“Let’s do something.”He gently smooths the unruly blond hair floating around my head, sliding it between his fingers.
“Uh… a date?”I clarify with cautious optimism.
He quirks the side of his mouth like he finds me adorable.“Sure.”
I swallow and nod, afraid my voice will squeak if I open my mouth.
“I probably won’t see you ’til lunch,” he tells me.He hesitates before he leaves, and my face erupts in flames, thinking he might kiss me.Sensing my rising panic, he just gives me a small nod and a tight smile before walking away.
“Wow, you are so awkward,” Danika declares from behind me.
I spin to face her and collapse against my locker.“I know.I’m the worst.”
“Are you sure you two are even friends?Why are you acting weirder than usual?”
“I… don’t know.I need to stop freaking out.”But saying it doesn’t mean it’ll happen.“Or else he won’t want to be seen with me at all, forget about as friends or… whatever.”
“Going to Livvy’s after school.You should come.”
This draws my attention.“I didn’t know you were friends with Livvy?”
“You don’t know everything about me, Sadie Prescott.”She waggles her brows like she has a thousand secrets.“And Livvy’s cool.She doesn’t give a shit, and I like that about her.You should ask her for advice.”
“About Jonathan?”I squeak.The thought alone makes my stomach queasy.
“Uh, if you want.”Danika inspects her eyeliner for smudges in my locker mirror and sweeps a finger through her blue bangs.Her darkly lined sapphire eyes pop with dramatic lashes and a sparkle of dark shadow.She does look mysterious—like she lives a life filled with adventure outside of this quiet town and has just whisked in long enough to remind the rest of us how pathetic we are.
Danika didn’t look like this our first two years of high school.The meticulous blond bob has been replaced by a blue high ponytail and side bangs.A Monroe piercing shines above her pouty red lips.She has a Gwen Stefani vibe going on, a bit punk, a bit vintage pinup with an I don’t care attitude.
She cared a lot about what others thought before we were friends.Or I should say, what my brother thought.So much that she spent the summer before junior year at a treatment center with an eating disorder.It didn’t help that he broke up with her for the final time right before he graduated.He’s such an ass.
When she returned from treatment, Danika took back her life in a very literal way.And that’s when we became friends.I just happened to be there to witness the premiere of her revised self when she walked into Just in Time—the local burger place in Hollis.I smiled when everyone else pointed.And she smiled back.
Chapter Seven
Iusually sit with Jaz, Darcy and Danikaduring lunch.I don’t really interact with the guys in school, other than talking in the halls occasionally.This year, I have two classes with Collin, but we mostly hang out on the weekends whenever I’m free.Even though I was intentionally avoiding them while I acclimated Laurel to Hollis High, I was making it a bigger deal than it really was.
“Are you fake dating?”Darcy asks when Collin and Jonathan find us at our table and sit on either side of me.
“I heard you’re dating both of them,” Livvy says out of nowhere.Where did she come from?Livvy has barely said a full sentence to me in over four years, and now she’s sitting at our table.
My eyes widen when I realize the girls are waiting for an answer.I turn to Jonathan and Collin.Jonathan looks unimpressed with the rumors while Collin finds this enthralling.
“Yes!”he declares.“I love this telenovela twist.Can she be having my baby too?”
“Collin!”I scold, swatting his arm.He ducks away with a laugh.
“We can totally start that rumor,” Jaz replies, the wheels of controversy spinning in her eyes.
“Please don’t,” Jonathan requests stoically with a shake of his head.
He’s acting unaffected, but I can’t help but notice his knee is no longer touching mine under the table.And I swear he’s leaning away by, like, two inches more than he was before Livvy sat down.
Collin slings his arm around the back of my chair, wearing a gloating grin.
“Don’t mind him,” Collin interjects.“He lacks imagination.”
“Is this all coming from Laurel?”I ask.I haven’t been buzzworthy for years, and I forgot how defenseless it makes me feel.Like, no matter what I say to deny it, I won’t be heard.No one really cares about the truth when the story is more interesting.
