“Well, I for one think it’s pretty crazy that we turned out to be neighbors.”
He’s still in here? Get a clue, dude. I want you to go away.
Just as I’m about to turn and tell him something though, I realize that he’s right next to me.
“What are you doing?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at his closeness.
He holds up an empty glass, and nods toward the refrigerator. “Getting a refill. Is that okay with you?”
Did he have that glass when he walked in? And of course, he wants to get a refill while I’m standing in front of the fridge. Ugh.
“Yeah, sure,” I mutter, forcing myself to ignore how close we are, “have at it.”
I’ll just walk around the other way. Which is exactly what I do as he starts to fill his glass with water.
“Hey, Meg?”
I could pretend that I didn’t hear him, but I go ahead and look over at him. “Yes?”
“No hard feelings about the past couple of days,” he drawls, tilting his head to the side, “right? You know that I was just messing around.”
Wow, how many times did I hear that back in middle school? However many times he managed to get in trouble, or did something that I didn’t like…
“Megan?”
“Whatever,” I tell him with an eye-roll, forcing myself not to say his name, “it’s not like I care anyway.”
And with that, I leave the kitchen and go back into the dining room. Everyone is still chatting it up like old friends, except for Hailee who’s “discreetly” using her phone under the table, and I set the tray of bread down before taking my seat again.
As I resume my eating, Brayden comes back into the room (with his glass full of water) and sits down next to me. Is it possible that he’s even closer now? And smells even better? Ugh, this is so stupid. Plus, to make things worse, my spaghetti is barely warm now.
“Of course, Megan would be glad to show Brayden around school tomorrow,” Mom suddenly tells Dawn with a bright smile, “she can be his little tour guide!”
I almost choke on my food at her words. His little tour guide? Like heck am I going to be his little anything!
Mom widens her eyes at me, her smile still intact. “Right, Megan?”
There’s no choice here.
“Right,” I agree with a mental sob, “I can totally show him around school.”
“Perfect!” Brayden’s mom exclaims, looking way too excited about this. “Brayden? Did you hear that? Megan is going to show you around school, honey.”
Brayden reaches for another piece of garlic bread, then gives me a brief smirk. “Can’t wait.”
Chapter 5: You’ve Changed
“Remember to be polite, Megan,” Mom tells me for the umpteenth time as I get out of the car. “The Knights are a wonderful family, and I don’t want them to think poorly of us.”
Because reelection for the neighborhood committee president will be happening next month, and she wants to make sure that the new neighbors vote for her instead of Sandy Wilson.
“Got it,” I say, holding back a sigh. “Love you, Mom.”
She raises an eyebrow and nods toward the middle seat section of the car. This time I actually do sigh. “Love you too, Kyle and Hailee.”
Hailee doesn’t say anything, probably because her earbuds are in, but Kyle pauses in his offbeat singing to give me a wide grin. “Love you, Megan!!! Have fun!”
In what world is high school fun?
“Yeah, thanks,” I reply, getting out of the car. “See you guys later.”
I close the passenger door just as Mom begins to lecture Hailee about “those darn earbuds” and then I start walking toward school’s main building. Technically, I’m supposed to wait out here for Brayden. That’s what our moms arranged to happen last night. They decided that I would stand outside looking like an idiot until he shows up and finds me. In my honest opinion, it’s a terrible plan. But I know how important it is to Mom that we make a good impression. Plus, I feel bad about the whole bread thing. She was really disappointed when the Knights didn’t mention anything about her blueberry bread last night. So, this is how I’m going to make it up to her…by sticking to their weird plan, and by being polite to Brayden.
Five minutes of waiting seems a little ridiculous though.
However, I’m not really surprised, because promptness was never a trait of Brayden’s. Especially when it came to school. Why didn’t I fake being sick, so I didn’t have to deal with this?
“What, no spit-fest this morning?”
And there it is, the most annoying sound on earth. Also—how dare he!
I whirl around to glare at him. “Excuse me?”
“Relax, Megan,” he drawls with a slight laugh, “it was a joke. Some morning humor to start the day, ya know?”
“Well, you’re not funny,” I retort, crossing my arms. “And you’re late.”
“Cut me some slack, Feisty,” he says in the same laidback way, “it’s my first day of school, I got a little lost.”
“Stop calling me that,” I snap at him with a curse. “And next time, use your phone’s GPS like a normal person. Let’s go.”
He just stands there though; with pinched lips, like he wants to say something.
“What?” I ask, letting out a loud exhale. “I don’t have time for this, so if there’s something you want to say, then you just need to say it. That way we can get on with our lives, okay?”
“You’ve changed.”
He says it so simply, that I’m actually caught off-guard for a second.
Only a second though.
I feel my nose twitch ever-so-lightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He offers
