Willow Moon's Arc

Chapter 6 of 6

All weekend Scarlett's words sat in Willow's chest. Wait till you're back in that blazer. Monday came anyway. Willow stood in front of her mirror and hated the wool coat that flattened her waist and hips. The kiss at the restaurant had been real. But so was this uniform. So she made a choice. She would not hide. She pulled her white curls up into a high ponytail. Soft curls fell loose around her face. She kept the blazer, but she made it hers. She left it open. She wore a black tube top and leggings beneath it, a belt at her waist, flats on her feet. A small ring glinted at her navel. In the mirror, the girl looked like the one from Friday night and the quiet one from lunch, both at once. Same girl. She grabbed her bag and walked out. The halls of the school felt endless. Tall pointed windows threw green light across the stone floor. Students turned as she passed. Willow kept her chin up and walked to the lunch spot where Jess always read. Her heart slammed. This was the test. If he only wanted the dress, she would know in one look. Jess sat with his worn book open. He glanced up, the way he had a hundred times before. Then he stopped. His eyes moved over her hair, the open blazer, the belt. He set the book face-down on the table. "Hey," he said. He didn't say anything else for a second. "You look like you." Willow didn't understand. "Like me?" "Friday you looked amazing," Jess said. "Kind of scared me, not gonna lie. Thought I'd said something wrong all week." He shrugged. "This is better. This is the girl I've been sitting with." The tight thing in Willow's chest let go. She pulled out the chair beside him and sat. Close. "I thought the blazer would ruin it," she said. "I thought you'd forget which one I was." Jess frowned like the idea was strange. "Why would I forget you?" He picked his book back up but didn't read it. "You want to walk to class together after this?" "Yeah," Willow said. "I do." Down the hall, near the tall doors, a red bow caught the light. Scarlett stood watching. She had come to see Willow shrink back into the quiet girl no one noticed. Instead she watched Jess lean toward Willow and laugh at something she said. Scarlett's mouth went flat. She turned and walked off fast, her heels sharp on the stone. Willow saw her go. The fear Scarlett had planted was gone now. Jess wanted the girl in the blazer. But Willow's next thought was harder. She had won the school. She had never told a single friend about any of this, and everyone in these halls had just seen them together. By last bell, the whole school would be talking.