Part Three

Two weeks later, Jen found herself in the same place—watching Ashley skip off (this time to cheer leading PRACTISE) as she collected her things. It was a Friday afternoon, which meant everyone was staying around even longer than usual. Snatches of conversations floated around her, most concerning things like parties, going to the game that night, movies, dates… all of the same stuff. For some odd reason, Jen couldn’t help but wish she’d bump into Esmeralda again—and for that reason, she was even slower than usual.1

Sliding her A.P. English book into her bag, Jen took her coat off the hook on the side of her locker. Her perfectly lined, carefully labelled and covered book all rested horizontally at the bottom of her locker. Her gym shoes were carefully placed next to the books, and the precisely tied, black gym bag sat on top of them, containing her clean uniform—black shorts and an over-sized, white T-shirt. A few centimetres above all of this was the straight line of the built-in steel shelf, and resting on top of that were several three-ring binders from different subjects, a few notebooks, two folders and the book she’d been reading for English. Jen checked to make sure everything was in its place—although she knew it already was. 2

With a sigh, Jen closed her bag and locker and stepped into the hallway. She looked around at the chattering people surrounding her, and started to walk away.3

Suddenly, a red blur flew past her, nearly knocking her down. Abruptly, the blur stopped a few lockers down from her, and Jen caught a whiff of fruity perfume before she was engrossed in a huge hug. 4

When El pulled away from her, Jen was a bit shocked, but smiling her head off. 5

“Hi Jen! Did I bump in to you?” El grinned, flashing Jen her best smile.6

Jen laughed. “No, but that was close.”7

Jennifer had only seen El a few times after the collision, but somehow this strange, energetic, Hispanic intrigued her. But for a such an interesting person, El had some pretty boring clothes… today she wore light blue jeans and a white tank top, complete with button-up red shirt. 8

“Oh, hey,” El seemed to have calmed down significantly. “I just had an idea! Do you want to come to come with me to work? We can hang out afterwards.”9

“Oh…” Jen hadn’t really been into the social gathering lately, “Where do you work?”10

“Silly me! Duh,” El slapped her head a little, “I work at my family’s restaurant. They love it when we bring friends by.”11

“Well…” Jen stalled. She couldn’t exactly say no, now could she? “Okay…”12

“Great! My big brother’s picking me up in a few minutes—how do you usually get home?”13

“Er, the bus.”14