Say it, Ethan.

I just did.

Look at me.

I’m looking right at you.

I looked down into my chocolate milk.

“Get it? Savannah Snow? Ice Queen?” Link dumped vanilla ice cream on top of his French fries.

Lena caught my eye, blushing. She reached her hand under the table. I took it in mine, then almost yanked my hand away, the shock of her touch was so strong. It really was like sticking my hand in a wall socket. The way she looked at me, even if I couldn’t hear what she was thinking, I would’ve known.

If you have something to say, Ethan, just say it.

Yeah. That.

Say it.

But we didn’t need to say it. We were all by ourselves, in the middle of the crowded lunchroom, in the middle of a conversation with Link. Between the two of us, we had no idea what Link was even talking about, anymore. “Get it? It’s only funny because it’s true. You know, Ice Queen, Savannah is one.”

Lena let go of my hand and threw a carrot at Link. She couldn’t stop smiling. He thought she was smiling at him. “Okay. I get it, Ice Queen. It’s still stupid.” Link stuck a fork into the gloppy mess on his tray.

“It makes no sense. It doesn’t even snow here.”

Link smiled at me over his ice cream fries. “She’s jealous. You better watch out. Lena just wants to be elected Ice Queen so she can dance with me when they make me Ice King.”

Lena laughed in spite of herself. “You? I thought you were saving yourself for the track coach.”

“I am, and this is gonna be the year she falls for me.”

“Link spends the whole night trying to come up with witty things to say when she walks by.”

“She thinks I’m funny.”

“Funny looking.”

“This is my year. I can feel it. I’m gonna get Snow King this year, and Coach Cross is finally gonna see me up there on the stage with Savannah Snow.”

“I can’t really see how it plays out from there.” Lena began to peel a blood orange.

“Oh, you know, she’ll be struck by my good looks and charm and musical talent, especially if you write me a song. Then she’ll give in and dance with me and follow me up to New York after graduation, to be my groupie.”

“What is that, like an after-school special?” The orange peel came off in one long spiral.

“Your girlfriend thinks I’m special, dude.” Fries were falling out of his mouth.

Lena looked at me. Girlfriend. We both heard him say it.

Is that what I am?

Is that what you want to be?

Are you asking me something?

It wasn’t the first time I’d thought about it. Lena had felt like my girlfriend for a while now. When you considered everything we’d been through together, it was sort of a given. So I don’t know why I had never said it, and I don’t know why it was hard to say it now. But there was something about saying the words that made it more real.

I guess I am.

You don’t sound so sure.

I grabbed her other hand under the table and found her green eyes.

I’m sure, L.

Then I guess I’m your girlfriend.

Link was still talking. “You’ll think I’m special when Coach Cross is hangin’ all over me at the dance.” Link got up and tossed his tray.

“Just don’t be thinking my girlfriend’s saving you a dance.” I tossed mine.

Lena’s eyes lit up. I was right; she not only wanted to be asked, she wanted to go. In that moment, I knew I didn’t care what was on her regular-high-school-girl to-do list. I was going to make sure she got to do everything on it.

“Are you guys goin’?”

I looked at her expectantly and she squeezed my hand.

“Yeah, I guess.”

This time she smiled for real. “And Link, how about I save you two dances? My boyfriend won’t mind. He would never tell me who I can and can’t dance with.” I rolled my eyes.

Link put his fist up and I tapped my knuckles against his. “Yeah, I bet.”

The bell rang and lunch was over. Just like that, I not only had a date to the winter formal, I had a girlfriend. And not just a girlfriend, for the first time in my whole life, I had almost used the L word. In the middle of the cafeteria, in front of Link.

Talk about hot lunch.

12.13

Melting

I don’t see why she can’t meet you here. I was hopin’ to see Melchizedek’s niece all dolled up in her fancy dress.” I was standing in front of Amma so she could tie my bow tie. Amma was so short, she had to stand three stairs up from me to reach my collar. When I was a kid, she used to comb my hair and tie my necktie before we went to church on Sundays. She had always looked like she was so proud, and that’s how she was looking at me now.

“Sorry. No time for a photo session. I’m picking her up from her house. The guy is supposed to pick up the girl, remember?” That was a stretch, considering I was picking her up in the Beater. Link was catching a ride with Shawn. The guys on the team were still saving him a seat at their new lunch table, even though he usually sat with Lena and me.

Amma yanked on my tie and snorted a laugh. I don’t know what she thought was so funny, but it made me edgy.

“It’s too tight. I feel like it’s strangling me.” I tried to wedge a finger in between my neck and the collar of my rented jacket from Buck’s Tux, but I couldn’t.

“Isn’t the tie, it’s your nerves. You’ll do fine.” She surveyed me approvingly, like I imagined my mom would have if she’d been here. “Now, let me see those flowers.” I reached behind me for a small box, a red rose surrounded by white baby’s breath inside. They looked pretty ugly to me, but you couldn’t get much better from Gardens of Eden, the only place in Gatlin.