believable in comparison with Jenna’s, but Jenna was a cheerleader—she had a lot of practice. Besides, Jenna wasn’t the one they wanted to crucify. Either way, things looked good for Jenna. If I were cheating on her, not that I ever would, she would be the saint. If I wasn’t, she was the understanding and mature girlfriend who trusted her boyfriend and helped those socially beneath her.
Twenty minutes later, Josephine and I had hung up all of the posters Jenna had given us. We worked silently and methodically. We were a good team. “This coffee is pretty good,” I said as we both took a seat on one of the benches in the school, neither one of us able to stomach hanging another Go! Fight! Win! poster.
“Big compliment coming from the coffee snob,” she replied, stretching her long legs in front of her.
“I am not a coffee snob. Jeesh. For someone who claims she is bullied, you certainly have called me a lot of names this morning,” I replied.
“Like I could hurt your feelings,” she scoffed.
I cleared my throat. “Maybe you could,” I replied quietly. Because she did. Even if everything she said was honest, it still wasn’t fun to hear them. That’s the price of truth. I could see her start to apologize, but I stopped her. “Don’t say you’re sorry. I think for this whole partnership to work we have to be honest with each other.”
“I think you’re right. You want to know how else this partnership could become stronger?” she asked.
“Do tell.”
“You bring the coffee tomorrow.”
I clanked my cup against hers in a mock cheers. “No problem.”
She smiled, wrapping the drawstring of her hoodie around and around her free wrist. “Good. I can’t be supporting your addiction with my six dollars an hour I make at the library.”
“Six dollars an hour to shelve books? They are really overpaying you,” I joked.
“Funny,” Josephine said as she began to stand up.
“Where you going?” I asked.
“People are going to start coming in here any moment. You know, that whole school thing?”
“And?”
Josephine laughed, pulling her hood over her head. She took a step away from me. “You did real good telling Jenna we’re friends and all, and coming to the meet, but you’re not ready for that yet. I respect that. I can’t expect you to handle things the same way I do. Besides, it’s not like I’ve ever been popular, so can’t say I entirely understand the situation.”
She was right. The thought of the entire school walking in and seeing Josephine and I sitting on a bench with our coffees seemed pretty daunting. I’d rather the news work its way through the school from the mouths of the bots. Less in my face. I wasn’t above admitting the whole thing still made me a little nervous.
I nodded. Josephine nodded back before turning away from me and heading down the hallway.
I stood up. “Wait. So, we’re friends then?”
“Looks like it,” she called over her shoulder.
“Have a great day, Jo,” I called out, liking the way her name sounded on my tongue.
Chapter 21
So, apparently, our whole time traveling thing isn’t limited to the future. Super. I threw down a flier promising a sure-fire way to protect your computer from Y2K and headed to the front of the school.
After the shift, I came out of the bathroom to find Shepherd High full of students. Not exactly the future world I remembered. Gone was the dust. Gone was the death. Gone was the sense of dread and foreboding that seemed to consume me every second I existed in that world.
Now all I felt was utter confusion. It wasn’t much different than what I felt any given day, but this time I had to worry about fitting in. Jo was lucky. Most of the kids seemed to be devouring the whole hoodie look. Did all the kids in the 90’s have body issues, or was it just an obsession with ennui? Ennui. See, I was paying attention when Jenna was talking about her French class.
I ducked my head and tried to blend in with the crowd. Me. Logan Middleton.
I bee lined it to the front of the school, almost stopping dead in my tracks when I saw someone actually using a beeper. A beeper! I hoped Jo still intended to me meet in front of the school. Despite the change in location, it seemed like a smart idea to keep the same plan intact. When I found her shuffling her feet awkwardly in the front lobby, her hood pushed almost entirely over her face, I almost cheered.