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'You're not wearing the earrings," he said.
He reached out and touched my bare earlobe, pressing it gently between his thumb and forefinger. I tilted my head and shrugged away.
This was unbelievable. Couldn't he take a hint? Maybe I should just tell him I had a boyfriend. Except that I didn't, thanks to Thomas's secret breakup note. Not that anyone other than me knew that.
God, I wished Thomas were there right then. So I could throttle him.
“No . . . they're a little much for a soccer game, don't you think?” I asked.
“But you haven't worn them since I gave them to you,” he said. “Do you not like them?”
“No. It's not that,” I said. “It's just...”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Constance standing with the rest of the cross-?country team. She was watching me--watching us--very closely. Surreptitiously, I turned my hand, palm out at my side, and crooked my fingers, waving her over.
“It's just, they seem more like special-?occasion earrings,” I told him. “They're too nice to wear every day.”
Constance shook her head very slightly and shifted her feet. I crooked my fingers more insistently.
“But the man at the store said they were everyday earrings,” Whittaker told me. “That was why I purchased them. So that you could wear them every day.”
Someone behind me giggled. Damn eavesdroppers. I so didn't
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like where this conversation was going, and the last thing I needed was for anyone else to overhear it. I did the only thing I could think to do: I sacrificed a friend.
“Constance!” I said loudly, turning my head and widening my eyes. “Hey! I've been looking all over for you!”
No one had perfected the deer-?in-?headlights thing like Constance. She stood there, frozen, with her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Then her head twitched and she looked at Whittaker and her face entirely transformed. Charming smile, flirtatiously tilted head, rosy cheeks.
“Hi, Reed,” she said. “Hello, Walt.”
For a moment, Whittaker seemed offended by both the interruption and the use of his first name. But then his expression cleared and he smiled.
“Constance! Constance Talbot! My parents told me you were matriculating here this semester! It's so good to see you!”
Constance made her way over to us. Whittaker leaned in and gave Constance a cheek kiss, and I was almost certain she was going to pee i
n her pants. The glee on her face could have warmed the entire student body.
“Oh! You two know each other? ” I said, trying my best to be the good actress. “How great is that? Two of my favorite people and they already know each other.”
Whit looked at me quizzically.
“We were roommates at the beginning of the year,” I explained. “Constance is the best,” I said, wrapping my arm around her. She grinned at me, pleased. "Did you know she's
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writing for the Gazette? You should tell him all about that frontpage article you're working on."
Constance flushed. “No. Please. It's no big deal.” She looked up at him with sheer worship in her eyes. “I'd rather hear about your trip. Was it as amazing as it sounded?”
Yes. Go, Constance. She'd hit on his favorite topic in one shot. This girl was good. Better than she gave herself credit for.
“Even more so, actually,” he said. “China was absolutely awe- inspiring. When you're standing there, under the Great Wall, you really understand for the first time the capacity man has for--”