“Hey,” AJ said, after several seconds of silence.

“Yeah?” Ophelia asked.

AJ looked down at the floor, embarrassed and grateful that Ophelia could only dimly see his face. Less chance of humiliation. He toyed with his shoelaces and responded slowly, “I was wondering… um… uh…”

“Look, if you have something to say, spit it out. Just say it. It’s not like I’m going to kill you. So, say it.”

“Fine,” AJ replied. “Would you ever, under any circumstances, even consider dating me?”

“As in, if you managed to prove that you were boyfriend material and showed that you could be loyal without checking out fifty million other girls?”

“Well, yeah, obviously.”

Ophelia shrugged and replied, “Yeah, maybe, I guess. You’re not that bad of a person. I have done a lot worse.”

“How much worse?”

“Let’s not get into that. All I’ll say is that the dude was not a nice guy.”

“What, he argued with you a lot?”


“Trust me, if that was the worst he’d done, I wouldn’t have minded too much. But this guy… he belongs in jail.” Ophelia laughed a little, bitterly. “Not too many people know what happened. For a while, I blamed myself for what happened, even though he was the one who should have known better.”

AJ’s head jerked up as he understood the meaning of Ophelia’s words. “Oh, wow,” he muttered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I’ll shut up about it now.”

“No, it’s okay. How could you have known, right? What’s done is done. You can’t change the past; all you can do is learn to live with the consequences.”


“I’d like to meet this jerk,” AJ growled. “Give him a piece of my mind.”

“You’ve met him already,” Ophelia replied, lowering her head.

“Does he go to our school?”

“No. Look, just let it go, okay? It’s nothing for you to be concerned over. I’m fine. Really.”

“A-are you sure?”

“Positive. It’s funny, though; my own family didn’t even realize what happened, and they see me every day. They know me better than anyone else. At least, that’s what you’d think. And it’s my family who should be the most concerned, especially given…”

“Given what?”

“Nothing. Forget it.”

AJ sighed and nodded. “So, what’s going to happen on Monday? Are you going to go back to avoiding me?”

“I guess. It’s either that or risk facing the wrath of Tiffani.”


“So, I guess this is going to be the last time-- or one of the last-- that we’ll get to interact one on one, without Tiff watching our every move, hm?” AJ asked.

“Yeah, I guess so. She’d probably be ticked if she knew we were even alone together in here. Even given the circumstances,” Ophelia said. She laughed and added, “It’s funny to say this, but when I talked to her not too long ago, I said that even if I was stuck in an elevator with you, I wouldn’t talk to you unless necessary.”

“Guess you jinxed it for yourself.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You know, in a way, I’m kind of glad this happened,” AJ remarked. “I don’t think we’ve ever actually talked one on one for more than a few minutes.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Look, if you want me to stay away from now on, I will. If you really think it’ll keep the peace and all, I mean. But just remember that I think you’re really awesome. You really shouldn’t let Tiff dictate this kind of stuff. She needs to learn to accept that I can and will have female friends.”

“Yeah? You tell her that.”

“Maybe I will.”