Math for Fashion

I don’t really know you, but what you do screams in my ears.

Julio flirts with some girl in the cafeteria.  She has big, watery goo-goo eyes.  He winks at me the whole time (and I almost wish he was there in the room with me and Big Sister the other day when we laughed about him and said things that would have made him cry).  But it's Adrianna that makes him stop and makes Goo-Goo Eyes disappear, and after that Julio passes by where I’m sitting and asks, “Did you have fun yesterday?”  He kisses my cheek and takes off before I have a chance to call him names.

Did I imagine that kiss?  Julio doesn’t eat lunch with me today.  He sits with Adrianna, Gitt, and Bev.  I’m a few feet away, but he acts as if I’m not there and his friends don’t seem to see me or anyone else.  They own the whole place.

“What is the math for fashion?” Gitt asks.

She reads the text on her phone about Math for Fashion, an after school presentation by the math department.

Adrianna makes a face.  “Staying after school to talk algebra and geometry isn’t my thing.  Even if cool clothes are involved.”

“Did someone say bra?”  Julio asks.

“Get out,” Adrianna says.  She punches Julio’s arm.

“Quit boxing.  I'm eating with you today.”  Julio says.

Gitt slides closer to Julio.

“Will you go with me?”  Gitt asks.

Julio cradles his arm.  “What do I have to do?”

“Be a girl,” Bev says.

Julio looks at Adrianna as if he expects another punch.  “That isn't true," Julio says.  "You just have to be in style.  Are you gonna come and watch?”  He looks over at Adrianna.  And Adrianna stares back at Julio.  She doesn’t say anything for a few seconds and he eyes her fist the whole time.

I don’t know Julio’s friends well, but after the way Adrianna reacted when Julio and I ate lunch together, my guess is she’ll go to that math thing, even if Julio never asks her nicely.

I grab a wad of napkins and use a few of them to wipe my eyes but most of them go towards mopping up the pool of grease on top of my pizza.  And I am diverted from Julio’s drama with his other girlfriend by chatter about this year’s prom king.  That chatter goes like this:

What’s your guess for prom king?
That guy in band, the one that plays the big drum.

It’s called a bass drum.  They all play that drum.

Who?

The hot guys.  Last year's king did too.

What about the queen.

Easy.  Gitt Roberts.

And then this future king passes by and sits down next to his future queen.  I look away from all of them and curse my stupid luck.  Of all the people I could have picked to tell my great lie about having cancer to, I picked the most popular guy at Denman high.

Adrianna and Gitt tell Julio how to look and act like a girl.  The future prom king, Mickey laughs.  It doesn’t matter if they are aware, I wonder if any of them really knows how much Julio would enjoy dressing up in Gitt Robert’s clothes.