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Back Dear Universe Save as PDF
Contents ( 64)
  1. Copyright
  2. Contents
  3. Prologue
  4. {OCTOBER}
  5. Days ’til prom: Eons
  6. 1
  7. SECOND HALF OF SENIOR YEAR {JANUARY}
  8. Days ’til prom: 103
  9. 2
  10. Days ’til prom: Still 103
  11. 3
  12. Days ’til prom: 100
  13. 4
  14. Days ’til prom: Still 100
  15. 5
  16. Days ’til prom: 89
  17. {FEBRUARY}
  18. Days ’til prom: 83
  19. 6
  20. Days ’til prom: Still 83
  21. 7
  22. Days ’til prom: 65
  23. Days ’til prom: 64
  24. 8
  25. Days ’til prom: 61
  26. Days ’til prom: 57
  27. 9
  28. {MARCH}
  29. Days ’til prom: 51
  30. 10
  31. Days ’til prom: Still 51
  32. 11
  33. Days ’til prom: 50
  34. 12
  35. Days ’til prom: 49
  36. Days ’til prom: 48
  37. 13
  38. Days ’til prom: Still 48
  39. 14
  40. Days ’til prom: Seems irrelevant now
  41. 15
  42. Days ’til graduation: 31
  43. 16
  44. Days ’til graduation: 30
  45. 17
  46. {APRIL}
  47. Days ’til graduation: 17
  48. 18
  49. Days ’til graduation: 11
  50. Days ’til graduation: 6
  51. 19
  52. Days ’til graduation: 5
  53. 20
  54. Days ’til graduation: Still 4
  55. 21
  56. Days ‘til graduation: Still 2
  57. 22
  58. Days ’til graduation: Still 2, but minus a few hours
  59. Epilogue
  60. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  61. PRAISE FOR
  62. Dear Universe
  63. PRAISE FOR
  64. Love & Other Carnivorous Plants

“We were going to do it this weekend. And now, two days later, we’re breaking up?”

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m really sorry.”

“I can’t believe you.”

“You’re the one who was acting so sketchy,” he says exasperatedly. “You never let me come in when I pick you up, even when it takes you forever to get in the car because those boots lace up all the way to your knee. I mean, you literally pushed me out of your house the other day, and I don’t know, I have this feeling you’re not letting me in.”

“Not letting you in?” But what if it’s a mess inside? What if keeping you out is the neighborly thing to do?

“And that’s fine, ’cause like this is just a fun high school thing, but then we should have fun. We’re graduating soon and going to college. It’s not like—” He loosens his tie and doesn’t look at me as he says, “What I mean is, high school is almost over. I realized when I was talking to Helga that I want to have fun for the rest of it, not be tied to one person, you know?”

I peel the bun from the chicken patty, feeling its meatiness between my fingers. Then I wind up and slap him across the face with it. The grease coating my fingers feels damn good.

“What the hell!” he cries, jumping back out of his chair. He’s touching his face like he’s a burn victim, but the patty was lukewarm. “Are you kidding me?”

A few people nearby gasp/laugh, which is a combination of Oh shit! and LOL. They point their phones at me, but I can’t stop my hands. I pick up a handful of Tater Tots and whip them at him one by one: assault by tiny compact potatoes. I keep firing my deep-fried ammunition, but the laughter does something to me. Suddenly my eyes are burning.

“Come on, Cham. Those are too good to waste on him,” Abigail says, coming up behind me and gently pulling me away. “Get back to your lunches,” she directs the gawkers, shooing their stares with her hand. “Mind your goddamn business, okay?”

“Psycho,” some guy behind me says.

“Fuck off,” I say to no one and everyone. One of the lunch aides is headed toward me, shaking her head. I turn around and weave through tables, thinking that the faster I run, the faster I’ll disappear. And it’s true to an extent. The sooner my feet hit the floor, the sooner I’ll get to the place where no one can see me. And if no one was there to see me, did my heart really break at all?

13

Days ’til prom: Still 48

IT’S CHILLY AND GRAY WHEN I BURST OUT OF THE BUILDING. Even in my skirt and combat boots, running feels as good as hell, just me and my feet coming down on the ground, getting far, far away from Gene and school and everything else in that world.