seat. I wondered how I was going to explain my invisible boyfriend to him.
I didn’t realize how tense my chest was until we pulled into the Home Depot parking lot. The breath I was holding came out in almost a cough. Naomi had tried to comfort Scott several times, but he ignored her or shrugged her off. Either way—I was contemplating walking home. The only problem was figuring out which direction to head.
I stumbled out of the back after Naomi pushed her seat forward and ran into the store. A hand grabbed my shoulder as I searched the massive aisles for the paint section. “Hey, wait up,” Naomi said. “Roger is kinda gross, huh?”
I looked behind her for the guys, but they weren’t anywhere in sight. “They both are.”
“You don’t think Scott is cute at all?”
“Not particularly,” I said, keeping my eyes glued to the signs. “Guys like him are tornadoes—they shred everything in their path and then they disappear.” At least that was what happened to my mom every time she dated bad-boy types.
“Day-am, you got burned pretty bad, huh?” She pinched my arm. “Man, I can’t wait to hear all your crazy-boy stories.”
I walked faster and kept quiet. She sounded so excited. It would probably disappoint her that I had no crazy- boy stories of my own. And I liked that she found me interesting. It made the world seem brighter somehow, a little less alien. Besides, Mom said that giving people too much information, like the fact that I didn’t have any friends, would freak them out—that a little mystery would make me seem cooler, less clingy.
Mom was always giving me social advice. She used to write skits for my Barbies, and we’d spend hours pretending that plastic hunks with rubber legs were actual people. But I preferred using the dolls for other purposes, like putting them in the freezer to make
“There’s the paint,” I said, spotting the sign. “Are your friends waiting in the car?”
“I don’t know. Let me go check—I’ll be back.”
I nodded and scanned the paint cards for the perfect lime green. It didn’t take long to narrow it down to three slightly different shades. Finding the right color was a lot like getting the perfect amount of salt in a recipe. Even a little too much could overpower the meal, and the wrong shade would give me a headache or make the room drab.
Roger’s wheezy laugh distracted me from my comparison. “Where’d they go?” he asked.
“They said they were getting paint,” Scott said.
As their footsteps got closer, I darted into the next aisle and huddled behind a large open box.
“Don’t see them,” Roger said.
“You know chicks and hardware don’t mix. They probably got lost.” Scott chuckled. “What do you think of Drea?”
“She’s all right. Kinda stuck up.”
“She’s pretty cute, though—nice tight body,” Scott said.
“I like them thicker, like Naomi. She’s hot, man.”
“Yeah, but she’s clingy as fuck. Calls five times a day.”
Roger snorted. “Every chick calls you five times a day.”
“I bet Drea still has her v-card.”
I hugged my body at Scott’s words, my breath quickening.
“Oh, dude, don’t go there,” Roger said.
Scott’s laughter was like thorns on my skin.
“There you guys are,” Naomi said. “Where’d Drea go?”
“Thought she was with you.”
The back of my neck felt damp, and my heart pounded. I stood on shaky legs and walked into the next aisle. Naomi looked at me with wide eyes. “I need to get home,” I told her.
“Jake’s having a party tonight. We were gonna head over there after this,” Scott said to Naomi.
“Aren’t you getting paint?” she asked me.
I shook my head, eyeing the scuff-marked floor.
“Can you drop her home?” she asked Scott.
“Don’t have time. Come on, it’ll be fun.”
“I’ll just walk,” I said.
“Aw, don’t be like that.” Roger touched my arm, but I jerked away from him.
“Don’t touch me.” My breakfast was creeping into my throat.
“Freak,” Roger said under his breath.
The entire store seemed to be spinning around me, and Scott’s laughter kept replaying in my head. I did the only thing I could do and ran for the exit. I might get lost going home, but anything seemed better than getting back in the car with those jerks.
“Hey, chica, wait up!” I tensed as Naomi caught up with me outside. “I’m coming with.”
