The Boyfriend Thief by Shana Norris

the door caused every head in the room to whip around to find Zac Greeley pressed against the narrow slit of a window above the doorknob, his cheek flat against the glass. He slid down the window slowly, in a long, drawn-out fainting gesture.
    I couldn’t help giggling, but I caught Hannah’s eye roll as she turned away from him.
    “Is there any other business?” I asked, swallowing down the laugh that bubbled in my throat when Zac pressed a sign he’d made of notebook paper against the window. He’d written in big letters, “MATH CLUB IS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE NUMBERS-CHALLENGED!”
    “Don’t forget about the carnation sale,” Hannah told me.
    “I haven’t forgotten the carnation sale,” I said. “Everyone is well aware of when the carnation sale is. It’s the same time every year, last week of school.”
    Hannah tossed her hair back, ignoring Zac’s new antics, which were parading back and forth in front of the door with his notebook paper sign held high. “Well, you hadn’t mentioned it,” she pointed out. “I’m only doing my duties as vice president.”
    Hannah hated that I had stolen the presidency of the math club from her in the election last year. She was probably itching to prove she could run math club better than I could.
    “Everyone, carnation sale. Last week of school. Same rules as last year. Sell a flower to the students to send to someone else. Five dollars per flower. Proceeds to be used for next year’s club activities. Got it? Good. Meeting dismissed.” I wasn’t going to give Hannah another chance to butt in and take over the meeting.
    As soon as those words were out of my mouth, everyone sprang to life and hurried out of the room. Zac made his way in once the rush of math club members had passed. He grinned and waved at me before heading over to Hannah.
    “You need to run against Hannah in everything she does,” Molly told me. “I like seeing her with that prissy look whenever she’s not in charge. Hey!” Her blue eyes grew wide as she looked at me. “You should run for junior queen. I’d totally clean out every drawer in my house for loose change to vote for you. I’ll bet we could get a lot of other people on your side too.”
    I shook my head. Though I tried to have plenty of extracurricular activities and achievements for my college applications, running for class queen did not interest me at all. Work and everything else I was already doing kept me too busy to focus on campaigning right now anyway.
    “I’ll pass, thanks,” I said.
    Hannah and Zac’s discussion behind me floated toward my ears. It wasn’t that I was trying to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help overhearing.
    “I don’t understand why you have to act so...” Hannah stopped, leaving the sentence unfinished.
    “What?” Zac asked. “Why do I have to act so what?”
    Hannah sighed. “Will it kill you to be serious about anything for once in your life?”
    But Zac wasn’t letting go. “What were you going to say, Hannah? Why do I have to act so...?” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see him staring hard at her, his body tense. “Say it. You’ve obviously thought it before now.”
    Hannah slung her backpack over her shoulder and looked at him. “Fine. Why do you have to act so stupid?”
    Now I didn’t even try to pretend I wasn’t watching the conversation. Zac looked as if he’d been slapped. “Just because someone isn’t as good as you are in school doesn’t mean they’re stupid,” he said in a low voice.
    My cheeks flamed as I thought about how I’d always thought of Zac before the economics project. Unmotivated. Lazy. Class clown. And yes, maybe even stupid.
    But I couldn’t believe Hannah had said that to his face.
    “I know that,” Hannah snapped. “But when a person doesn’t apply himself, he comes across as stupid and does a disservice to himself.”
    Zac pulled at the sides of his hair. “Is it possible for you to talk like a human teenager for once?”
    “If