I felt sorry for whoever those boys were.
And who cared if Tatiana didn’t like the flowers? The hospital charity fundraiser was going to be happy to have them. I half wished I didn’t have it that night.
Amy:Is it bad karma to skip a charity function to get laid?
Elsie:Did you prebuy a ticket?
Amy:They gave me a free one for donating all those flowers.
Ivy:Definitely bad karma, then.
Grace:Maybe you can do a drive-by boink.
Amy:Sounds trashy.
Sophie:Was it one of the Svensson brothers who offered? They’d totally be game. They’re animals. In a good way!
Brea:Yeah, I bet you wouldn’t even have to get out of the car, just stick your ass out of the window.
Amy:It was Sebastian, and I think he’s a little too classy for that.
Grace:Sebastian?
Brea:*Shock emoji*
Ivy:I thought you didn’t like him.
Sophie:Hate sex is great sex!
Amy:I’m at the time of my life when I make desperate and ill-thought-out decisions that only serve to make my already shitty life shittier.
Grace:Then just send him a topless photo and be done with it.
But I wasn’t quite that desperate. Instead, I sent him a more PG text:
Amy:You want to do some riding tomorrow?
Wait. Fuck!
Amy:Trail riding, I mean!
I nervously waited for his response while I packed up the last of the flowers. Thirty minutes went by then an hour, and Sebastian still hadn’t written me back.
“Well, fuck you, too, then.”
22
Sebastian
“My teacher wasn’t that happy about my biosphere,” Alfie said dejectedly when I picked him up at school.
I was a little late, and I felt bad that he’d had to wait.
After the meeting with Amy and the very close post-meeting conversation, I couldn’t concentrate on any of my to-do lists. When I had finally managed to beat my brain into submission, it was late afternoon, and I was determined to make some progress. It was slow and painful. Every time I moved, I felt Amy’s phantom touch against my neck.
“As long as you followed the directions,” I assured Alfie, “it’s fine.”
“Maybe I should make another one. Can you help me make another one?”
