Ryan looks at me, and I finally, finally see something spark in his eyes. I’m not really sure what it is, though. Does he want what they have one day? I sure as heck do.
Will Ryan and I make it to three years? Will we be together forever? I’m only sixteen and too young to be thinking this, but I don’t think there is anyone else out there for me. And from the way he’s looking at me, I’m pretty sure he feels the same.
When the bell rings, all of us groan. It’s like we can’t get enough of our girlfriends/boyfriends. I wonder if we’ll always be this way.
We get to our feet and make our way to our classes. A hand grabs my arm and I’m hurled back into the cafeteria.
Brianne stands before me, her friends flanking her on either side. Great. I know where this is headed, and I roll my eyes.
“Seriously, Brianne? Just let it go. Ryan doesn’t want you, it’s really pathetic.”
Her hands shoot to her hips. Then she tilts her head from right to left. “I’mpathetic?”She snorts. “No guy waspaidto take me to the school dance.”
My lips press together. “What?”
She and her friends exchange a wicked laugh. She steps toward me, shoving her phone in my face. I stare at the video, where Ryan and Jason are sitting on the school steps. They’re talking about Jason paying Ryan to ask me to the dance.
My heart stops pumping and my blood grows ice cold.
With a satisfied smile on her face, Brianne drops her phone into her bag. “Wow, Artemis. You’re such a loser your brother has to pay guys to ask you out.”
Tears want to prick my eyes, but I don’t let them. Because it’s not true. Ryan would never accept money to take me to the dance.
Then I remember him telling me that money’s tight. That he’s helping out his grandma with her pills, and that he wants to buy that guitar.
But it’s Ryan. He…he wouldn’t.
Brianne and her friends burst out laughing. She’s so loud, it’s like she’s got a megaphone. They might as well hear her on the moon.
I glare at her. I can run away like a scared little thing, or I can hold my head up high and not let this get to me. For all I know, that video is fake. Yeah, it has to be fake.
My brother and boyfriend would never do this to me.
Pushing Brianne aside, I march to class, keeping my chin up. They can laugh all they want, but I know my boyfriend. Ryan is a good person. Even if he was desperate for money, he wouldn’t use me. No way.
His eyes catch mine as I walk into the classroom. But I don’t have a chance to ask him about it because the teacher comes literally five seconds later and starts the lesson.
I don’t think about what Brianne just told me. I’m not going to let that fake video derail me. Because there’s no way Ryan Rogers would hurt me that way.
***
“Something weird happened today after lunch,” I say to Ryan as he and I are sprawled on the grass in our special place at the park. He’s lying on his backpack and my head is on his chest.
He plays with my hair, which sends tingles all over me. “I wondered where you disappeared to. Everything okay?”
I sit up, causing his hand to drop from my hair. “Yeah. Everything is fine. It’s just that Brianne is so crazy about stealing you from me, she’s even making fake videos.”
His eyebrows scrunch up. “What?”
I roll my eyes. “She showed me a video of you and Jason sitting on the steps today. You were talking about how he paid you to take me to the dance.” I snort. “I don’t know how she made that fake video. I guess she knows someone. I mean, there’s no way that’s true.” I look at him. “Right?”
Guilt and pain crowd his eyes. “Artemis—” He reaches for me, but I pull back.
“Wait a second. Itistrue? My brother paid you to take me to the dance?”
His mouth opens, but no words come out.
I shakily get to my feet. “Oh my gosh. Hepaidyou to take me to the dance.” I knew it was too good to be true. Why would a guy like Ryan ask me? “Did he pay you to be my boyfriend, too?”
