“Yes, super on.”
“Then let’s go.”
The last mile was awkward, but by the time I collapsed on the grass back at the school, I was too tired to care.
Claire cared. She made me promise we’d hang out that night.
“I want to run again after dinner, but I’m free after.” She picked up her water bottle and started jogging backward toward her mom’s minivan. “Call me when you get off work.”
I shot up, hoping she’d see the panic in my eyes at the thought of being left alone with Sean, but her back was already toward me. I could call out, but that would only draw more attention to the situation.
From the corner of my eye I could see Sean lying in the grass a couple feet away with an arm thrown over his eyes. I felt a strong urge to slink away, and also the urge to reach out. The conflicting impulses were not mixing well with the remains of Claire’s energy drink, and there was a good long minute where I could have thrown up.
I decided it was because of the running.
Just as I became moderately sure I wasn’t going to vomit, Sean sat up and tugged me to my feet.
“Come on, I won’t be able to sleep until Claire’s energy drink wears off. Let me give you a ride.”
And because my father didn’t raise a coward, I said, “Okay.”
CHAPTER 6
The walk to Sean’s Jetta felt like my own green mile. The idea of being alone with him in a car with barely two feet between us brought my nausea trickling back. We hadn’t done that yet—been alone.
I cast Sean a furtive look while unlocking my bike, trying to ascertain if he was as uneasy about the prospect as I was. But after one fleeting expression, he took my freed bike and started walking it to his car, defaulting to an easy tirade on the evils of running while we wrangled my Schwinn into the backseat of his Jetta. We knew from previous experience, even if the Jetta occasionally forgot, that it would fit, but only if you got the angle perfect.
“I think it needs to go to the right. I can’t see, am I hitting something?”
Sean squatted down. “Tilt it left.”
I tilted, and the bike slid in.
Sean straightened, a grin on his face. “And you doubted me.”
Yeah, I kind of had. But his smile was light and I found myself matching it, releasing the breath I’d been holding since Claire left.
Until his smile changed as his eyes moved past me. I turned and saw Cami Gutiérrez waving at us from across the parking lot.
I should have been relieved at the sight of another person to put between me and Sean, but that wasn’t my first thought, seeing Cami. Or my second. Or my third.
Not because there was anything off-putting about Cami—the opposite, actually. Just looking at her, you could tell Cami was the kind of girl who dotted heri’s with hearts and rescued kittens from trees. She’d transferred to our school at the end of last year and already had more friends than I did.
Not that I was bitter.
And I was used to noticing girls noticing Sean, both before and after I stopped loving him. Sometimes he noticed them back, which unfairly sucked just as much now as it had before.
With her soft brown hair and matching skin, and the dimple that was nearly as legendary as Sean’s, Cami got a lot of notice. I almost felt like I needed to duck when I got caught in the cross fire of their combined dimples. I gave the edge to Sean though. I still had a hard time not getting a little dizzy when he smiled at me, and I’d had years of practice. Cami had only recently moved to Mesa and was therefore totally defenseless.
“Cami G,” he called when she reached us.
“Sean A.” She let the sounds run together so it sounded likeSeany.
My stomach prepared to sour at the hug I knew he was about to give her, but he surprised me by high-fiving her instead. Cami didn’t register the omission like I did; she beamed at Sean, then wisely broke eye contact before she did something stupid like fling herself at him. Smart girl. She turned to include me in the conversation.
“So how’s cross-country? Did Claire convince you guys to go out for the team yet?”
Sean launched into the many reasons why hell would be hosting the Winter Olympics before that happened. Cami hung on every word, laughing. She had a great laugh.
