Like, straight into my soul.
“Easton!” Harper barks, snapping me out of another trance. “I swear.”
First of all, how can I pay attention at a time like this? I can barely believe this shit is happening—the stuck-to-her stuff. Second, I should’ve known better. Why did I think I could superglue flowers without screwing it up? Does Harper think Iwanther glaring at me as if I were an idiot, especially with Maddie Miller bearing down on me in the middle of this…situation?
Of all the people to walk into the gym, it would be her.
Cell phone clutched in her palm, no doubt she’s here to film content. She told me she’d do as much, although to be honest, I didn’t think she would actually show up. And now? Now she’ll see me in the most embarrassing position I’ve ever been in: with my hand glued to another girl’s chest.
Could this get any worse?
Suddenly hyperaware of how sweaty my palms are, I wipe my free hand on the leg of my pants.
Shit.
Maddie is walking toward us.
Why is she still looking at me?
She never looks at me. Not the way Harper does, and don’t think I haven’t noticed the change in her since our second make-out session. If she wasn’t into me before, she is now. Not that I know what to do with that information…
Maddie continues to sashay through the gym, white sneakerssqueaking against the shiny hardwood floor, broadcasting her every movement. I’m caught between wanting to hide and wanting to wave at her dumbly.
All I can do is stare at her, my mouth dry, my thoughts a jumbled mess.
“Guess you got what you wished for,” Harper mumbles beside me, holding totally still, her legs bent in in an awkward position.
“What I wished for? What’s that supposed to mean?”
She rolls her eyes. “Oh please. You were manifesting thissohard.”
I pull a face.Manifesting?“I don’t even know what that means.”
Harper huffs, nose stuck in the air. “It means that you’ve been obsessing over her for so long it’s like you’vewilledher into existence—right here, right now.”
Is it just me or does she sound pissed?
“That’s not…” I start to protest, but Maddie’s getting closer and closer and I lose my train of thought and let my sentence trail off because I am a numb nuts.
I swear my heart is about to explode out of my chest.
The smile she gives me might be like a neon sign flashingToo Good for You—and it’s the kind that makes her look like she’s stepped out of one of those Instagram filters—but it still sends a shock through my already scrambled brain.
She floats over and stops in front of us, holding up her phone with a gleaming ring light attached.
“Hey.” Her voice is upbeat—a little rehearsed—like she’s about to turn this whole scene into the latest trending video. That’s what she does, after all, and I know that’s what she’s here to do. Let’s face it, she’s not here to seeme—that would be crazy talk.
My throat tightens, and I manage a half-assed smile.
The kind of smile a kid might give when they shit their pants and are trying to hide it.
“Hey.” I hate how stupid my voice is and wish it were deeper.
Maddie’s gaze flicks from me to Harper and back again, phone still aimed at us, eyes missing nothing.
“You guys are working on prom decorations?”
She’s looking directly at me; I can’t move, can’t blink.
