“So, did you use to send him a bunch of food memes when you were dating? Is that why he thinks you’re going to get married now?”
She almost chokes on her soda, clearly alarmed. “What?”
“Relax,” I verbally wave her off, “you know I’m exaggerating. But he definitely thinks that meme was significant.”
“Let’s change the subject,” she says, taking a careful sip of her soda, “okay?”
I eat another grape. “Sure.”
“How’s the whole I-find-him-attractive-but-I-don’t-like-him thing going?”
“Lora!” I hiss, glancing around the cafeteria to make sure no one heard her. And to also make sure Brayden isn’t anywhere near us.
“I didn’t say any names,” she replies carelessly, picking up her phone, “I could’ve been talking about anyone.”
“It’s going fine,” I say, burying my fork into my potato salad, “you can doubt me all you want…but I have this handled.”
“Hmm,” she hums, tapping on her phone, “well that’s good, because I overheard Beth talking to one of her friends, and she made is pretty clear that she’s interested in him.”
I shovel a forkful of potato salad into my mouth, determined not to show any emotions.
“So, you’re okay with that?” Lora asks, looking at me expectantly. “You’re okay with Beth liking Brayden? Because we both know that when Beth likes a guy, she doesn’t keep it a secret from him.”
The whole school knows that…
“Beth can do whatever she wants,” I finally say after swallowing my food, “and so can Brayden.”
“Right,” Lora agrees with a nod, “but are you okay with that? Be honest, Meg.”
If I wasn’t feeling so sick all the sudden, I would definitely be stuffing my face with more potato salad right now.
Being attracted to him doesn’t mean I like him.
“Megan? You okay?”
And to make things worse, that’s not Lora’s voice…it’s Brayden’s.
“I-I’m fine,” I stutter, well aware that he’s now standing beside me. When the heck did he walk up to the table? Did he hear us talking about him? Worse is rapidly starting to become even more worse.
“Are you sure?” he asks, resting his hand on the back of my chair. “You look kind of pale, Meg.”
I feel myself melting under his worried gaze. “Yeah, I’m positive.”
He doesn’t seem convinced though. “Maybe you should go to the nurses’ office.”
“No, really,” I insist, sitting up a little straighter. “I’m totally fine.”
“She’s probably just hungry,” Lora chimes in, coming to my rescue once again, “right, Meg?”
“Mm-hmm,” I agree, glancing in her direction, “yeah…that’s probably it.”
If only it was that simple.
“Okay,” Brayden says, his tone hesitant as he sits in the chair next to mine, “are you sure though?”
Dang it! Stop being so flippin’ concerned! My heart literally can’t take much more.
“Yes,” I reply in a firm voice, “I’m sure.”
No, I’m not. The only thing I’m sure about right now is that he’s making it incredibly hard for me to stick with my motto.
Honestly, this reminds me of the time I got sick during one of our middle school field trips—and Brayden refused to leave my side. I remember being majorly annoyed by his hovering; but looking back now, I realize that it was really sweet of him.
You’re treading on thin ice, Megan.
Don’t I know it…
“Well then you need to eat, Meg,” Brayden says, giving me a frustrated look, “seriously—before you start looking pale again.”
Why can’t I just be genuinely annoyed by his nagging like I was on that stupid field trip? Instead, I find myself wanting to smile like an idiot. What the heck is wrong with me?
Being attracted to him doesn’t mean I like him.
“I’m eating,” I assure him, taking a bite out of my BBQ pulled-pork sandwich. I then mentally beg him to focus on something else…anything else.
“So, I was talking to Beth Valerio earlier,” he drawls, opening his bag of chips, “and she mentioned something about a rummage sale fundraiser. Do you guys know what’s up with that?”
Are you kidding me? Him focusing on Beth is NOT what I had in mind. And guess who’s beginning to feel sick again? That’s right: this girl.
“Beth and her family host two community fundraisers every year for an animal charity they support,” Lora replies, offering a slight shrug. “It was some kind of art auction in the fall, so I guess a rummage sale is going to be the spring one.”
I’m all for helping charities, but if Beth “oh-so-casually” mentioned the fundraiser to Brayden—it’s because she’s concerned with helping herself.
I said what I said.
“Gotcha,” Brayden says with a nod, “well that’s cool. Have either of you ever participated in any of their fundraisers?”
I snatch up another one of my grapes, trying not to seem bitter. “We’ve never really been invited.”
Besides her asking if Brayden and I were friends, Beth doesn’t usually start any conversations with me…especially not about her fundraisers.
“Are they like, invitation only?” Brayden asks, his eyebrows creased. “Doesn’t that make it harder to raise money?”
“They’re not invitation only,” Lora clarifies, shooting me a discreet judgy look. “It’s just, for the most part, Beth doesn’t personally ask people to help out.”
Unless they’re hunky guys with great hair that she’s interested in…
“Ah,” he comments after eating a couple of his chips, “well, I told her that I’d think about it—so we’ll see.” He turns to me, looking worried once again. “Are you feeling better now?”
I should mention that his knee just brushed against mine, so I’m definitely feeling something. Did he even notice? No, of course not. Leg and arm brushes happen all the time.
He asked me a question.
Right.
“Yeah,” I tell him, clearing my throat some, “I’m fine.”
He studies me for another second or two, then nods. “Good.”
Being attracted to
