Just Be Cool, Jenna Sakai

by Debbi Michiko Florence

  “You thought you were going to beat me here,” Rin said as he tugged his headphones down so that they hung around his neck.

  I refused to answer him.

  “Jenna, you’re here early,” Leigh said. “I made more roasted strawberry ice cream for you. The Waitress shake is back on the board.”

  I smiled. “Thank you!”

  “Or you can try the Berrily We Roll Along shake. It’s blueberry basil.”

  Rin pointed to his teal milkshake. “We could call it the Jenna Special since it matches her hair,” he said with a smirk.

  “Well, then you could name a shake after Rin,” I countered. “Call it the Grumpy Bear shake.”

  Rin’s eyes widened. “You think I’m grumpy?”

  Leigh chuckled. “Hmm, maybe I will name shakes after you two. You’re my most loyal shake customers. Fetch Fries, too?”

  “Not today,” I said.

  “I’ll take an extra-large order,” Rin said.

  When Leigh walked away, I scowled.

  “What?” He frowned. There. That looked more like the Rin I knew and loathed. “I’ll share with you.”

  “I don’t need charity.”

  “Who said it was charity?”

  “I don’t want your fries.” Mom’s comment about money and power echoed in my head. No way was I giving Rin any power over me.

  “Fine. Don’t have any.”

  “I won’t!”

  Rin put his headphones back over his ears and returned to drawing in his sketchbook behind the wall of books.

  Leigh sang a song from Mean Girls as she dropped off our orders, which made me crabbier. Why should she sing the song for Rin’s order and not mine? He undoubtedly already got a song with his shake.

  But when I sipped my shake, my mood evened out. As always, it was delicious. It felt good to have something familiar and comforting. Like this Hamilton booth would be if Rin would just leave it.

  I eyed Rin’s fries. He had already made a dent in them while continuing to draw. The smell of fried potatoes made my stomach rumble, but I wasn’t going to have any. Not after I’d made such a big deal about it.

  Anyway, what was up with that wall of his? This reporter needed to know what he was doing back there. I prided myself on following through on my curiosity, on getting the story, on finding the facts. The truth.

  The next time Rin looked up, I held his gaze and moved my hand to his wall of books. I hovered my hand over his science textbook in the middle. He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. Was he daring me? Or giving me permission?

  I touched the book with my fingers. No reaction from Rin. I grabbed it and laid it flat, getting a view of his sketchbook. I craned my neck to get a better look. Rin sighed as if he were annoyed, but he spun the sketchbook around to face me.

  “Manga?” I asked, studying a black ink drawing of a guy in a spacesuit-like uniform wielding a baton that seemed to be a weapon of some sort. Sparks flew from the tip. Or maybe it was a fat wand. It was an excellent drawing.

  “You drew this?” I wanted to immediately smack myself. Of course he drew it. What kind of reporter asked a question with an obvious answer? “I mean, it’s really good.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Are you taking art classes? Do you know Caitlin Shimizu?”

  He shook his head and looked annoyed.

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m not doing that thing where I assume all Asian people know each other. I asked because she’s in the art program.”

  “I know that.” He still looked annoyed, his mouth in a frown and his brows creased. “I’m not in the program. But I know who Caitlin is.”

  Okay. Come on, Jenna, just be cool and get the info. I needed to practice my investigative journalist skills as often as possible.

  “Do you draw every day? Just for fun, then?”

  “Pretty much.” Rin spun the sketchbook back his way.

  “Can I see some more?”

  He held up the book—careful to keep it out of my reach—and flipped through a couple of pages. His drawings were amazing! Good enough to be in a graphic novel. But by the third page, I noticed something and made an involuntary sound.

  “What?” Rin slammed the book shut.

  “Hey! I wasn’t done.”

  “You made a noise!” Rin shoved his sketchbook into his backpack and with a scowl imitated my earlier response. “Tsk, tsk.”

  Wow. Sensitive. “I really like your drawings,” I began. “They’re really expressive …”

  “But?”

  “But I noticed there aren’t any girl characters.”

  Rin stared at me for a long moment and then burst out laughing. The sound tickled my ears and trilled down my spine. It almost sounded like music.

  What was his problem? It was my turn to scowl. I waited for Rin to stop laughing. It didn’t take long.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “I thought you were going to say something else.”

  “Like?”

  Rin’s face closed down again. I liked it better when he smiled and laughed. He actually had a nice laugh.

  “Come on,” I said. “I’m curious.”

  He shrugged. Rin did that a lot. “Fine,” he said. “I thought you were going to say something about manga not being real art.”

  “Why would I say that?” I snapped. I hated when people made assumptions about me.

  Rin finished off the rest of the fries. It didn’t look like he was going to answer. I needed to change my strategy. A good reporter was able to get a subject to feel comfortable enough to reveal things.

  I chased the snark out of my voice and tried again. “Seriously. Why would you think I would say something so judgy? You already know I like manga.”

  He played with his napkin, folding it and unfolding it three times. His hands were smooth, and his fingernails were trimmed neat and short. “It’s what the sixth-grade art teacher said to me the first week of school.”

  “That’s horrible! What kind of teacher says something so rude to a student? A good teacher encourages!” For a brief moment, I thought of Ms. Fontes, but I shut that down quickly. “And it’s probably racist. I mean, just because it’s a Japanese cartoon style doesn’t make it inferior! Would the teacher have said the same thing if you’d been drawing characters that looked like the Scarlet Witch or Wonder Woman?”

  Rin shrugged. “No clue. I switched electives.”

  “But—” I started.

  Rin waved. “Yeah, I hear you about the female characters.”

  “And?”

  He shrugged again. His cheeks looked a little pink.

  Okay, time to push gently. I had to know. “There’s a reason you draw only guy characters?”

  He nudged the empty plate away from him. “I started drawing when I was six or seven.”

  “Okay.” I made my voice encouraging. Friendly.

  Rin started unfolding and folding his napkin again. His fingers moved quickly and smoothly. I waited him out. I could be very patient when it mattered.

  “They were me,” he finally said so quietly I had to lean forward to hear him.

  “Oh.”

  “Well, not anymore they aren’t,” he said, his voice defensive as he crumpled the napkin in his hand. “Kids play make-believe, okay? Instead of pretending to fly like a superhero or turn my sister into a frog, I drew it.”

  “Hmm. Clever,” I said.

  “I’m not really trying to live out my fantasies that way anymore. I draw, but for fun. But I guess that’s why I never thought about drawing a female character—not because I have anything against girls. Women,” he quickly corrected. When I gave him a look, he said, “I have an older sister. She’d like the stickers you have on that one notebook you write in all the time. What’s it for anyway?”

  It felt wrong to tell him to MYOB after all my prying. “It’s for my newspaper club assignments.”

  “Cool.” He nodded and then returned to drawing in his sketchbook, e
nding the conversation.

  Irritation prickled me. I’d listened to him talk about his art, but he didn’t have anything to ask about my writing? Rude.

  But then I remembered something. Rin and I weren’t friends. It didn’t matter what he thought. And anyway, he’d taken my critiques a lot better than most people would.

  I glanced over at him, totally lost in his sketchbook. Only this time, he hadn’t put the wall of books back up.

  “Dude, what three things would you want to have in a zombie apocalypse?” Doug asked me at lunch the next day. He caught my scowl and coughed. “I mean Jenna. Jenna, what three things would you make sure to have?”

  Teddy and Conner laughed at him.

  “Shut up,” Doug said, smiling.

  At least he was trying to stop calling me dude. “Hmm.” I pondered. “A long sharp sword, flint, and my bike.”

  “Why not a car?” Teddy asked.

  “You think gasoline will be easy to get?” Conner interrupted.

  Keiko shook her head. “I’d be the first one turned. I have no survival skills.”

  “We’d protect you,” Conner said.

  They smiled at each other and held hands. I had to admit, just to myself, that they were adorable.

  As Doug and Teddy continued planning for the zombie apocalypse and Conner and Keiko whispered to each other, I glanced up and saw a familiar black backpack attached to a familiar form wearing familiar headphones. My eyes followed Rin all the way across the field. I wondered where he spent lunch. In fact, I could practice my investigative skills and tail him.

  “I have to get something from my locker,” I said, standing.

  “I’ll go with you,” Keiko said.

  “No, it’s okay,” I said quickly. “I’ll see you after school.”

  I took off down the bleachers before Keiko had a chance to tag along. I trotted across the field, keeping my eyes on Rin, and followed him into the main building and up the stairs as closely as I dared.

  But when I peered around the corner, he was gone. Gah! I walked down the hall, peeking into empty classrooms. Then, suddenly, I heard instruments tuning up in the music room. Students sometimes had lunch in the band room like our newspaper club members hung out in Ms. Fontes’s room. I wondered who Elliot was eating with now. Probably Carlos and Thea. I felt a pang of regret. Not over Elliot, but just over having a place to be.

  Since I’d lost Rin, I decided to peek into the music room before heading to my locker. I stopped in the doorway and looked around. Half-eaten lunches were strewn on empty chairs, and a small group of students sat in a semicircle practicing a song. I was about to step back into the hall when I noticed Rin unpacking a guitar.

  I ducked out of the room before he could see me and nearly ran back down the hall, my heart hammering. But then I stopped myself. Why was I running? He hadn’t seen me. I had every right to be there. I went to this school! I smiled. Knowing where Rin spent lunch and that he played the guitar made me feel powerful. Like I knew a secret.

  There were only a few minutes left of lunch, and I had to grab my science homework. When I got to my locker, Keiko was there.

  “Hey, I thought you said you had to get something from your locker.” Keiko leaned against the lockers, arms crossed.

  “How long have you been waiting here?”

  “A while! I was only a few minutes behind you.”

  “I had to do something for newspaper club first,” I said. It wasn’t a complete lie. I mean, tailing Rin was practice for life as a reporter. I spun the combination to my locker. “Why’d you follow me anyway?” I asked, a bit too harshly.

  Keiko’s eyes went wide, and then she started blinking quickly. I was getting way too good at hurting her feelings.

  “You don’t have to push me away, Jenna. You made your point. I won’t ask you anything about Elliot, okay?”

  I exchanged my books as the silence between us drew out. I took a deep breath. When I closed my locker, I forced a smile. “What do you want to do today after school?” I asked her. “More baking?”

  “Actually, that’s why I was looking for you. I forgot that I already have plans today.”

  “Oh?” I deserved this. Of course, she didn’t want to hang out with me anymore. I’d been snapping at her a lot.

  “Yeah. Conner got us tickets to a special showing of Spirited Away. It’s this evening, so we’re going to do our homework and then have dinner. I meant to tell you earlier.”

  “It’s fine.” I waved my hand. Miyazaki films used to be our thing. I hadn’t even known there was a special showing. “I have to work on my scholarship article anyway.”

  “See you on Saturday at game night, though, right?”

  “It’s okay. I don’t need to come. It’s probably more fun hanging with the guys.”

  “What are you talking about? I want you there!”

  “Okay. If you’re sure.”

  “I’m sure, Jenna.”

  The bell rang. Keiko tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, gave me a long look, and headed off to her pre-algebra class. The stiffness in our friendship tugged on me for the rest of the day and didn’t loosen up, even when I saw Keiko at PE. We didn’t talk—Coach Yang had figured out we were best friends and kept putting us on different teams to keep us from gabbing. We weren’t even on the same volleyball court. And I felt somehow relieved. Keiko would still be hurt, and I’d only feel guilty. Better to just give us some space.

  After PE, I was the first person out of the girls’ locker room and ran—RAN!—to the diner. When I got there, I slammed into the front door, shoving it open … and gasped.

  “Do you skip last period or something?” I panted as I walked over to Rin, who was already sitting in my booth.

  Rin shot a too-happy grin at me, like he’d won a race. But he didn’t have his headphones on yet, and he was still unzipping his backpack, so I couldn’t have been too far behind him.

  I threw myself down on the bench just as Leigh brought two glasses of ice water over. “I thought you two could use these, the way you come charging in here.”

  “Aha!” I shouted, pointing at Rin. He had the decency to look busted at least. But the grin stayed on his face.

  Leigh smiled. “Shakes today? The usual?”

  “Yes, please,” I said after taking a big gulp of water.

  Rin glanced at the specials board. “That Hamilton chocolate shake for me.”

  “You got it,” Leigh said. “Fries?”

  “Yeah, large,” Rin said. He gave me a look. “To share.”

  I didn’t fight Rin on that. I’d pay for my half. I was starving after all that exercising in PE and then running here.

  “Okay, time to fess up,” I said after Leigh walked away. “You’ve been trying to get here before me.”

  He raised his hands. “Guilty.” Then he flashed that annoying grin again. “And I’ve been winning!”

  “Whatever,” I said. “That isn’t fair. I didn’t know it was a race.”

  “Hmm, competitive much?” Rin pulled out a textbook, but instead of putting it up to build a wall, he opened it.

  I gasped loudly, clutching my chest. “Is that an actual schoolbook you’re opening?”

  “You’re hilarious, Sakai,” Rin said.

  Leigh sang a few lines from “The Room Where It Happens” and dropped off our shakes and a platter piled higher than usual with cheesy Fetch Fries.

  After Rin and I applauded, he nodded at the notebook on my side of the table. “Newspaper club stuff?”

  “Yep.”

  “What are you working on?”

  I grabbed a fork and stabbed some of the fries. I blew on them, then shoveled them into my mouth to stall. I didn’t want to have this conversation with Rin. My life was none of his business.

  “Well?” Rin asked, pulling the platter toward him.

  I reached out and stabbed another forkful. I thought about Keiko and how she was angry with me. I wished I could discuss this with her instead. I wanted to
talk to someone about it. Rin was here. He was convenient. “I’m investigating the cafeteria renovation.”

  “That sounds boring. Who cares about that?”

  “I do!” I gripped my notebook. “Someone anonymously donated a ton of money to update the cafeteria. Why? And why spend that kind of cash on the cafeteria when there are other more important things that need upgrading.”

  “Wait, someone gave money to redo the cafeteria?”

  “Right? It’s stupid! Our computers are old and glitchy. Our library is dark and dingy. Obviously, the donor has too much money and doesn’t know what to do with it. Rich people are ridiculous!”

  “What? You lost me …”

  “It’s like the more money they have, the less conscious they are. The donation could have gone to fund extracurriculars.” Funding a school paper would have been nice. “Anyway, it’s going to be fun writing an exposé.”

  “Wow, Sakai, you are the ultimate nerd.”

  I drank the rest of my shake, giving myself brain freeze. “If you think that’s insulting, it’s not.” I rubbed my temples with my fingers. “ ‘Nerd’ is just another word for ‘smart.’ ”

  Rin shrugged. “Fine. Whatever. How are you going to solve this mystery?”

  I couldn’t tell if he was making fun or asking a serious question. “I have skills,” I said vaguely.

  “Hmm. Okay, what do we do first? Break into the school records?”

  “First off, there is no ‘we.’ And second, I won’t be breaking any laws.” Isabella hadn’t had any luck with the office staff, but there were other ways to get the info I wanted.

  “Aw, come on. Let me help.”

  “I don’t need your help. I work on my own.” I learned that lesson from Elliot. Every time we’d worked together, he took over, like he thought his ideas were better. The first article we’d cowritten, he took home and edited without my input. He’d taken out most of my stuff. Another time, I’d given him an idea, but then he’d told Ms. Fontes he came up with it, taking all the credit. When I’d brought it up to him, we’d gotten in a huge argument.

  Working on my own was the smarter way to go.

  I opened my notebook. Thankfully, Rin took the hint and began to study. It was very strange not to see him drawing. I flipped my pen between my fingers, pondering next steps. I mentally ran through the list of the staff at school and came up with a brilliant idea—I could talk to Mr. Kim! The vice principal would probably know the name of the donor. Plus, since he was on the judging committee for the journalism scholarship, it wouldn’t hurt to show him my dedication.