All I Need is a Yes (Luna East Arts Academy)

II. Megan is Ditched

She was staring at him, and she was aware of it. She couldn’t say that she was surprised when she didn’t see Chad on his usual chair, because she was shocked, taken aback by the sudden change of things. She was so used to him sitting on the chair opposite her. Even if she wouldn’t look at him, she knew that he was there. But today, she didn’t need to look at his usual position to know that he wasn’t there.

So she looked for him. She wasn’t used to this. She was always used to Chad looking for her. She didn’t have to look for him, because he was always there, showing up in places he wasn’t supposed to be. It was always that way. But now she couldn’t help it. She had to look for him, just so to put the balance back.

She saw him sitting across Toby Rubios. Even though she wouldn’t admit it, she knew who Toby was. She once attended his younger sister’s birthday party. She was even surprised when she saw all the Star Wars figures on the displays in his house. She always loved Anakin Skywalker.

“Hey, Megan, are you listening?”

She turned back to the people at her table. “Huh?” She heard someone snickered but she decided to ignore it. “I’m sorry. What are you saying, again?”

Lucy gave an impatient sigh. She was with the theater, so she loved being dramatic. “I’m asking you if you will join us later at Carrie’s. We don’t have to attend rehearsals today so we’re planning to have fun. Besides, all the boys are going to watch football.”

Carrie was also with the theater. Megan didn’t join or even audition for it. She was never a performer. She always thought of herself as sporty so she was with the cheerleading team with Len—the closest friend she got. Yes, Megan had many friends, but it wasn’t like she told everyone everything about herself, particularly her feelings.

“Oh. I’m not sure. The cheer—”

But before she could proceed, Carrie interrupted her. “Well, if you can’t, it’s fine with us. Lucy and I will just hang out together.”

She wasn’t sure if she should be hurt or relieved so she decided to feel nothing. “Okay.”

She went back to her food, and then when she felt like everybody was finally ignoring her, she looked back at Chad.

By now, Toby was already gone. Chad was just sitting alone at his table. Then, he turned around, their eyes locking. She couldn’t understand why suddenly she couldn’t look away. Her mind was telling her to stop staring, but she couldn’t, and she was angry with herself for that.

When she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, there came Johan, senior class president, hovering at Chad’s table. It was her chance to look away, and thank God, her head followed.

“Are you looking at rubber band guy?” Corby asked from beside her.

Her friends started to call Chad the rubber band guy since the day he confessed to everyone that he collected them. It sounded so funny that everyone laughed at him. If she remembered it right, she also laughed. Nobody could get over it that whenever they see a rubber band they would start laughing and remember that at one point in their lives they met a guy collecting rubber bands. But now, she couldn’t see what was so funny about it. It was just stupid.

“No,” she told Corby. “Why would I look at him? I was looking for Len.”

“Len has an appointment with the dentist,” Corby explained. “She’ll be back here after lunch. And she promised she’ll watch my game.” He flashed her a dazzling smile.

Corby was with the football team, and he was Len’s boyfriend. He was a quarterback, and he was a good one.

“Okay, then.” She shrugged. “Guess I’ll just talk to her later.”