I took a deep breath, finished the rest of my wine, and then nodded. “Making their lives as miserable as they made mine. That’s my only goal right now.”
Jami nodded, biting her lip, then grabbed a notebook from my backpack on the floor and opened it up, pulling that pencil from behind her ear.
“Let’s brainstorm.”
I laughed. “Brainstorm how? I could never be the bully they were to me, Jami. I am not that kind of person.”
“I know you’re not,” said Jami. “But maybe there’s something you could do differently to make them jealous or hurt.”
Silence settled over us as I pondered this, thinking of Matt’s cold, brooding expression, Jake’s arrogant jock ways ... and Aaron. Aaron, the halfway decent, dorky guy who never had the balls to tell the other two off. He was just as guilty, even if he might not think so.
“Jake already asked you out,” Jami mused. “And Aaron tried to apologize, but you blew him off.”
“Yeah, well, he deserved it.” It must have been the wine because I felt frisky suddenly like nothing could bring me down. Not even the three stooges. “They all do.”
“What about Matt?” Jami asked. “Has he approached you?”
“No, not really.” I was surprised to feel a hint of jealousy in the pit of my stomach at the thought. Matt hadn’t directly approached me, hit on me, or even tried to apologize to me.
Not that I was surprised. Matthew Nelson had always been the alpha of the group. Brooding, quiet ...intense. It had always been that way. If he did something, it had to be his idea, his rules.
I used to fucking hate him for it. I still did.
“I guess the first step is figuring out how you really feel about Jason,” Jami said, picking up her glass for another sip. “He’s pretty smitten with you, I think, if he’s taking you out on a date tonight.”
“Jason is a good guy. We already know that.” I shrugged, trying to remember if there was any moment in class I’d been next to him and feltsomething... or anything at all. “I like him,” I said earnestly. “But as of right now, there’s no real attraction. He’s just a friend, I guess. Tonight could change that, though, right?”
“It doesn’t matter because this is your first date,” Jami said matter-of-factly. “So, you’re not his girlfriend. You’re allowed to have feelings for other guys.”
I shook my head and took another sip, feeling exhausted suddenly as the wine hit me all at once. Before I could open my mouth to say anything, the doorbell rang downstairs, and Jami’s eyes popped with excitement.
“Come on,” she said, grabbing my hand to pull me to my feet. “Your knight in shining armor is here.”
I followed Jami downstairs, trying to keep my breathing even as the doorbell rang again. I was trying not to fall down the stairs in these pants because they’d probably split open and expose everything if I did.
“Smile!” Jami hissed as I stepped forward. “Jesus Christ, this isn’t a funeral.”
I plastered on the cheesiest smile and swung the door open.
“Hi, Ja—” My voice trailed off, and my jaw dropped nearly to the floor. Standing on the front porch, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his football jacket, was none other than Jake fucking Denny.
