I spent an hour last night coming up with a better title for my infographics. I had thirteen drafts until I finally decided on this: How to improve your focus and have lasting memory in less than a month by doing this relaxing activity.

It was perfect. Research showed that people who read had lower risks of memory loss, which affected a large percentage of the population. It was something that needed to be addressed.

I sent the final title to Finn to update the infographics without expecting him to respond right away, but he did, delivering the final product to me. Now, all I needed to do was print them.

"Hey, Mom. Can you do me a favor?" I asked my mother as I came down for breakfast before school.

Mothers were the best. They would do anything for their children. At least, mine would, which was why I came to her for help.

"Mmh?" She placed a plate of waffles and eggs in front of me on the dining table. "Ano yun?" What is it?

"So, you know about the library, right?" I said as I poured syrup and buttered my waffles.

My mother peeped at me. "Yes, anak." She called me my child. She could sense I was still distressed about the library, but her comfort wasn't what I needed now.

"My friends and I plan to hand out infographics to encourage people to love reading books. We thought it could help the library," I explained as I ate my meal, sweet sugar filling my mouth.

"Dat's nice." My mother nodded, approving. "By priends, you mean Lotty?"

I didn't like that she implied I only had one friend, but for the longest time, it was true—but now I could say I had more. Finn was my friend, right? Maybe even Cathy. "And others," I answered.

"She grinned. "You hab oder priends? Sino?" She asked Who?

I knew she'd be curious. I could tell her about Cathy and Finn, but it was off-topic. "Mom, focus. The library."

"Right." Happy to hear I was finally socializing, my mother grinned from ear to ear. She had shown the same enthusiasm the night I came home from Finn's party, asking if I'd met a boy, which was pretty weird for a mother to do. But she only wanted me to have a normal teenage life, and by normal, she meant like what she had when she was younger. "What's da pavor?"

"Can you print out the infographics for us?" I asked, rounding my eyes and trying to imitate a puppy.

She observed me for a moment, contemplating.

Please say yes.

"How many copies?" she asked.

I grinned. That was closer to a yes than a no. "A thousand."

"A tousand?" Her voice rose, shocked.

"Please," I begged. "There's almost six thousand people here in Littleton. A thousand is only fifteen percent of the population."

Taking a deep breath, my mother slowly nodded. "Okay. But you are doing da dishes por a week."

"Yes!" I couldn't believe I exclaimed like that at dirty dishes for one whole week, but I was ecstatic about my mother helping us out. It was for the library. "Thank you!" I leaned over the table to kiss her on the cheek.

After finishing my breakfast, I headed to school.

Oddly, Finn was in my thoughts as I walked down Merrill Street, turned left on Church Street, right on High Street, and straight until I reached Littleton High School. And even as I entered the large entryway, I was still thinking about him.

I guessed I wanted to give him the good news that we were getting our infographics prints by tomorrow. Again, I hadn't asked if he would help in distributing them. He had already done so much for me, for the library, maybe he wouldn't refuse.

In the hallway, I found Lotty talking to Cathy. I still felt a pang of jealousy whenever they were together. They were hanging out a lot more now, and I was mostly alone researching how to save the Littleton Public Library.

"Hey," I said as I came up behind them.

Leaning on her locker, Lotty noted me. "Hey," she greeted back, turning.

Cathy and I nodded hello to each other.

"So, about the seminar. Finn gave me a good idea to just hand out infographics, like flyers, since it'll be difficult to get people to attend." I told them I had changed my plans, waiting for Lotty to be somehow offended since the seminar was her idea, but she only smiled and nodded.

"I think that's lit," Cathy said.

"You talked to Finn?" Lotty tilted her head sideways, brows furrowing.

Uh-oh. I couldn't tell her I faced-timed with him last night. "I talked to him in our computer science class yesterday," I answered. At least I didn't lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either, which still felt awful. I didn't mean to keep a secret from her, but I couldn't tell her now either. Finn might see her only as a friend, but Lotty could want more than that from him, and I couldn't break her heart by telling her I spent time flirting with him.

Flirting? Since when did I know how to do that? But I guessed Finn did most of it, and I did most of the blushing part.

"Okay. I think that's a good idea too. Less organizing and planning needed from us," Lotty said, giving me a tight-lipped smile.

"But I need your help in handing them out." I glanced at both girls.

"Sure." Cathy answered first, and I was surprised to hear it.

"Of course. I'll definitely help." Lotty pulled her backpack by its straps, repositioning it over her shoulders. "You should get Finn to help us out too."

"Finn?" Yes, I had planned to ask if he would be willing to help distribute the infographics, but I hadn't thought of getting Lotty's approval, and I didn't think she'd offer it first. "Yeah. I guess it's only fair since it's his idea. He also created the graphics. Here, I'll send them to you so you can also share them online." I pulled out my phone and sent each of them a private message, attaching the images from Finn.

Lotty and Cathy checked their phones and gave appreciative comments.

"I didn't know Finn could do graphics like this. It looks professional," Cathy said.

"Yeah, Finn is an excellent artist. He draws a lot," Lotty added, and it dawned on me that she knew so much about Finn when I didn't. I guessed it was because they were close, and she'd hung out with him more than I had.

"Going to spam everyone with this now," Cathy smiled at her phone as she started typing. "This is going to go viral."

"I hope so." I was glad for her help.

"How did Finn get all his art together for this in such a short time?" Lotty asked.

"He said he used AI to enhance the details and make the hand-drawn characters more cohesive," I explained. "I didn't want to use AI on this, but he made the argument that time is of the essence. I can't afford to delay anything because we have less than a month to save the library."

"That makes sense. A lot of artists are now adopting AI in their processes. And in my opinion," Cathy enunciated, "AI can be used to optimize almost any aspect of human life. My mother's a doctor and she can't stop yapping about their new technology for surgery that's powered by AI. I mean I don't understand how it works, but I get what she means."

She was in favor of artificial intelligence, which made me feel unheard. But she had her opinions and I had mine.

"But I totally get what you mean, Elsy," Cathy added. "AI should be used with rules and limitations. There are instances where it's helpful, but there are also cases where it can do a lot of damage. Like look at these zombies," she gestured at a group of students walking down the hall.

"Thank you!" And just like that I felt understood.

The more I talked to Cathy, the more she turned from bad to not-so-bad to pretty cool. No wonder Lotty was friends with her.

I was hoping I was too. Cathy's friend, I meant, or maybe I already was and didn't know it yet. What marked friendship anyway? Did I need to be invited to her home for a sleepover before we could seal the deal? I hoped it wouldn't take that long.

Friendships shouldn't be about who was here the longest, right? It should be about the people I chose to hang out with even if it was in the hallway for only five minutes before the first bell. It should be about the people who chose me back.

Lotty leaned over to Cathy. My silly heart kept telling me to be jelly—sometimes, my heart was annoying like that. I had to avert my eyes to make it stop. I observed the filling hallway.

Gazing as far as I could, I realized I was searching for Finn. But instead, I found Mr. Walker, our computer science teacher, walking in the opposite direction.

On any typical day, I would've ignored a teacher walking down the hall before class started. But today, my legs pivoted, beginning to chase.

Mr. Walker held a red leather-bound book.

"Elsy, where are you going?" I heard Lotty call but ignored her, locking onto my prey.

My legs were short, so I could barely keep up with the teacher's pace. "Mr. Walker!" I called, but he was too far to hear.

I thought of running, breaking the hallway rule, but before I could, a mascot burst out of the door leading to the gym, followed by pumped and cheering players, who unintentionally blocked my way. My elbow bumped into the heavy-plated armor of the Crusader—a student under a costume of mid-century helmet and red cape.

I tipped over, falling. My hands reached out. There was nothing in front of me to grab onto. Everything slowed as I anticipated my back to hit the floor. But it never came. Hands caught me by my waist.

"Whoa!" Someone righted me to my feet, steadying me until I found my balance. "Careful."

I turned around. Finn still had his hands around me in a heart-stopping moment.

Yep, this was happening. Like one of those thrilling scenes in romance novels, I helplessly gazed at his face—my eyes wide and mouth gaping.

"Are you okay now?" Finn asked, still holding me.

If I said yes, would he let go? I nodded slowly, waiting for him to release me. When his hand lingered for a few more seconds, I went rigid.

He pulled me to the side to allow the players and their mascot to pass through. I noticed he was wearing his maroon varsity jacket like the team. His hand came up from my waist to my shoulder, so we stood side by side as we viewed the procession of student-athletes parade down the hall.

After a couple more seconds, Finn dropped his hand from my shoulder and tucked it into his jacket pocket.

I gazed up at him, trying to ease the tension our closeness had given me. "Aren't you supposed to be with them?" I asked, nodding my head at the athletes.

"I am, but I want to make sure you're okay first." Concerned and protective, he examined my face.

My cheeks were flushed because I was burning up from where his fingers touched my waist and shoulder, heat rising to my whole body. "I'm okay." My voice shook a little.

I peered down the hall. Mr. Walker was gone, and so was the red leather-bound book. But my attention had already shifted, caring less about the book and more for the boy standing beside me.

"Hey, so we've got the semi-final game tomorrow. We're playing against Gorham. Are you coming to watch?" Finn asked, causing me to turn back and look at him. His dimple dented his cheek a little as he pressed his lips together. "Lotty's coming," he added.

"Oh." I was disappointed with the invite due to how he presented it, but I smiled anyway. "I've never watched a game before. But, sure, I'll come."

"Great!" Finn's voice came high and excited. "Alright. I need to get back to the team." He patted me on my shoulder like he did with his buddies.

"Alright," I said with a nod, hiding a frown.

He grinned. "I'll see you."

"See you."

Finn jogged back to the parade of student-athletes wearing their maroon uniforms.

Was it just me, or was he confusing? Maybe I was crushing on him so hard that I caught the wrong signals. I was great at reading books, not people. I didn't want to make a mistake about this. Deep inside, I was already embarrassed to think a jock like him could be attracted to someone like me—a short, half-Filipino and half-American book nerd.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Don't you just hate it when you can't read signals right? ;)

Happy Reading!

Hi_D

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