“No, actually, I haven’t.” He seemed sincere–he looked me straight in the eye, his face dead serious. Something flickered in his eyes and he looked away. “I get it. Someone’s already filled you in on all the details of my supposed sex life.” He slid out of the booth. “You know, you really shouldn’t believe everything you hear.” He brushed past a waitress and made his way to the exit.
Damn it…
I followed him outside, trailing behind him to his car. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean– I’m sorry.”
He opened the driver’s side door, but paused before getting in. “Why are you here?” he asked me across the roof of his car. “If you really thought I was the hit it and quit it type, then why are you here?”
I lowered my eyes to the ground and kicked a pebble with my flip-flop. “I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. You said you wanted to be friends, and I figured I could at least try to be your friend…even if I thought you were a whore–”
He cut me off by getting in the car and slamming the door behind him. I pulled on the handle and opened my door, climbing in next to him. He sat there for several seconds, looking down at the keys in his hands before shaking his head to himself. “I can’t believe you think so poorly of me,” he murmured. “You really weren’t kidding when you called me an asshole.”
God, I was an awful person. I’d never felt so horrible in my entire life. It broke my heart to see his beautiful face so sad.
I reached out, but paused. “Thomas, I–”
He looked up. “Did I ever do anything in there to encourage Amber?”
I pulled my hand back. “Well, no, but–”
“Exactly.” His jaw clenched. “I never led her on in any capacity, and you–”
“Thomas,” I cut in. “I’m sorry. I assumed you went from girl to girl based on what some idiot told me. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”
His jaw slowly unclenched. After a couple seconds of silence, he smiled. “So you’d be my friend even if I was a whore?”
I rolled my eyes as laughter bubbled out of me. “That’s what you choose to focus on?”
He shrugged. “What can I say? It caught my attention.”
I buckled my seat belt, glancing at him. “Yeah, I would. Turns out you’re not quite the asshole I thought you were.”
He grinned and started the car. “Told you.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Friday, September 4th
EMILY
I paused before leaving my bedroom, doing one final check in the full-length mirror hanging on the back of my closet door.
Hmm, not bad.
I grabbed my bag off my bed, slung it over my shoulder, and went out into the living room. “Are you ready?” I called out to Beth.
She came out of her bedroom, eyes down as she dug through her backpack. “I don’t know what the hell I did with my–” She glanced up, stopping when she saw me. “Oh my god.”
“What?” I looked down at my clothes. Was there a stain I’d missed? What the hell was she gawking at?
A huge grin spread across her face. “You dressed up for him.” There was an accusatory tone to her voice.
“What?” I pretended my face wasn’t redder than a fire truck as I walked to the front door. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, grabbing my keys off the table next to the door.
“Liar!” she squealed. “I knew it. I knew you liked him.”
I rolled my eyes and walked out into the hall. I didn’t need to hear this. I didn’t have time to hear it. If we didn’t leave right now, we’d be late for sociology. Well, Beth would be late for sociology. I was already on my way.
The door slammed behind me and I heard Beth lock it before she ran to catch up with me. “Why are you doing this?” she asked, squeezing into the elevator before the doors closed. “Why are you pretending not to like him?”
“I don’t even know who you’re talking about,” I lied.
“Oh, come on. Look at you. Your hair and makeup are flawless, you’re wearing a miniskirt, your legs have this kind of sheen you only find on models, and your boobs… Well, quite frankly I’m jealous of them. You might as well have it written across your shirt, in big, bold letters–I LOVE THOMAS.”
The elevator doors slid open. I continued my trek to class, and continued to pretend we weren’t having this conversation.
“Don’t get me wrong, you look hot,” Beth continued. “But it’s obvious–at least to me–that you’re totally into him.”