Rafe ignored them both to focus on me, and I couldn’t tear my gaze away from him. He still looked mad, but there was something else on his face. Something softer. Confusion? “He’s not your boyfriend?” he asked.
I bit my lip and shook my head. Tears were burning in my eyes, and I fought to control them, to be strong.
“Why’d you lie?” he asked.
“I...”
Everyone waited for me to come up with an explanation, but I had none. Nothing.
So I turned and ran instead.
* * *
I didn’t get out of bed until Wednesday, when my mom finally realized I wasn’t actually sick and forced me to go back to school. All my friends had called repeatedly, but I wouldn’t take the calls, not even when my mom banged on my door. Even Angel had tried to reach me.
But Rafe hadn’t.
And Les hadn’t.
It was horrible.
And it was even worse when I walked into homeroom and saw Erin, Val and Delilah huddled in the corner. Whispering. All cozy, without me.
I bit my lip and sat down at my desk, ignoring them.
Then the chair beside me was pulled out. I looked up to see Erin sitting down next to me, then Val perched on my desk and Delilah plopped down in the chair on my other side. I raised my chin and glared at them, daring them to harass me. I was well aware of what a loser I was, and I really didn’t want to hear it.
“So,” Erin said. “We’ve all talked about it, and we’ve come to a conclusion.”
They were going to ditch me now. I knew it. “I don’t care.” I clenched my fists under the desk, digging my fingernails into my palms.
“See, we watched you guys perform all night,” Val said. “And it’s pretty obvious that Rafe is in love with you.”
I felt my throat tighten, and I stared at my desk. “That’s not funny.”
“We’re serious,” Erin said.
I glanced at her, and my gut caught at the look on her face. “You are?”
“Yep.” Delilah tapped my arm. “He’s really dating that ugly dark-haired chick?”
I nodded slowly, still trying to understand their unexpected response. Why weren’t they hating me?
“Well, that’s why she kissed Rafe then, because she could tell he was mashing on you during the show,” Val said.
I stared at her. “Really?”
“Swear. She wanted to claim him because she knew she was losing him.”
“Losing him? To me?” I looked around at all of them. Why weren’t they harassing me for lying? But they weren’t. They were all serious and their eyes were bright with excitement. “You really...think he likes me?”
“As much as you like him,” Erin said.
I felt my cheeks heat up, and Erin grinned. “You’re so busted. Why weren’t you straight up with us from the start?”
The truth tumbled out of me before I could stop it. “Because you all had these guys and I had no one and I felt like a loser and then I blurted it out and I didn’t know how to stop it and--” I took a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter. He has a girlfriend.”
Erin sighed. “Yeah. There is that.”
“And Les isn’t interested anymore,” I said.
“Les is an idiot,” Val said. “I’m glad you’re not going with him. I didn’t want to tell you when you were liking him, but he made some really jerky comments about you after the pool party. He’s a cretin.”
That didn’t surprise me. “So, I guess I’m not going to the semi,” I sighed. I was back to where I’d been on the first day of school. But at least my friends didn’t seem keen on dumping me. That was good. Not just good. It was amazing. They knew exactly what I was, and yet they were still my friends. In fact, they even thought I was so great that they were ready to declare Rafe’s undying love for me. Everything was okay—
They exchanged meaningful looks, and I quickly sat up. “What now?”
Val set her hand on my shoulder and squeezed firmly. “Here’s the deal, Lily. First rule of not being a loser is to not be defeated. You have to go to the semi with a guy to show up both Rafe and Les.”
Hello? That was the situation that had created this mess in the first place! “Yeah, like who?” Another Inverness guy? Thanks so much, but I’d rather stay home and pluck my armpit hairs out one by one.
“The singer in your band,” Erin said. “We all decided he’s completely cute.”
“Chris?” I sat back and thought about it. Huh. “He is really nice. And his blue eyes are awesome.”
“Do it,” Val said. “You can still quadruple date with us.”