“We meant to tell you earlier in the week,” Jessica said hesitantly. “But we wanted to work some things out on our own before we went public.”
Rex scratched the back of his neck with a rueful wince. “Yeah, sorry.”
“We’re sorry, too,” Anna said quickly. “This was a, um…” She glanced up at Zach with a smile that made my stomach ache with envy. She looked so happy. So…in love. “This came as a surprise to us, too.”
All six of us stood there in stunned silence for a long moment as we came to grips with the fact that the fake couple was now a real couple and the ‘just friends’ were now so much more.
“So?” Jessica asked. “How did the results turn out?”
Rex tugged her toward him and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Not that it matters.”
“Whatever the results say, it doesn’t change the way I feel.” Zach glared at me and Dane like we were going to argue the point.
We weren’t.
I couldn’t speak for Dane, but I was still in shock.
Anna gave me a little smile. “What were the results?”
“Oh, um…” I gestured toward the four of them. “This. The app predicted…this.”
“Oh,” Anna said, biting her lip as understanding dawned. “So instead of proving the app wrong…”
“We proved it right,” Jessica finished.
“Not necessarily.” Dane’s voice next to me had me whipping my head around to face him. He was staring right back at me. “The app was right about Rex and Jessica, and about Zach and Anna, but…” He leaned in closer to me and lowered his voice. “It got you all wrong, didn’t it, Edie?”
Everyone else was silent, and all I could hear was the pounding of my heart as blood rushed to my head. He was challenging me.
“Why, who’d you get, Edie?” Jessica asked.
“Dane.” His name came out as a whisper, and I wasn’t sure anyone but Dane heard. He was still waiting for me to say something. To agree or deny it.
Was the app wrong about who I loved?
No.
My heart said no loud and clear but my chest felt frozen under his watchful glare. He looked angry and hurt and—
“Who’d you get, Dane?” Rex asked.
Dane’s gaze never left mine, and I caught a flicker of regret in his eyes. “I’ve always gotten the same result. I’ve always been matched with Edie.”
He walked away, leaving me alone with four gaping group partners who were just waiting for an explanation.
“You okay, Edie?” Anna asked softly.
Funny that it was Anna checking on me. It had always been the other way around with the two of us. Caretaker had always been my role. Protecting the outcasts and the loners… I wasn’t the one people worried about, because I was confident and smart and strong.
Or maybe I was a stupid coward, like my sisters said.
Tears stung my eyes as I watched Dane walk away, my group partners coming closer to huddle around me like they could protect me or comfort me.
My heart was racing too fast, but my mind was spinning even faster as it registered what he’d just said.
He’d gotten me as his match. He’d always been matched with me.
My memory called up the night at the diner when I’d asked who he’d gotten.
The person I wanted.
I blinked as he disappeared into the crowd.
He’d wanted me.
Dane Foster had wanted me.
“Edie, do you want to go home?” Rex asked. “We can give you a ride.”
I shook my head. I wasn’t running away. Not this time. “Thanks, you guys, but…there’s something I need to do first.”
My heart was pounding so hard I thought I might be sick before I reached him. But I made it to the other side of the gymnasium without hurling, and my palms were only moderately sweaty.
I was shaking though, so there was that.
Dane didn’t notice me as he once more stood amongst a group of people who adored him. They found him funny and clever and charming—
Just like I did.
But I also liked the other parts of him, the ones no one else saw.
The sides he never let anyone else see.
I drew in a deep breath and let it out quickly, tapping him on the shoulder before my nerves could get the best of me.
He turned slowly, along with most of the friends he was standing with. Everyone was staring at me, but I didn’t care about any of them. I only cared about Dane.
I’d hurt him, I knew that now.
I hated that. The fast-paced song that had been playing faded into a slow number, and I took that to be a sign. Not that I believed in signs. But at this particular point in time, I’d take all the positive omens I could find if it meant I didn’t back out or worse…run away.
He arched his brows at the sight of me.
I cleared my throat and clasped my hands together to stop the shaking. “Do you want to dance with me?”
I held my breath, half expecting him to say no. Maybe even ignore me outright and turn back to his friends without a word. His eyes scanned my face, probably noticing the way my lips were pressed together and my eyes were wide with fear.
“Sure,” he said, gesturing toward the dance floor.
Once there, it was awkward.
He wrapped his arms around my waist, and I placed my hands on his shoulders and we swayed—with a solid foot between us like we were in fifth grade. His gaze was solemn but he didn’t look away. He was waiting for me to speak.
I hadn’t thought this through. I had no idea what to say. But my sisters were in my head, and I made myself keep eye contact as I stumbled my way through it. “I wanted you to ask me to dance.”
He frowned and glanced over to where we’d just stood.
“No, not now,” I clarified. “Not tonight. I meant…at the junior high dance.”
He stopped pretending to dance, his whole body rigid. By his response, I suspected he knew exactly which dance I was referring to.
“You wanted me to ask you to dance?” One of his brows hitched up in disbelief. “So then why did you say no when I asked?”
I took a deep breath. “Because I heard you.”
He stared at me evenly. “You heard me,” he repeated slowly. He shook his head. “Am I supposed to know what that means?”
I looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath. “I heard you laughing with your friends about how I’m such a control freak.”
This time when I met his gaze, I saw understanding starting to dawn. He arched both brows this time, a ghost of his normal smirk touching his lips. “You thought I was laughing at you?”
I nodded, temporarily struck mute because…holy crap, I’d just done it.
He took a step back and dropped his arms, leaving me feeling bereft, especially since we were on a dance floor surrounded by couples. “You thought I was laughing at you.”
He said it so loudly that I glanced around to see who all was listening.
Answer? Everyone.
Everyone around us had stopped dancing to gawk at us.
Dane seemed to notice it too, because he exhaled loudly before snagging my hand in his and leading me off the dance floor toward a set of doors. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“Anywhere we can talk.” He stopped when we were in the main part of the school, in a deserted hallway that was only lit by an exit sign. “You thought I was making fun of you.”
He said it again, this time as an accusation.
“Weren’t you?”
“No!” He shouted it so quickly it was hard not to believe him.
“But you said—”
“I know what I said. I remember everything I said that night because I remember everything about that night.” He leaned in closer to me. “Do you know why?”
I shook my head, not afraid of Dane, by any means, but more than a little awed by his intensity. I’d caught glimpses of his serious side before, I knew it
was there. But this…
Whoa.
His eyes blazed with ferocity and his whole body was tense as he squared off with me. “I remember everything because that night was the first and only time I’d ever experienced a broken heart.”
I blinked. “What?”
“I asked you to dance, and you said no.”
“Yeah, because—”
“Because I was joking around about what a control freak you are.” He threw his hands up. “You were a control freak! You still are.”
I blinked again, crossing my arms with a pout. “Yes, but—”
“I never said I had a problem with it. My friends might have been laughing, but I was gloating because I loved the fact that you were a control freak.”
My heart had picked up speed again as I tried to readjust my perspective of that awful memory. “Can we please stop calling me a control freak?” I muttered.
He shook his head quickly. “I’ve always liked you. For as long as I can remember I’ve liked you. All of you. I’ve liked the fact that you scare most people most of the time. I love that you care about everyone in this freakin’ school, whether they deserve your concern or not. I like that you take charge. I’ve always admired how fearless you are—”
“I’m not, though,” I interrupted. His words were making me want to cry and I didn’t do crying.
Or…maybe I did.
Maybe I didn’t know myself as well as I thought.
Dane eyed me carefully, his breath seeming to slow as he licked his lips and took a step closer. “What does that mean?”
“It means, I’m not always fearless. I’m not always strong. And I’m definitely not as confident as people make me out to be.”
His gaze softened slightly. “Yeah, I get that now.”
“When I heard you laughing, it hurt. A lot. Not just because I thought you were mocking me but because it was you who was mocking me.”
His brows drew together in confusion.
“You were the one—the only one—who actually got me. I thought you understood me, that we understood each other. That might sound stupid but I’d never had that with anyone else before—not with a friend, not even with my sisters.” I took a deep breath. “I liked you…a lot.” I swallowed down nerves and tried again. “I still do like you…a lot.” I licked my lips. “It’s been brought to my attention that perhaps I never stopped liking you…”
“A lot?” His lips twitched up and I let out a huff of air in exasperated amusement.
“Yes. A lot.”
“That’s a lot of liking going on.” His tone was teasing, his smirk back in full force. His eyes…his eyes practically glowed with warmth and affection.
“It is,” I agreed.
“Good thing it’s reciprocated, huh?” he said.
My smile started to grow, too, my heart swelling in my chest until it felt like I might burst with happiness. “Oh yeah?”
He reached out and pulled me to him so quickly I half stumbled into his chest. “I am going to kiss you now.”
I nodded, breathless with excitement. “Okay.”
He brought his brows down in a faux serious glare. “And I swear, Edie, if you run away again—”
“I won’t.”
“Good.”
And then he kissed me, and it was perfection. Sweet, and hot, and tender, and passionate. His lips were firm, his grip on me strong. So strong that I didn’t have to be. I leaned into him as his tongue teased my lips, showing me what was to come.
He pulled back and looked at me, one brow arching in question. “We good?”
“No running here,” I said.
His smile was slow and sweet and perfect. “I wish I’d done that in eighth grade.”
I laughed. “Me too.”
His arms tightened around me. “Better late than never?”
“Definitely.” I tilted my head to the side. “I think maybe the fact that we weren’t able to talk about this stuff back then means we weren’t ready for this. Maybe…maybe we had some growing up to do before…this.”
“This, huh?” He kissed me lightly. “What do you think this will be?”
I started to laugh. “One of the more intense relationships Coleridge High has ever seen.”
He laughed along with me. “Definitely intense. And competitive.”
“Totally competitive,” I agreed. “And complicated.”
“Agreed.” He nodded. “We both have some baggage to unpack, don’t we?”
“We do.”
“But it’ll also be amazing,” he said.
I went up on tiptoe. “It had better be.”
He laughed as he hugged me tight. “Is that a challenge, Edie?”
I grinned as I held him even tighter. “Absolutely.”
Epilogue
One week later
Dane
“So I guess what we’re trying to say, sir…” I glanced over at Edie and she gave me an encouraging nod.
For a second there I got distracted by my beautiful girlfriend and her enchanting smile. Mr. Portman cleared his throat and I turned back to face him, my grin fading fast.
“What we’re trying to say is that while we didn’t prove our hypothesis, we feel that our reasoning was well thought out and that the results shouldn’t determine whether our project was a success.”
Mr. Portman looked like he was trying not to laugh. That was a good sign, right?
He looked down at the paper he was holding. He’d read it. We knew he’d read it. And we were only moderately terrified when he’d requested to see us for another meeting.
“I didn’t bring you in here to give you bad news, Dane.” Mr. Portman’s gaze flickered from me to Edie and back again. “I called you both in here to commend you on your honesty.”
Edie and I exchanged another look, this time my gorgeous girlfriend’s brows were arched in surprise.
She was so freakin’ pretty. Seriously. I mean, I knew I should be focusing on Mr. Portman right now, but it was hard to think about anything other than Edie these days. We’d been all but inseparable since the dance, and the more I got to know her, the luckier I felt.
There was so much more to Edie than met the eye. She was a control freak, yes, and she’d even admit that she fit the other descriptors people attached to her.
But she was also so much more. She was sweet and sensitive and fierce and emotional and…perfect.
She was perfect. For me, at least.
“I am still impressed with the unique approach you took with this experiment.” Mr. Portman’s voice interrupted mental wandering and I saw Edie blink back to reality too. It was possible she and I were turning into one of those nauseatingly lovesick couples, and I was totally okay with that.
Mr. Portman folded his hands on the desk. “I was glad to see that the two of you included your own results.”
“Even though our app results were proven correct, too,” Edie muttered. While she was happy with the way everything had worked out—not just for us but for the others, too—she was still annoyed that we hadn’t been able to disprove the app.
“I don’t know,” the teacher said slowly, pushing his seat out and extending his legs. “From everything I read in your paper, I think you all did a fine job of proving that there’s far more to love and relationships than numbers and figures.”
Edie pursed her lips, clearly not satisfied by that. “Will we get an A?”
Mr. Portman laughed and continued talking as if she hadn’t spoken. “Just like I’m sure you’ve both learned by now that growing up and excelling in school is about more than just getting good grades.”
Edie gave a little huff of amusement at his non-answer.
Mr. Portman leaned forward. “I called you in here to say congratulations on being true leaders in this experiment. It’s much easier to sit on the sidelines and tell other people what to do and how to do it than it is to dive in and take action.”
Edie and I exchanged a knowing look. We’d been talking about that
a lot lately. About how one of the reasons we connected so well was because we were both popular but didn’t do well at letting people in. We knew how to lead, how to frighten, how to charm…but when it came to love, we were both idiots.
We were working on it, though. Helping each other sort out the issues that had been holding us back so we could move forward—together.
Mr. Portman stood and snagged his briefcase, but he stilled for one last word. “I particularly liked what you added at the end. You’re right that human emotions can’t be quantified, and that they are more nuanced and complicated. But you made a good point, as well, that humans aren’t as complicated as we’d like to believe. Our emotions might be complicated, but our behaviors are fairly predictable.” He gave us a nod. “Well done.”
After he left, the bell rang and we were alone. I snagged Edie’s hand and tugged her up to stand beside me.
“So…” she said.
I knew what was coming.
“We’re going to get an A, right?” she asked.
I gave an obnoxious scoff. “Of course.”
She grinned as she twined her fingers through mine and led the way toward the door to our next class.
“Give me a hint,” I said. “How long until your stubborn pride gets over the fact that we were bested by an app?”
She looked up to the ceiling as she pretended to think. “Mmm, a couple centuries, give or take a few decades.”
I nodded. “Fair enough.”
She laughed. “Actually, you know what? I’m not feeling all that bad about it anymore.”
“No?”
She shook her head. “I read an article about the kid who created the app while we were working on the paper.”
“Oh yeah? And?”
She pursed her lips and turned her face up to me. “Did you know he created it for his girlfriend? Or…the girl who is now his girlfriend?”
I shook my head. “No, I didn’t know that.”
She shrugged. “So, maybe it’s not as unemotional and heartless as I’d thought.”
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You know, when you think about it…math is really just a way of predicting patterns, right? So maybe there’s something kind of nice about the app being right.”
The Match Makers: Love Quiz #3 Page 8
