Chapter 6

Rory tightenedthe laces on her cleats until they dug into the skin at her ankles. She had no reason to be angry, she knew that. Tyler had every right to be with someone who made him happy, especially after she told him she wanted to forget the "big reveal" from that summer. She just didn't think he would move on so quickly…

She sighed and reached for her phone in her backpack to see if Melanie ever replied. She hadn't shown up at all today, which made her worry. Even if she'd changed quite a bit since moving to Haverport, Melanie never skipped school.

She tapped the screen and found a new text. But it wasn't from Melanie—this one was actually from Calvin.

It's a bad day. She hasn't left her bed.

Rory groaned, placing her head in her hands. She was selfish. Here she was, worrying about a boy she didn't even like, while her friend was in bed mourning the loss of her twinbrother. How could she bother Melanie with her silly little problems when her friend's plate was already so full? She shook her head, feeling absolutely ridiculous, when another text from Calvin came in.

You could come see her, you know. Doesn't always have to be me.

She looked up at the field, noticing her teammates now coming her way wearing athletic shorts and practice pinnies, hair in braids and tight ponytails, all ready for their last practice before the final game that weekend.

She typed back as they approached.

Yes it does. I wouldn't even know what to say.

She doesn't need words, just company. Come.

She tossed her phone into her bag and closed her eyes. She needed to clear her thoughts, get her mind off all of it. Off of Tyler and his apparent new girlfriend. Off of Jay and his constant texting and flirting. Off of Melanie and the fact that she'd been nothing but a horrible, horrible friend to her.

Her teammates' chatter grew louder, and she heard the words Tyler and Zoe ring out. The only person who wasn't gabbing about the budding new relationship was Helen, who seemed far too focused on getting ready for their last practice to care. Helen placed her bag on the bench next to her, rummaging through it for her shin guards. She dared a glance up at the rest of her team and, after noticing the way Gina was looking at her—like she was two seconds from asking Rory if she knew anything about Haverport's new reign of royalty—she decided to take the conversation by the horns and steer it in a completely different direction.

"Can't believe this is the last practice," Rory blurted. "Let alone our final game."

She noticed the way Helen's shoulders visibly relaxed, like having to listen to the constant prattling and gossiping was the equivalent of listening to nails screeching down a chalkboard. Rory didn't blame her.

Kayla groaned. "God, I know. Rehearsals for the dance team start next week and I'm already dreading it."

"Over Coach Konicki's incessant drills?" Gina teased. "I'd much rather shake my ass in front of the basketball boys."

Kayla rolled her eyes. "Then you do it if you're so enthused."

Gina shook her head. "Nah, I'll be slammed with yearbook responsibilities."

Rory's ears perked up. "You're doing the yearbook?"

"Well, not yet," Gina explained. "I'm going to an info meeting for it on Thursday, and then there's some kind of test to see if you're the right fit. But based on the few sign-ups on that sheet, I highly doubt they'll turn anyone away."

Her eyebrows knitted together. "What's the test?"

"I think they're looking for basic photo editing and design skills, seeing if you have the ‘artistic eye' or whatever other bullshit Penelope told me."

Rory frowned. "Penelope is in charge?"

"She's the editor-in-chief," Gina said. "Why, you interested in joining?"

It would keep me out of the house, she immediately thought. Things were looking…bleak. If Tyler was going to be busy with a new girlfriend, there's no way he would choose Rory over her during his free time. And with Melanie struggling the way she was and missing school, Rory was looking at a very, very lonely winter.

She shrugged. "Yeah, maybe."

Gina's face brightened. "Oh, please come with me tomorrow! I need a friend to roll my eyes at when Penelope is being a tyrant."

Rory chuckled. "Well…okay. But only for the eye-rolling."

Gina threw her arms around Rory, squeezing tight.

"You ladies aren't going to want to hug each other after today's practice," Coach Konicki boomed as he set down his duffel bag. "Drills. Now."

They moaned, but Rory couldn't help smiling. No matter how excruciating the drills were or how physically taxing practice would be, she loved being out on the field. A tiny spark of hope flared in heart about what was to come.

* * *

"Alright, everyone. Be quiet,"Penelope demanded from the front of the classroom. "We only have this lunch period to nail down our staff, so shut up."

Rory took a seat next to Gina in the back. She wasn't wrong, the room was almost empty. Besides the two of them and Penelope, there were about five others at this meeting, which surely couldn't be enough people to put together an entire yearbook. She wondered if she made a big mistake in coming to this meeting and if she was about to sign up for a far greater commitment than anticipated.

She reached for her backpack on the floor, standing up to leave. "Gina, I—"

Gina grabbed Rory's sweatshirt and pulled her back down into her seat. "Rory Michaels, do not leave me here."

"But you want to be here," she hissed.

"Something you want to tell the rest of the class, Rory?" Penelope asked.

She looked up at Penelope, who was now at the front of the room with her arms crossed, tapping her peep-toe chunky wedges, eyes wide with amusement.

She slumped, shrugging her backpack off as she shook her head.

"Good, let's get started," Penelope said, grabbing a stack of papers.

"She loved that a little too much," Rory mumbled softly to Gina.

"Just…give it a chance, okay?" she whispered back. "You could always just say no after the test."

Before she had a chance to really think through what the test could possibly be, Penelope slapped down a piece of paper in front of her. A totally blank piece of paper.

"Here at Haverport High Yearbook Committee, we are in desperate need of designers," Penelope said to the group, placing a blank paper in front of Gina. "Sean is our photographer," she continued, pointing to where he sat at the front of the room, wearing his signature black jeans, flat-brim hat, and thick-framed glasses. "He has been taking pictures of the different clubs and sports teams, and now it's time to start putting the book together.

"I'll be editing the copy, but what we now need are some artists to bring it to life. Your task is simple—I want you to draw me a mockup of what you think a yearbook spread could look like. I want to see what kind of eye you have, so I know what section I should place you to work on. That's if you're even good enough."

"Is she in a place to turn people away?" Rory grumbled.

Gina rolled her eyes, which had the two of them stifling giggles as Penelope continued to drone on at the front. Gina opened up her notebook and wrote EYE ROLL COUNT at the top, starting a tally.

"You have ten minutes to wow me, so give me your best," Penelope finished, floating down into the teacher's seat at the front of the class.

Rory flipped the pencil in her hand as she stared down at her paper, unsure of where to start. She glanced around at her peers, noticing how each of them drew out simple frames with graphics and designs that looked generic, even plain.

But she never liked plain. She didn't spend a chunk of her Scoops tips on different shades of nail polish for no reason. She enjoyed bold colors and loud laughter and animated movies that made you sing. She covered every inch of her bedroom walls with pictures and sketches and posters. She wouldn't want to look back on her high school yearbook as something dull. She'd want it to have lots of color. Lots of life.

She slipped out of her chair and went to the front of the classroom, stepping in front of Penelope. "Do you have any colored pencils?"

Penelope frowned. "This isn't a coloring class."

She bristled, grinding her teeth. "Just…trust me. Maybe something in this classroom? Markers? Crayons?"

"Here," said a soft voice. Rory turned and noticed Vanessa Ramirez sitting next to Penelope. She hadn't even noticed Vanessa sitting there all this time with the way Penelope commanded the room's attention.

Compared to Penelope's blown-out red hair and fancy shoes, Vanessa was her opposite. Her short bob of black curls framed her kind face. She wore no-nonsense combat boots, a black tee with an Avatar graphic on the front, and fishnet tights beneath a bright-orange skirt. Her eyeliner was drawn out like a cat, which paired well with her headband that donned black velvet cat ears.

The two crystals placed delicately at the corner of Vanessa's eyes twinkled as she smiled at Rory and handed her what looked like a prized set of colored pencils, the aluminum case covered in cartoon stickers.

"Thanks," Rory said, holding the case with care. She sat down, popped it open, reached for a bright blue pencil, and got to work.

Nine minutes later, Penelope's phone was chiming at the front of the room as she instructed everyone to put their pencils down. Rory placed a purple pencil back in the case and shut it with a soft snick.

"Damn, Michaels," Gina said, leaning over.

Rory looked over at her neighbor, noticing a mock-up of what would be the crew team's page. She'd drawn a skinny boat at the bottom with oars on either side and added a few frames above for team pictures. Simple, elegant, clean. She looked back at her sheet, noting that her design was the polar opposite.

Oh no.

Penelope roamed the desks, admiring each person's designs. Rory thought Penelope almost looked bored, until she came to her desk and froze.

She watched Penelope's eyes go wide. "Now that's…something."

Vanessa popped out from behind Penelope and leaned in, taking a closer look at the design. Vanessa's mouth curled into a wicked grin.

She flushed. "It's okay if you hate it, I know it's different—"

"No, no," Penelope said, lifting Rory's design off her desk. The first design she'd touched so far. "This is good."

It was a design bursting in color. Bright bold bubble letters and a page covered in psychedelic colors, with frames for images in all different shapes and designs. A page with personality, something that matched well with the Instagram, TikTok, friendship-bracelet-loving age they were all currently living in.

"I know it doesn't match the school's typical designs," she said. "But in my mind, a yearbook is meant to be a time capsule back to that period in your life, and I think the pages should reflect that."

Penelope turned to Vanessa. "What do you think, Vee?"

Vanessa grinned and nodded, the two of them having some sort of silent exchange.

She whirled around, striding back to the front. "We will send our editor's picks tonight, so please be on the lookout for the email. Our first official meeting will be next Wednesday, and we meet every day after school except Fridays, up until our deadline on May 18."

Rory coughed. "Every day?"

"Is that a problem?" Penelope asked.

She would have to rearrange her schedule with Ron when Scoops reopened in March. She might be able to convince him to only give her night shifts during the week instead of after-school ones. But it was something to do—every day. It was going to get her out of the house. It was going to keep her busy this winter.

Rory flashed her teeth in a grin. "Not at all."

Penelope smirked. "Good, check your inboxes tonight."

Everyone started to pack up their things to leave. Rory lifted the colored pencil case to Vanessa, who was still standing next to her desk. "Thanks," she said.

"Anytime, Rory," Vanessa said, her voice bright and sweet like sugar. "Tell me, have you ever worked with digital design programs? Made graphics or anything?"

Rory blanched. "No, will that be a problem?"

Vanessa grinned, those two little crystals twinkling under the lights above them. "Nope, I was just curious."

She felt a heavy pit in her stomach as she watched Vanessa walk away, wondering what in the world she just got herself into.

* * *

The email cameat 10:59 p.m.

The list included everyone from the meeting, which made sense—there weren't many of them to begin with. But it was where Rory sat on the list that had her gasping into her pillow.

Penelope Fairweather, Editor-in-Chief

Vanessa Ramirez, Creative Director

Sean Channing, Photography Director

Rory Michaels, Lead Designer

The rest of the group was listed as generic staff editors, including Gina. But not Rory, who was now in charge of the design for the entire yearbook.

Which meant, starting next Wednesday, she was officially going to be in way over her head.