“What?” I asked, hearing what she’d said but pretending I hadn’t.
“Nothing.”
I stuck my hand out to greet her. “It’s nice to meet you, Sarah.”
“Yeah, you too.” She put her hand in mine and stared right through me. “So, um… where is he? He’s supposed to be here, right?”
“Who?” I feigned ignorance.
As if she’d just tasted something sour and unpleasant, Sarah’s face contorted. “Don’t play dumb. You know who.”
Damn, girl!She was kind of intimidating. I liked it. “Oh. Yeah, I guess.”
“What do you mean, you guess? He’s your brother, right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t keep him on a leash or anything.”
That face again. Geez. This chick didn’t play around.
“So we’re partnered up then?” I asked, trying to move the topic of conversation off Jake and onto me.
“That’s what I was told,” she shrugged. “Unless you have other information.”
“No one tells me anything.”
Sarah’s face relaxed a bit and she cracked the tiniest of smiles. It was a nice look on her. “You probably think I’m being rude, don’t you?”
“No. I get told off all the time. I’m used to it.”
She assessed me more carefully now. “Yeah, you have that whole doormat thing going on.”
I laughed.
She sighed heavily. “Look, I’m sorry if I’m being a bitch. I’m just annoyed right now. I was supposed to be partnered with Jake, but then Mitch paired him with someone else. Not cool.”
“Yeah, that sucks,” I replied sarcastically. “And now you’re stuck with me.”
“Are you mocking me?”
“Yeah, maybe a little bit.”
Furrowed brows let me know she was not happy with my response.
“Oh, come on. It could be worse. You could’ve been paired with that guy.” I pointed to one of Mitch’s friends who looked like he’d only recently been forcibly removed from his video consol.
That actually got a laugh from Sarah. “That’s very true,” she acknowledged, and then looked me up and down. “Yeah, I guess you’ll do.”
“Wow, I’m flattered.”
“Are you a musician, Kyle?”
“No.”
“So what do you do, then?”
“Not a whole hell of a lot.”
“That’s your answer?” she laughed.
