Chapter Seventeen — Sandra

The week flew by, and Sandra had never been happier. Mostly. As she got ready for school on Friday, she bypassed one of her Day of the Dead shirts for a conservative dark blue one. She bent down to tie her shoes but paused to finger her wrists. Her spiked bracelets had always gotten in the way, her shoelaces snagging on them. Sandra didn’t need to worry about that now, but as annoying as it had been, she missed it.

It was worth it, though, if it meant being with Blair. She knew he didn’t mind her bracelets and skulled attire, but when she’d committed to going back to school, she had also decided that if dressing like a normal teenage girl would make things easier for both herself and Blair, she’d do it.

And it had worked, thus far. Sandra hadn’t been called into the principal’s office once that whole week, even with her and Blair’s increasing displays of public affection. It wasn’t anything crazy, but they’d become more comfortable with holding hands and small kisses in front of their friends.

And it felt good.

Sandra now looked forward to school every day, and her heart felt light today as she hurried through the halls, knowing Blair would be waiting by her locker like he had been every morning that week.

She couldn’t stop the grin that burst across her face when he came into view, but as she quickened her steps, Sandra realized he wasn’t alone. Her grin faded and her steps slowed when she saw it was Julianna with him. Julianna’s hand rested on Blair’s bicep, and she was laughing, like she had no idea that he and Sandra were dating.

But Julianna totally knew.

Ugly jealousy reared its head, and when their gazes met, Julianna must have seen it radiating from Sandra, because Julianna dropped her hand from Blair’s arm, gave him a little wave, then sped away before Sandra could get to them.

“Hey, princess,” Blair said with a smile when he turned and saw her. He pulled her in and placed a small kiss on her forehead. “I missed you.”

“We texted until midnight, then again when we woke up this morning. I’m not sure how much you could have missed me,” she said, trying to relax in his arms. The image of Julianna touching him kept her from being completely successful.

Blair pulled back and looked her in the eyes. His whole body radiated happiness. “As long as we’re apart, I’ll always miss you.” And then he grimaced. “That was so corny. Like, stupidly corny.”

Sandra laughed and was finally able to relax. She pulled Blair back in, and with her arms wrapped around his waist, she gave him a little squeeze. “I like corny.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Sandra stayed nestled against his muscular chest—thank goodness for the swim team—and she didn’t think she’d be able to let go. Forget class, she’d be fine just staying like this all day.

Amanda’s voice broke through, ruining the moment. “Aww…you guys are so cute.”

Sandra groaned and tucked her head down. “Make her go away.”

“Hey, that’s not any way to talk about your best friend,” Amanda protested. She then made things more awkward by wrapping her arms around Sandra, creating a group hug that looked more like a Sandra sandwich.

Blair didn’t seem to mind, and he laughed, but Sandra wasn’t having any of it.

“I think it’s time to go to class,” Sandra said, unravelling herself from Blair and ducking under Amanda’s arms.

Gracie had just walked up, and her lips pulled down in disappointment. “Awww, I missed all the love.”

“Take a road trip out to MIT. I’m sure Markus can help you out,” Sandra said. “That’s what boyfriends are for. Not…” She gestured between herself, Gracie and Amanda, and wrinkled her nose. “Don’t get me wrong, I love you guys…but sometimes there’s a little too much love.” Sandra grabbed Blair’s hand and pulled him down the hall. He waved over his shoulder at her friends, then wrapped one arm around her waist.

“They’re just messing with you. You know that, right?” he asked.

Sandra tilted her head to look at him. “What do you mean?”

“They know all that stuff bugs you—that’s why they like doing it.” Blair gave her a smile that said she should have known that.

Ugh. She should have seen that her friends were just teasing her, but Sandra was still so awkward about everything when Blair was around.

“See you at lunch?” he asked as they stopped outside his classroom. He gave her a quick kiss.

“Of course.” The feel of his lips lingered, and she practically skipped all the way to her physics class.

* * * * * *

It was at the end of Sandra’s third class, right before lunch, that her phone started vibrating. And kept vibrating. Dang, that was loud. She might as well have the volume up. Sandra struggled to get the phone out of her pocket to silence it.

Why would someone be calling her during class? Unless it was her parents. They wouldn’t call unless there had been an emergency.

Sandra finally freed her phone and held it under the desk, hoping the teacher wouldn’t notice as she checked. Except, she didn’t have any missed calls. Sandra did, however, have eight text messages waiting. And they were still coming in.

Six from Amanda.

Two…now three…nope, four from Gracie.

What the heck? Weren’t they still in class?

Sandra flicked through Amanda’s first.

I just saw the picture. Holy crap.

It’s blowing up all over the Internet. You’re going to be famous!

Why am I the last to see it?

You know that you and Blair can never break up now, right?

Not that I’m trying to freak you out.

The last text only contained a link.

Sandra clicked on it and was taken to the home page for the rock-climbing gym.

And there, taking up her entire phone, was the picture they had taken of her and Blair. She exited the site and swiped through her social media accounts.

Amanda was right. The picture was everywhere, and someone had tagged her. Suddenly Sandra had more friend requests and notifications than she knew what to do with.

“Is there something I can help you with?” her teacher asked, approaching her desk.

Sandra slipped her phone into her pocket and smiled up at him. “Nope.”

He glanced at the clock, as if ascertaining whether it was worth it to make a big deal out of Sandra having her phone out. There were only two minutes left in class, so he merely shook his head at her before walking away.

She should have felt relieved, but instead it felt as if a boulder sat in her stomach.

Sandra’s friends thought the popularity of the climbing picture was a good thing, but she had been walking a thin line this last week, trying to stay under the radar.

That picture was going to ruin everything.