Afflicted

"Demi. I think she wanted to remind me that I hadn't asked you yet."

"Oh," I said as I handed the phone back. I wasn't sure if I could complain about Demi to Ryan or not. Her sway on the group was pretty concrete and I didn't want the drama of anything getting back to her.

"She's a bit of a head case," Ryan said. "I think she likes to take credit for our relationship."

"Yeah, she definitely likes to get involved in everyone's business," I agreed.

"So I've decided I'm not going to ask you to prom," he said. "Out of principal."

"I can't go with you anyway, I've already agreed to go with someone else."

"Wait, what?" Ryan sat forward and frowned at me.

"Yeah, why do you think I was trying on dresses?

"Who?"

"I'd have thought you'd have figured that out by now," I replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you annoyed?" I asked. "We never said we were exclusive..."

"You're seeing someone else?" Ryan asked incredulously. "Who the hell-"

I couldn't hold it in anymore and burst into laughter. Ryan stared at me for several seconds before chucking a musty pillow at my face. I batted it away and shoved him playfully.

"You're a bitch," he joked as he caught my arm and pulled me closer to kiss me.

"And you're too easy to wind up," I said just before our lips met.

The wind howled outside as the storm raged on and I let Ryan hold me close to keep warm whilst trying to convince myself that I didn't wish he was someone else.

Chapter Twelve

Lincoln

The Quarterback seemed surprised to see Katy when he opened the door. She stepped under his arm as he leant forward to kiss her and he almost tripped as he righted himself, looking embarrassed. She didn't seem to notice and turned back to wave at me. He tried to recover quickly and followed her gaze to my truck. I couldn't help but smirk at him, knowing he'd realised that I'd seen him looking like an idiot.

His jaw tightened and his gaze turned steely as he glared at me.

I couldn't help but rise to the bait and hit the button to drop my window.

“See you later Katy!" I called with a wide smile which she returned.

The Quarterback scowled and I blasted the horn before driving away. I couldn't help but laugh as I glanced in my mirror and saw her waving through the rain while he tried to usher her inside.

The rain pounded against my windshield and the wipers struggled to clear it even on the highest setting. I took the roads slowly, taking e

xtra care as I cruised through giant puddles which split apart in waves around my tyres.

The store was just outside Orville, a journey which should have taken twenty minutes but ended up being more like forty. My detour with Katy had given the storm a chance to kick up a notch and I was starting to wonder how much worse it was going to get.

I pulled into the deserted parking lot and picked a space as close as I could get to the store.

As I shut off the engine, the sound of the rain seemed to build, hammering on the metal roof loud enough to make my head hurt. The idea of heading out into it wasn't appealing and I wished I'd thought to grab an umbrella before I'd left the house.

With my only other option being to return to the house with nothing to eat, I pulled my collar up and made a dash for the store.