Chapter 3

Was it just Ava May’s imagination or were boys more flirtatious than ever? All morning it seemed that every young handsome face in the high school was locked on her. She got more winks and smiles than she’d ever encountered and honestly, it was becoming a little unnerving.

Ava May walked into the lady’s room. Her cheeks were warm from all the attention she seemed to be getting suddenly. She looked in the mirror, but nothing seemed out of place. She thought that maybe her school uniform was revealing more than she meant to, but she was dressed to her parents’ prudish standards. She wouldn’t risk getting caught rolling the waist of her skirt to make it shorter like some girls did, even if it was super cute.

“Ava May, you are glowing!” It was her bubbly friend Abbie. “What did you do? I need to know your secret! Did Nana Evy cut your hair?”

“Nana Evy is the only person that ever cuts my hair.” Huffed Ava May in exasperation. “I di’n’t do anything different!”

“Actually, it doesn’t matter what you did.” Abbie bounced on her toes excitedly. “We’ve got to take advantage of this! You still need a date for homecoming.” Abbie grabbed Ava Mays hand and dragged her out of the lady’s room.

“Everyone already has a date! I thought we were goin’ as a friend group.” Ava May argued, but she didn’t resist Abbie.

“I know how to ferret out those stragglers!”

There was Blake across the hall in front of the library. There were just a few more minutes before the lunch bell rang. Ava May’s eyes were almost habitually drawn to Blake, she’d had a crush on him since grade six when he got tall enough to make the basketball team.

Abbie dragged her to the middle of the hall before she exaggeratedly said, “Are you serious? You don’t have a date to homecomin’ yet?”

It didn’t go completely silent but there was a noticeable dip in the noise of the busy hallway. Abbie had accomplished her goal of attracting some attention. Ava May’s face was no longer just warm, it was burning with embarrassment. She took a quick glance at Blake and made eye contact for a second before she looked to the ground. She imagined she resembled a tomato as it was suddenly much too hot in the school hallway. Despite the air conditioning she began to worry she would have sweat stains which just made things so much worse.

The lunch bell rang, and she let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Gotta go!” Her voice came out so quietly it was barely audible in the busy hallway. She grabbed Abbie by the sleeve and retreated to the cafeteria.

Even though Ava May had had her eyes and her heart set on the handsome young Blake for so long, it seemed he was always preoccupied with another girl. Then Ava May started high school and things changed quite a bit. There were three junior high schools that fed into the county high school so there were suddenly more fish in the sea.

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Although she still smiled shyly if Blake happened to glance her way, she had resolved not to give him her dessert at lunchtime or to pass notes to him anymore. Those things seemed distinctly like something only immature junior high students did. Besides, he became less and less interesting as she met other handsome young men. There was Laurence from math class, who was always willing to help if she didn’t understand a concept. Hunter in homeroom, who seemed to always be there to hold the door. And Bennet, who she didn’t have any classes with, but he always winked at her in the cafeteria and asked her how her day was.

Lately, Bennet had been saving a spot in the lunch line for her because his class was a few steps closer than hers. He waved to her from his spot in line. Abbie brought her lunch, so she went ahead to their table.

“Hey, Bennet!” She was always pleased to see him waiting there. It reminded her of a loyal puppy, although he was not puppy-like at all otherwise. He was quite a bit taller than her and always wore the sleeves of his school uniform rolled to the elbow.

“Ava May, how has your day been?” he asked with sincerity.

“A little weird… but yesterday was amazing!” Ava May responded with enthusiasm. She was still bursting with excitement about the beautiful gown that Nana Evy had gifted her.

“We’re only halfway, so there is still potential for today to be amazing as well.” Bennet smiled and casually put his hands in his pockets. They were still a fair bit back in line so there was plenty of time to talk. “What made yesterday so amazin’?”

“Nana Evy gave me a beautiful gown to wear to homecoming!” The skirt of her school uniform flared as she couldn’t help spinning as she described the gown like she was currently wearing it. In reality, she was dressed in the school uniform like everyone else. “It’s absolutely magical!”

With lunch in hand, Bennet walked Ava May to her seat by Abbie. Bennet didn’t normally sit with them, he sat at a table with a group of rowdy boys, but he seemed to linger like he had more to say.

“Ava May, would you…” he was cut off mid-sentence as Blake reached over Ava May’s shoulder and plucked the brownie from her lunch tray. Ava May gasped as she stood up to face Blake with a look of indignation. The brownie was already gone, into Blake's mouth.

“I couldn’t help but notice my lack of desserts this year,” Blake said as he swallowed the last of Ava May’s brownie and gave her a lopsided grin in exchange.

“Oh no, here we go,” Abbie muttered in irritation.

“Blake you’re so immature.” The crimson returned to Ava May’s cheeks as she responded. “I’m not giving you my desserts anymore.”

“Like I said, I noticed! So, I reckoned I had to take matters into my own hands.” Blake responded without missing a beat. “I can see you’re a bit upset, though.”

“I am.” Ava May crossed her arms and scowled at him.

“I’ll make it up to you. You can be my date to homecoming, what do ya say?” Blake was full of so much confidence he nearly forgot to pose it as a question.

Ava May was shocked into silence, this was the first time she had really gotten any kind of reciprocation from him. She had all but given up on ever going on a date with Blake, but now this wasn’t just an ordinary date, it was homecoming! She almost couldn’t find her voice to respond, but she finally did with a quiet, “okay” and a little nod.

“It’s a date then!” Blake clapped her on the shoulder roughly and walked away.

Ava May sat down hard in her seat next to Abbie who was shaking her head solemnly. “I don’t know about this.”

Then Ava May remembered that Bennet had been about to tell her something. She looked up to see he was already sitting across the room at his usual spot. She shrugged her shoulders; it must not have been that important.