I pulled the lollypop out of my mouth. “Yep, pretty much.”
Oliver’s eyes flicked to the lollypop and back up to my eyes. “Well, that just...sucks.”
And the worst part was, I hadn’t even told Oliver what happened today with Eric because what if he thought I deserved it for getting involved with such a stupid idea in the first place?
We’re sitting on the back porch of my house. My mom isn’t home yet and I didn’t feel comfortable asking Oliver in. No, that’s not true. I did
feel comfortable. I just didn’t want him to think I was offering up a piece of Heaven.
Ugh. Everything was really confusing now. Including the fact Oliver Baldwin is sitting next to me on the porch swing.
How crazy was that?
Avoiding the Eric situation for now, I decided to bring up Anderson, who was a touchy subject, being his best friend. I thought maybe he could provide some clarity. “We always get along okay. Even flirting a little here and there, but once he showed me the photos, everything changed. He seems pretty judgey about the whole thing.”
“Like he thinks you’re a slut?”
“Did he say that? Do you think that? What about the other guys? I don’t really know them, but Jackson spoke to me and Hayden…”
Oliver’s jaw tenses. “Hayden did what?”
“Acknowledged me.”
He laughed. Even he knew how difficult it was to get Hayden’s attention.
“Look, I don’t think you’re a slut, and Anderson can be a little…reserved. He’s probably just shocked. I mean, screwing a guy at a party and everyone knowing about it? That doesn’t compute with the image we all have of you.”
“What image is that?”
He rubbed his hands on his thighs for minute before saying, “You’re quiet. Reserved. You wear huge sweatshirts that barely reveal you have curves. You never date. You skank-eye the more popular girls.”
“You think I’m a bitch.”
“No,” he said, holding my eye. “But I do think that’s your image and this whole thing with Justin and the photos? You just blew that wide open.”
I groaned and leaned into the cushion on the porch swing, toying with the fringe on the edge. “No one up here was supposed to know! Mallory has sex. Tiffany North has sex. Why is it such a big deal for me?”
“It’s a big deal because you’ve never done anything like this. Not just the sex part but the party and the gossip. You keep to yourself. Believe it or not, that kind of behavior intrigues people. You’re an enigma.”
“People are not interested in me.” He rolled his eyes. “They just want to see me fail. They think I’m a goody-two-shoes. A prude.”
“Well, there’s that, too.”
I looked up at the slats on the ceiling and thought about it. People noticed me. They thought about me. And one move outside my box threw the whole school for a loop. As awkward and surreal as it all was, it was nice to not be invisible for once. “You know, maybe I should embrace this. Have some fun for once in my life.”
“Uh…what?”
“Maybe I should, Oliver. Who’s it going to hurt?”
“Um...you? Your family? Your friends?” he said. But we both knew I didn’t really have any friends, and that’s when I told him what happened earlier that day.
“Eric asked me to fake make out with him!”
“He what?” His eyes narrowed and a thin vein appeared on his forehead.
I covered my eyes with my hand. “I think I’m going to do it.”
“No way. This is a bad idea.”