Next week, it was another normal day at school. The bell rang so every student walked out of class to go to the next. Madeline walked through the halls alone that time. As she walked, she saw Homer coming her way. She smiled at him, trying to catch his eye. When she approached him, the couple stayed close to the lockers.
"Hey, babe," she said. "How was your day?"
"Don't you 'hey, babe' me," Homer said, a bit angry.
"What?"
"You don't think I know?"
"Know what?"
"How about I show you?"
"Please."
Homer took the strap of his deep blue backpack from his arm so it could hang like a purse. He unzipped the bag and jammed his hand inside. He yanked out a folded-up newspaper and unfolded it to look for a page. When he got to it, he showed Madeline what he was angry about.
"Babe, that's a newspaper," said Madeline.
"I know that! I'm talking about what's on page six."
Madeline looked closely at the sixth page of the paper. And there it was. There was a picture of her, along with a few more pictures, hugging Jackson in black and white. And above that picture was the big-as-day title: Laguna's Loveliest Lovebirds.
"Okay, 'Loveliest Lovebirds' is not that clever of a title," Madeline commented.
"Madeline!"
"Relax! I'm not dating Jackson."
"Oh, so you know his name?"
"If I didn't know his name, why would I be hugging him?"
"Well-- Well, I don't know. But why were you hugging him?"
"Because he was thanking me for picking out flowers for him to give to Priya Najimi, the girl of his dreams."
"Oh. I didn't know."
"Yeah, you didn't."
"But this article says you guys are in a long-term relationship."
"So you're gonna believe a piece of smelly paper over your girlfriend? Look, Jackson and I have been friends for a while. And whoever wrote the stupid article probably knew that. But nothing ever happened between us. And nothing is ever gonna happen between us because I'm with you... idiot."
Homer put the newspaper down and did some thinking. "Okay, so what you're saying is... if you weren't with me, you'd be with Jackson?"
"No. What-- No! No! I don't want to be with Jackson! He is a friend. Can't you understand that?"
"Okay, okay. Sorry. It's just that the paper said you were with somebody and I almost lost my mind."
"Uh, almost? But you're right. Don't feel bad; you had every right to be angry. So once I find out who wrote this, I'm gonna kill them."
"You go do that."
"Thank you. And just know that no one can ever steal me away from you."
"Aw, thanks, babe."
"I feel bad for Jackson, though. He probably hates me now if he ever saw this picture."
"Well, if he's a true friend, he'll understand."
"Thank you, Homer."
"So I got to get to class. Chat later?"
"Sure."
"Okay." Homer took Madeline's head with both of his hands and pecked her on the forehead. "Bye, baby!" he said as he sprinted away.
"I miss you already," Madeline shouted back with a smile.
When Madeline turned to walk the other way, she was face-to-face with a girl. The girl had light tan skin, dark hair as long as a night, and a slightly bony body. She put her fists on her hips and stared at Madeline with the eyes of a tiger.
"You ain't no good," the girl said.
She then walked away, strutting down the hall like some model.
Madeline turned her head and shouted, "You're the one with my peonies, Priya!"
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