top of the stairs.
She froze, staring at him. He looked exactly as Josie had seen him in her dreams. The two Nick Fiorinos could have been carbon copies of each other. Black, wavy hair left slightly long so the thick strands were able to curl up in heavy coils behind his ears. Dark brown eyes, almost black, and heavy eyelashes longer than any boy had a right to. Strong nose and chin, right out of a Roman sculpture.
Josie felt her hands trembling and prayed she hadn’t broken out in a sweat. The last time Josie had spoken to her ex-boyfriend face-to-face, he’d been shirtless in front of Madison’s house, pounding on her car window, an image Josie wanted to douse with mind bleach.
But this Nick wasn’t her ex-boyfriend. He was her boyfriend. She’d been in love with Nick for as long as she could remember and here, for twenty-four hours, she could fix what was left broken between them.
Nick closed his locker, and turned to find Josie staring at him. His eyebrows pinched together, obviously confused. “Jo?”
Josie’s heart pounded. It was as if he’d never cheated on her, never broken her heart. A lump rose in Josie’s throat and without thinking, she launched herself at him, wrapping both arms tightly around his neck.
“Whoa,” he said, immediately trying to pry her arms away. “Jo, are you okay?”
Josie suppressed a sob and clung to Nick more fiercely.
“Hey!” Nick whispered harshly in her ear. “What the hell are you doing?”
Josie jerked her head up as Nick wedged his hands between them, pushing her roughly away by the shoulders. His face was hard-set as he stared at her, his eyes narrow and wary. He was clearly confused and disturbed.
No more confused and disturbed than Josie. There was something in Nick’s face and demeanor that wasn’t right. He wasn’t the loving, gentle boyfriend Josie expected.
Oh no.
Josie’s stomach dropped. Had Jo and Nick broken up in the twenty-four hours since she and Josie had made the plan to switch places? That would have been Josie’s luck, wouldn’t it? To have gone through all this just to be in the exact same space with her ex-boyfriend.
Josie took a breath and calmed herself. Maybe Nick had the same problem with Jo that he’d had with Josie? Maybe he needed to talk about something and Jo hadn’t been available?
“If you need to talk,” she offered, “about anything, I’m here anytime you—”
In line with Josie’s luck, the bell rang for class. Nick took the opportunity to bail. “I gotta go. We’ll, um, talk later?”
“Yeah,” Josie called after him as he disappeared into the throng.
You bet your ass we will.
This day was
not
going according to plan.
TWENTY-TWO
11:15 A.M.
JOSIE DASHED INTO THE SECOND-PERIOD PHYSICS classroom as the final bell rang. Barely on time, as usual. She smiled to herself. You can take the girl out of the universe but you can’t take the universe out of the girl.
She had no real excuse for almost being late. Even though she was dazed from her interaction with Nick, physics was in the exact same room as in her own version of Bowie Prep, but it had taken her freaking forever to get there. Every hall she walked down, it was like everyone made a point to say hello to her. No one approached her, no one walked with her to class, but people were falling over themselves to smile and be polite. Still, Josie noticed a distinct lack of genuine warmth in their salutations. In fact, Josie thought she detected a trace of fear from most of the students as they fired off a quick “Hi, Jo!” then scurried back into the anonymity of the crowd.
It was kind of like being the world’s most popular leper—the focus of everyone’s attention and no one’s affection—and it made her incredibly uncomfortable. Was that what it was like to be popular? A kind of cold, fearful isolation?
But the moment she entered the physics classroom, all of her discomfort faded away. The room was an exact replica of her own beloved Bowie Prep
She froze, staring at him. He looked exactly as Josie had seen him in her dreams. The two Nick Fiorinos could have been carbon copies of each other. Black, wavy hair left slightly long so the thick strands were able to curl up in heavy coils behind his ears. Dark brown eyes, almost black, and heavy eyelashes longer than any boy had a right to. Strong nose and chin, right out of a Roman sculpture.
Josie felt her hands trembling and prayed she hadn’t broken out in a sweat. The last time Josie had spoken to her ex-boyfriend face-to-face, he’d been shirtless in front of Madison’s house, pounding on her car window, an image Josie wanted to douse with mind bleach.
But this Nick wasn’t her ex-boyfriend. He was her boyfriend. She’d been in love with Nick for as long as she could remember and here, for twenty-four hours, she could fix what was left broken between them.
Nick closed his locker, and turned to find Josie staring at him. His eyebrows pinched together, obviously confused. “Jo?”
Josie’s heart pounded. It was as if he’d never cheated on her, never broken her heart. A lump rose in Josie’s throat and without thinking, she launched herself at him, wrapping both arms tightly around his neck.
“Whoa,” he said, immediately trying to pry her arms away. “Jo, are you okay?”
Josie suppressed a sob and clung to Nick more fiercely.
“Hey!” Nick whispered harshly in her ear. “What the hell are you doing?”
Josie jerked her head up as Nick wedged his hands between them, pushing her roughly away by the shoulders. His face was hard-set as he stared at her, his eyes narrow and wary. He was clearly confused and disturbed.
No more confused and disturbed than Josie. There was something in Nick’s face and demeanor that wasn’t right. He wasn’t the loving, gentle boyfriend Josie expected.
Oh no.
Josie’s stomach dropped. Had Jo and Nick broken up in the twenty-four hours since she and Josie had made the plan to switch places? That would have been Josie’s luck, wouldn’t it? To have gone through all this just to be in the exact same space with her ex-boyfriend.
Josie took a breath and calmed herself. Maybe Nick had the same problem with Jo that he’d had with Josie? Maybe he needed to talk about something and Jo hadn’t been available?
“If you need to talk,” she offered, “about anything, I’m here anytime you—”
In line with Josie’s luck, the bell rang for class. Nick took the opportunity to bail. “I gotta go. We’ll, um, talk later?”
“Yeah,” Josie called after him as he disappeared into the throng.
You bet your ass we will.
This day was
not
going according to plan.
TWENTY-TWO
11:15 A.M.
JOSIE DASHED INTO THE SECOND-PERIOD PHYSICS classroom as the final bell rang. Barely on time, as usual. She smiled to herself. You can take the girl out of the universe but you can’t take the universe out of the girl.
She had no real excuse for almost being late. Even though she was dazed from her interaction with Nick, physics was in the exact same room as in her own version of Bowie Prep, but it had taken her freaking forever to get there. Every hall she walked down, it was like everyone made a point to say hello to her. No one approached her, no one walked with her to class, but people were falling over themselves to smile and be polite. Still, Josie noticed a distinct lack of genuine warmth in their salutations. In fact, Josie thought she detected a trace of fear from most of the students as they fired off a quick “Hi, Jo!” then scurried back into the anonymity of the crowd.
It was kind of like being the world’s most popular leper—the focus of everyone’s attention and no one’s affection—and it made her incredibly uncomfortable. Was that what it was like to be popular? A kind of cold, fearful isolation?
But the moment she entered the physics classroom, all of her discomfort faded away. The room was an exact replica of her own beloved Bowie Prep
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