“No,” I say honestly.
“Yes.Yes, you can.If you need to get mad, get mad, but he will pay.Think about how many calls you’ve gotten since the performance.All the times you've been tagged on socials.Think about Tay-vai.”
I don’t have the heart to tell her that I feel more embarrassed than mad, but she’s right.He can’t pull me in just to spit me out when I confess the truth to him.
“Let’s do this!”I finally say.
“Attagirl.Follow my lead.”She loops her arm through mine and walks us out of the protection of the wall.“Tate, smile.Smile like you’re having the best day of your life.”
“Mmmkay,” I say through clenched teeth.
“You look demented.You can open your mouth.Just look happy.”
“Okay, okay.Where to first?”I ask, scanning the crowd.I can see Levi slipping into the mouth of the pool, Kim not far behind him.Gabriella starts to tug me in the opposite direction.
“He’s over there.Where are we going?”
“We’re going to find Slater.We need a prop.”
Chapter 23
Levi
Ihave never wantedto die more.Why can’t one of these panic attacks take me?Preferably the last one where I listened to the girl I like pour her heart out just so I can crush it.Idiot.Once we’re out of earshot, Kim yanks me down by my arm until my ear is flush with her mouth.
“Ow!”
“That didn’t even hurt.What is going on with you?I thought you liked her?”
My head rolls back slightly.How does one explain the layers of disaster that is Levi Johnson?I press my lips together, considering.“I do like her, but I’m not the guy for her.She needs, like, I don’t know...an accountant or someone from a stable home who fosters disabled dogs and eats organic.Maybe has reading glasses.”I’m knee-deep in building Tate a perfect man when Kim slaps me in the chest with the back of her hand.
“Someone like that?”
I track her gaze to the screen door where Tate is perched on the shoulders of none other than Slater.That slimy, son of a gun.
“No, not him,” I seethe.“Anyone but him.”
