Noah: I NEED UR HELP.
Before I can respond, Oliver speaks.
“What’s wrong, Eve?”
I look up. “Nothing. Why?”
“You look worried,” Oliver says.
“You look surprised,” Ruby says. “And amused. Who are you messaging?”
“No one,” I say. I take a huge bite of my food, so I won’t have to talk.
“No one?” Oliver asks, before leaning over me to glance at my phone. I turn it off, though not before inhaling the smell of his deodorant. “Why are you acting so suspicious?”
My phone buzzes with another text, but I don’t dare check the notification.
“I’m not,” I say. “It’s no one. It’s… my Mum.” I take another bite.
Ruby gasps. “Oh my god, is it aguy?”
While I finish swallowing, I shake my head. “No,” I say, but it couldn’t be any more obvious that I’m lying. “Well, it is, but not in the way you’re thinking.”
“Ooooh,” Ruby teases. “Who is it? I thought you didn’t like anyone.”
“I don’t like anyone,” I say, glancing at Oliver. “And it’s no one.”
My phone buzzes again.
“You going to answer that?” Ruby asks.
I hesitate, then read the messages.
Noah: IT’S AN EMERGENCY.
Noah: PLEASE COME TO THE LIBRARY AND HELP ME.
Ruby’s face appears beside mine and she reads all the texts on the screen before I shriek and lean away.
“Noah?” she asks me. “Is that Noah Rosselli?”
“Noah Rosselli?” Oliver echoes.
I’m a horrible liar, and besides, I don’t want to lie to my friends. It’s not as if I have anything to hide. I straighten my shoulders. “Yes. It is.”
“You’re talking to him?” Oliver asks. He looks like I’ve admitted that I’m exchanging love letters with a convicted murderer.
“He wants your help?” Ruby asks simultaneously.
“Yes. He wants me to go to the library—”
“Holy shit, are you having some secret rendezvous or something?” Ruby’s mouth falls open and her eyes widen. “Are you guys, like, a thing—”
“No,” I snap. “No. It’s not like that.”
Another message comes through.
Noah: I’M BEGGING U.
