Everything stops functioning, along with my brain cells.
I can barely bring myself to look around the table at my friends but get a glimpse of Gabe; he has a granola bar half hanging out of his mouth, a shocked expression on his face. And Marcus?
Looks stunned. “Dude.Whatjust happened?”
Macy looks disgusted, nostrils flaring.
Deshaun lets out a low whistle. “Damn, Easton. Maddie Miller railroaded you.”
“I have secondhand embarrassment for you, bruh,” Marcus interjects, grabbing a french fry from my tray. “And I live for thisshit.”
I shrug, trying to act nonplussed. “It’s whatever.”
But it’snotwhatever.
It’s the opposite of whatever.
Harper hasn’t said a word. The tension between us is thicker than I’ve ever felt it before, including this morning at her locker when I told her about driving Maddie to school.
She rises slowly, pushing her chair back with deliberate force.
The sound of metal scraping the floor reminds me of that scene inPitch Perfectwhere Becca is kicked out of the glee club and drags her chair out of the practice room.
I can feel everyone’s eyes on us as she rounds the table to my side—Deshaun, Marcus, Gabe—all frozen, waiting for whatever’s about to go down.
I want to puke.
She comes to a stop in front of me, crossing her arms. Doesn’t say a word—not at first—but she doesn’t have to. Her pained expression says it all.
“I’m not going to cry,” she whispers, words hitting me like a gut punch.
“I didn’t say yes.”
“But you didn’t say no, either!” she snaps, voice rising. “You didn’t say no, and now I look stupid.”
“You don’t look stupid,” I protest, shaking my head. “You—”
“Don’t,” Harper demands, holding up a hand like she can physically block my words and push me away. “Just stop talking, Easton—you’re making this worse.”
I don’t know how I managed to make this worse.
I’m caught in the middle of something I never wanted to be part of in the first place—and as I watch her chest rise and fall, her eyes glisten with unshed tears.
Oh shit.
She looks away for a moment, biting her lip like she’s trying to hold herself together. The pain I see in her gaze is like a knife to my chest. I’m gutted.
She steps closer to me, voice shaking. “Just go to the dance with her—that’s what you wanted in the first place, right?”
I’m not dumb enough to respond.
Two weeks ago I would have given my left testicle to go to the prom with Maddie Miller. All I saw was her pretty face, blond hair, and popularity. I assumed she was sweet and kind and as charming as she was on the internet—that we would be a perfect match.
But now…
“You don’t have to worry,” Harper murmurs just loud enoughthat only I can hear. “I won’t tell anyone it was you who stole the rhino head. Your secret is safe with me.”
As she goes to turn, I reach out, grabbing her wrist to stop her from walking away, but she shakes her head.
