My phone dinged as it sat in the middle of my bed. I paused in the fruitless act of attempting to tame my curls to glance over at it.
I’d been getting texts all day, and for the most part, I’d been ignoring them.
Most were from Bianca, and they were filled with questions. One would think I’d betrayed her trust because I hadn’t spilled the deets on Derek’s background. Then there’d been more questions from all the other girls because clearly word had spread.
The only one I’d replied to was Collette because I could tell from the tone of her text that she’d been hurt that I hadn’t trusted her with the truth.
I’d explained as nicely as I could that it wasn’t about trusting her; it was about being loyal to Derek. Just like I wouldn’t tell Derek about her weight loss struggles, I wasn’t about to tell her about his family drama.
She’d understood. At least, she’d sent a million heart-eyed emojis when I told her that I couldn’t hang out tonight because he was taking me to the movies.
With a sigh, I dropped my brush and went to pick up the phone.
Collette: Is this a date????
I stared at the phone as if the mere act of staring might suffice in lieu of a reply. Of course, the answer was no. This wasn’t a date. But to explain that to her would mean explaining how this non-date came about, which would mean explaining our game of stick-pull, which would mean explaining...the moment.
I tossed the phone onto the bed with a sigh and turned back to the mirror. Where was I? Oh yes. Trying to get my dark curls to behave.
Definitely not thinking about the moment when I’d felt his heart beating against mine. Nope. Not thinking about that.
Definitely not thinking about how I’d thought for a second there that maybe…
Nope. I threw my brush down, and it landed on my dresser with a clink. Not thinking about it. In a few quick moves, I put on the bare minimum of makeup and went out to the safety of my family.
Tank was talking a mile a minute about something that had happened in school, and my parents only looked up to smile and tell me I looked pretty.
I glanced in the hall mirror. Did I look pretty? Sure, lip gloss and eyeliner were rare for me, and I thought maybe it helped. But I still wasn’t sure I qualified as pretty.
Cute, maybe.
I turned away with a shake of my head. “What does it matter?”
“What does what matter?”
Derek’s low voice behind me made me squeak, and I whirled around to see him standing right behind me in the hallway. “Why are you creeping up on me?”
He laughed, his hands up again. “You say creeping. I say walking like a normal human being.”
“Whatever,” I muttered. A heat was creeping up my neck, and I didn’t know why. I wasn’t embarrassed, necessarily. Or maybe I was. All I knew was, I wasn’t as comfortable as I normally was around my friend, and I hated that.
I really hated that as he took me in from head to toe, I found myself wondering if he thought I looked pretty.
Why did I care?
I didn’t. Obviously.
“When did you become such a scaredy-cat?” he asked.
I frowned. “I’m not. I’m just not used to people sneaking up on me, that’s all.”
“Uh huh.” He rested a shoulder against the doorframe beside me, and for a minute, I forgot that my whole family was right there in the kitchen behind me.
For a second, my mouth went dry because he was close...too close.
“So, if you’re not a scaredy-cat, you won’t care if I got us tickets to that creepy clown movie.”
I shook my head. “Nope. Sorry. If you’re hoping to scare me tonight, you’ll have to do better than that. I like horror movies.” I smiled up at him. “And creepy clowns.”
He winced and leaned in closer like he was going to tell me a secret. “I am.”
“What?”
“Afraid of clowns,” he said, his lips curving up in a stellar smile. “Which is why I got us tickets for an action flick instead.” He arched a brow and pushed away from the wall beside me, which meant I could finally breathe. “You ready?”
“Have fun, kids,” my mom called after us. “Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do.”
My entire body heated as I stared my mother down. What in the world did that mean?
If she noticed my death stare, she didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, she just gave me a big smile and waved her fingers in our direction. I scoffed, grabbed Derek’s arm, and hurried him from the house before my parents could speak again.
The silence in the car was weird. Derek and I did teasing and laughing, and we played more competitive games than the average human, but silence?
We did not do silence.
I looked out the window as I tried to think of something to say. Why was my mind so blank?
“So, did your friends give you a hard time about keeping secrets about me?” he asked.
I turned to face him. “Not really. Collette, Cora, and Eve were a little confused by my lie of omission, but I think they get it.” I forced a smile. “Bianca’s more obsessed with how you know Avery Queen to care about anything else.”
He smiled, but the smile looked forced.
Which was fine because mine felt forced as well. I shouldn’t have brought it up again, but also...it was still bothering me. Way more than it should.
Why hadn’t he told me? I mean, surely, I’d been on his mind when he’d met her. He only knew about her because of me. Why wouldn’t he want to use that connection to help me?
Did he not think I was good enough? Did he think I’d embarrass his family or something?
I looked out the window because old memories I didn’t like to recall started to surface. Memories of his parents, the way they treated me and my parents. The way they’d tolerated me but had never let me forget that I wasn’t like them. In their minds, I wasn’t the one who became a celebrity; I was the girl who worked for them.
I knew his parents felt that way...but did Derek?
I glanced down now at the outdated phone in my hand, at the threadbare jeans which were one squat away from a tear. Was that what he saw when he looked at me? The class difference between us?
Was he just slumming here in Oakwood before returning to his real life?
“Okay, seriously, Olivia, you’re starting to creep me out with your silence over there,” Derek said, glancing over at me. “You okay?”
“Yup. Yeah. Of course.” I was overreacting, that was all. Maybe I didn’t know the exact reason he hadn’t thought to make an introduction or even tell me about his run-in with my hero, but that didn’t mean I was about to let it go. “I was just thinking of new ways I can kick your butt.”
He laughed. “Oh yeah?”
I nodded. “I’ll bet you I can eat more Twizzlers than you.”
He turned to me with a look of amused confusion. “And if you win?”
“Then you introduce me to Avery Queen.”
He blinked in surprise and then looked back to the road. “And if I win?”
I shrugged. “Whatever you want.”
“I already got what I want.” He flashed me this lopsided grin that made all the air rush out of my lungs.
What did that mean? All he wanted was to take me out?
My heart started to race.
That didn’t make sense.
We pulled into the parking lot, and Derek held the door for me to the movie theater. I turned to him in the concession line. “I’ll bet you I can finish that giant soda before you do.”
He rolled his eyes. “Then you’ll be peeing every other minute. We’re here to see a movie, not spend the whole time in the bathroom.”
He had a point.
Once we were in the movie theater and in our seats, I tried again. “I bet I can name more of the actors who are in this movie than you.”
He shot me an impatient look and handed me my popcorn and candy. When the lights dimmed, I was way too aware of the fact that we were alone.
I mean, in a crowded movie theater, but also...alone.
This was not new. We’d been alone in movie theaters a lot back in the day. Just...not now. Not since we’d grown up.
And right now, I was acutely aware when my arm brushed against his. I was aware of the way our legs kept bumping when we shifted to grab more snacks.
My pulse was uncomfortably fast. I reached for the M&Ms that he’d insisted on. I needed to do something to distract me from the sensations that were racing across my skin from every touch. “Come on,” I said. “I bet you—”
The couple in front of us turned to glare at my talking, and I gave them an apologetic wince. When I turned back to Derek, my breath caught in my throat. He’d turned as well, which brought our faces close. Much too close.
His eyes were locked on mine, and they weren’t filled with laughter. They were intense, serious, and…
I glanced away and tried to steady my breathing.
“If I agree to try and introduce you to someone from that dance company, will you drop this already?”
I looked back and swallowed. Yup, he was still way too close. “Yes,” I whispered, hating the fact that my voice was giving away how I was feeling. Thankfully we were in a crowded movie theater with cranky people in front of us. If Derek picked up on the change in my tone, I could just blame it on external circumstances.
“Fine.” He snatched the M&Ms from my hands and turned to the screen. “Then I’ll do it.”