“I’ll have you know that I did keep my end of the deal. He and I agreed today to start over and that we can be friends.”
“Why am I just hearing about this now?” she asks, and I can totally picture her scowling. “And why didn’t he eat lunch with us?”
“I’m not keeping tabs on the guy, Lora,” I say, stopping in front of my window, “and I didn’t tell you sooner because it’s not a big deal.”
I start to close the curtains, then pause when I see Brayden walking by outside…completely shirtless. What the—
“Megan? Meg? You still there?”
“Yeah,” I manage to reply, my eyes glued to him and his toned upper half until he disappears out of sight. “I’m here.”
Why on earth is he just hanging around outside WITHOUT A SHIRT ON?
“Because I don’t feel like wearing one.”
Right, that was his lame excuse for being half-naked when I brought over Mom’s blueberry bread. Brayden does whatever he wants. He always has. And I’m sure he always will.
“You keep zoning out on me,” Lora singsongs, clearly annoyed. “Should I assume you’re thinking about a certain next-door neighbor?”
“Can we please just change the subject?” I ask, closing my curtains. “I feel like Brayden is all we ever talk about, and that is far from being okay.”
“You’re being dramatic,” she informs me in a dry tone, “I should probably hang up though. Mom wants all my homework done before we go visit Grams, and I’ve barely finished it.”
See? Procrastinating.
“All right, well, I’ll see you tomorrow. Give your grandma a hug from me.”
“I will. Byeeee.” And then she ends the call.
I toss my phone onto my bed before slowly peeking out the curtains.
Nothing.
Not that I was expecting him to walk by again—because I totally wasn’t.
I jump at the sound of knocking on my door, and then take a step or two away from the window. Why is my heart beating so fast? It’s not like I was doing anything wrong.
“It’s me!” Hailee exclaims, as she throws open the door and walks in. “And I have some SERIOUS news!”
I cross my arms. “I didn’t say you could come in.”
Actually, I didn’t say anything at all.
“I knocked,” she says, raising an eyebrow at me, “you could be a little grateful, Meg. Now, do you want to hear the news or not?”
“I’d rather—”
“We’re having dinner with the Knights tomorrow!” she cuts me off, literally bouncing in place. “Brayden’s mom invited us over...I just heard Mom talking about it on the phone!”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“Isn’t this great?’ Hailee asks with wide eyes. “We have to figure out what you’re going to wear!”
I watch in disbelief as she starts to raid my closet. “Are you serious right now?”
“There has to be something decent in here,” she huffs, sifting through my clothes. “Do you know Brayden’s favorite color? Never mind, that would be too obvious.”
No way am I letting this happen.
“Mom!” I yell, leaving my room to go downstairs. “Mother, we need to talk!”
I almost trip over one of Kyle’s toys, causing me to kick it aside with a frustrated curse, and then I storm into the kitchen.
“I’m guessing Hailee told you?” Mom asks, a slight smile on her face as she sprinkles shredded cheese over the casserole that’s in front of her.
“Mom,” I whine, leaning against the opposite side of the counter, “this isn’t funny! We can’t eat dinner at their house!”
Her smile only grows. “And why’s that?”
“Because you and Hailee think that I still like him!” I hiss as she uses her oven mitts to put the casserole into the oven. “And I’ve already told you guys that I don’t!”
“Well,” she drawls, closing the oven door, “insisting that we can’t go over to their house only makes you look guiltier of still liking him.”
I scowl at that. “But, Mom—”
“We’re going either way, Megan,” she interrupts, putting the leftover cheese back into the fridge, “so why not try to have a positive attitude about it?”
I’m positive that it’s a terrible idea…
“And, honey,” she says, resting her hip against the counter, “I know you claim that you’re over Brayden…but it is nice that your sister is focusing on something other than having a boyfriend or that ridiculous show.’
I blink at her. “That’s just messed up, Mom.”
“It’s the truth,” she defends herself with a shrug. “If she starts getting out of hand about it though, I’ll have a talk with her.”
“She’s going through my closet!” I exclaim, jabbing a thumb over my shoulder. “I’d say that her trying to choose what I wear for tomorrow is out of hand, Mom.”
“Well, I—”
“When’s dinner gonna be done?” Kyle moans, cutting Mom short as he comes into the kitchen. “I’m so hungry!”
“Ky-Ky, we talked about this earlier,” Mom says, raising an eyebrow at him, “remember?”
Kyle throws his head back, a clear sign he’s about to have a total whine-fest, and I take that as my cue to go.
Mom was probably going to just defend Hailee anyway…
I walk back into my room, and scowl at the sight of Hailee laying out several different tops on my bed. “Hailee, listen—”
“These are the only ones I’d recommend,” she states in a matter-of-fact tone, gesturing to the tops, “and if you wear any kind of bottoms besides a good pair of jeggings—you’d be making a mistake. Your shoes are a mess, so I didn’t bother, but you shouldn’t wear anything open-toed unless you decide on the light-blue top. Okay?”
My shoes are not that much of a mess.
“You’re welcome,” she says, walking past me, “now if you’ll excuse me…I have a livestream to watch. Let me know when you’re ready for makeup tips though, because I have lots that I think you could
