Side Note: I Think I Love You (Side Notes Book 1) - COMPLETE

Chapter 38 - Attie

School ending this early in the day only means one thing in October.

Homecoming week is coming to a close.

I'm just coming out of my sixth period—in which we did absolutely NOTHING—and decided to meet Amy at my locker so we can walk over to her aunt's car. The plan was to grab smoothies and watch as many Disney movies as humanly possible before getting our nails done.

Even after everything with Ian happened, Amy convinced me to attend homecoming. I had bought the ticket, my dress, and shoes, so it would go to waste if I didn't use them.

Amy has a big smile on my face when I approach her. "What's with the face?"

"What face?" She asks innocently, the smile not disappearing.

I point to her smile. "That. Is Carter able to come after all?"

She shakes her head, curls hitting her face. "No. I'm just excited to see you, that's all. Can't a girl be excited to hang out with her best friend for once? Especially since there's a chance you're spending the night at my place this time."

"That's still up for debate." I know that my grounding sentence is over but I'm still unsure about spending the night there. The last time I did, we accidentally caused a small fire because I lit a candle close to a bouquet of poppies.

Side note: burning poppies can lead to making extremely weak opium. Don't do drugs.

Since then, I haven't touched a burner or anything that can light fires. Like matches, lighters, or even holding a glass at a certain angle to the sunlight and aiming that ray at an inanimate object.

"Come on, At-Bat. It'll be fun! Mary's testing out a new recipe for Dad's birthday on Tuesday. You love being a taste-tester for her recipes, right?"

I don't say anything as I enter the combination to my locker and open it up. I notice a book I knew wasn't there when I checked earlier this morning. It's not from my bag because I haven't gone back to my locker during the pep rally that I was forced to attend (because of Jason) and in between classes.

I pull it out and notice the cover. A sketchbook. One without a cracked spine and a faded cover. But the pages are crisp and clean. I open it halfway only to find blank pages and close it before turning to Amy. "Did you put this in here?" I ask her.

She shakes her head, indigo eyes wide. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ames..."

Amy holds her hands up. "I swear! I didn't buy anything but washi tape and a box when we went to Michaels the other day. Maybe Jason put the sketchbook there."

That's not possible. It could be some sort of prank, but our little prank war has seceded since I placed the fake spider under his duvet earlier this month.

"Who knows?" Amy says. "Maybe it's an early Christmas gift or something. I say: don't question it."

I look back down at the book in my hands. Jason and Amy are the only two people who know my locker combination. I believe Amy when she said that it wasn't her and I know my brother would not give out a gift so early—he waits until the month before. Yeah, he's pretty particular about things like this—so how could it have possibly ended up in my locker?

Maybe...

No. That's not possible. I shove that thought to the back of my mind and place that book into my backpack. "You know what? Let's head over. Maybe we can sneak in some leftover frosting."

She loops her arm around mine with a playful smile on her face and pulls me towards the exit, alongside the multiple students escaping to their freedom that awaits. Since today was only a half-day, we were released from school at noon and there isn't a student that hangs back just because they miss spending time here until three in the afternoon. "That's the spirit, At-Bat."