Yeah…sure I will.
“Good.” He nods in approval. “Now on a scale of 1-to-10…how trustworthy do you think he is?”
How trustworthy do I think Derek is?
He’s stuck with me for like two weeks, ups and downs. He’s stood up for me, covered for me, helped me…
“Ten,” I reply with a slight nod. “He’s a dime.”
Derek is a rare kind of special.
“You really do like him.” Zach’s eyebrows crease slightly. “Don’t you?”
“Of course I do.” I force a smile. “Derek’s a likeable person.”
Please let that be enough.
“You know what I mean.” He laughs a little, eating his bacon. “Like, like-like him.”
“Really, Zach?” I raise an eyebrow at him. “What are we—in the third grade?”
“Well,” he drawls, “love sounds a little strong…”
“Yeah,” I agree, cutting a section out of my pancake stack, “it does.”
“And you’ve only been dating him for a little bit.”
I nod and shove the food into my mouth before looking around.
The diner isn’t super busy today…
“Do you?”
I look back at Zach. “Do I what?”
“Love Derek.”
“Oh…” I awkwardly clear my throat. “Like you said—we haven’t been dating long.”
“Britt,” he says in an almost gentle way, “if you love him…it’s okay to admit it.”
“I don’t know if I love him,” I lie, hoping I don’t seem too cautious with my reply. “I guess time will tell.”
Zach nods. “Sounds good.”
“So…” I trail off, “does this mean that he passed? I—we passed?”
“I guess so.” He sighs with shrug. “But I’ll know for sure later today.”
My eyebrows crease. “What do you mean?”
He grins at that. “Your boyfriend and I are going to have some bonding time.”
“What?” I practically shriek. “But…but you, and he, I—”
“Relax, Britt.” He rolls his hazel eyes. “It’s not like I’m going to kill the guy…jeez.”
“Will you excuse me for a second?” I stand up. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
Not waiting for a reply, I quickly make my way to the bathrooms and push open the women’s bathroom door before pulling my phone out as I walk inside.
Must call Derek…
“Answer the phone, answer the phone,” I say as it rings. “Answer the phone, you idi—”
“Hello?” Derek’s voice interrupts my rant.
I laugh, mentally praying that he didn’t hear me almost call him an idiot. “Hiya, Derek.”
“Hey, what’s up?”
Regaining myself, I ask, “Did you agree to hang out with Zach today?”
Silence.
“Oh.”
“Oh is right!” I shout at him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I forgot.”
“How could you forget?!” I start walking back and forth. “This is bad, Derek. Who knows what Zach will say or do?”
“I can handle him,” he assures me, “it’s—”
“Where are you guys going?” I interrupt him. “What are you guys doing?”
“I don’t know,” Derek replies in a nonchalant tone, “he didn’t tell me.”
I groan into my phone. “You have to text me while you guys are out….I want to know everything!”
“All right, all right—I have to go.”
He hangs up and I pocket my phone with a sigh before checking my reflection in the bathroom mirror.
My eyes widen when I hear a little cough and suddenly a little elderly lady comes out of one of the stalls.
She heard all of that.
How embarrassing.
——————
“Will you stop checking your phone?” Delanie scowls at me, holding a hanger with a black tank on it. “We’re supposed to be shopping!”
“I was just—”
“No excuses, Britt.” She puts a hand up. “Go find something cute!”
I sigh, shoving my phone in my pocket, then stand up and walk over to one of the racks so I can carelessly look through the clothes.
Blue, black, pink, re—
“You really think he’s still into her?” a shocked, girly voice interrupts my thoughts.
“Oh, I didn’t say that he’s still into her,” another girl replies. “I said that I think he still thinks about her.”
I shake my head trying to focus on the clothes, but the second girl’s voice sounds so familiar…
“Well, did you confront Blake?” the first girl asks.
Blake.
No wonder the voice sounds so familiar, it’s—
“Of course I did!” Savannah snaps. “I’m his girlfriend!”
How can he possibly like her?
She’s so…uptight.
Is that the right word?
No, demanding is.
High-maintenance.
“Well,” the other girl drawls, “what did he say?”
“He denied it of course,” Savannah states with a scoff, “what else would he say?”
That he hates you and loves me.
Duh.
“Are you wor—”
“Jess, no!” Savannah cuts her off. “Blake loves me, he chose me. I’m the one he wants to be with.”
“Okay, okay,” Jess says, trying to calm her down. “I was just wondering.”
“Well stop,” Savannah retorts, “you’re supposed to be helping me find the perfect dress for tomorrow.”
Their talking slowly fades out and I hear them walk off in a different direction.
Good.
I was getting tired of hearing them talk about Blake.
“What are you doing?”
I jump at the sound of Liv’s voice and turn around. “Liv, you scared me.”
“Sorry,” she apologizes. “What were you looking at?”
I shrug. “Just around.”
“Hmm,” she hums, “well Del wants to know if you’ve found something.”
“Um…” I trail off, plucking a hanger off the rack beside me. “Yeah, this!”
Her eyebrows rise. “That?”
I look at the hideous top I picked.
Crap.
“I mean—” I fake a laugh, reaching for another hanger. “This one!”
Except this top isn’t any better…how does this store stay in business?
Her eyebrows crease. “Britt—”
I sigh, hanging them both back up. “Tell her no.”
She nods and I watch her walk off.
We haven’t really talked much about where she was on Wednesday.
Delanie was the first to mention it to her and Liv’s only reply was that she had to run an errand.
I wish I knew what this “errand” was.
It’s starting to worry me how distant she’s been acting lately…
“Liv says you didn’t find anything to wear,” Delanie comments, coming toward me, “so I found the perfect thing for you to wear for your birthday!”
“Del.” My eyebrows crease. “My birthday isn't till next month.”
“But it’s perfect,” she gushes, “and it’s your size!”
I shake my head. “Delanie…”
“Look!” she squeals, holding up a short black dress. “Isn’t it—”
“Short,” I finish in a dry tone. “Del, I’m not wearing that.”
No one should wear that.
She huffs then strides off in the direction that she came from just as my phone chimes.
It’s Derek.
At Tacky’s. Your bro kills at air hockey!
What?
I don’t care about air hockey…I want to know what they’re talking about!
So that’s exactly what I text him back.
“I found another dress!” Delanie announces, walking toward me again. “And it’s longer.”
It is longer…but it really isn’t my style; when I tell her that though, she flips out (of course), and then stalks off once again.
My phone chimes again and I check it to see another message from Derek.
Mostly you.
I immediately text him back: Good or bad?
“Brittany, hi!”
I turn to see Derek’s sister coming toward me and I wave at her. “Hey, Faith.”
Crap…this is Faith right?
Faith and Madison, Faith’s the older—yeah, it’s Faith.
“How’s life without crutches?” she asks with a smile. “Derek told us how bummed you were when you had them.”
“Um, life’s good.” I nod. “I hated those things…”
So much, really—words cannot express.
“Hey!” she suddenly exclaims. “Why don’t you come over for dinner tomorrow?”
“Oh,” I reply, a little taken aback, “I don’t know if—”
“You have to,” she insists. “We’d love it if you came.”
I bite my lip. “Is it okay with your parents though?”
“Are you kidding?” She laughs. “They love you!”
“Okay.” I awkwardly tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “I’ll ask my parents today.”
“Great, I’ll—”
“Faith!” someone calls from the dressing rooms section. “Help please!”
“Sorry,” Faith apologizes to me, “I’m here with a friend.”
“You’re fine,” I assure her, “I’ll let Derek know if I can come or not.”
“All right,” she replies, slowly backing up, “bye!”
I half-wave as she walks toward the dressing rooms.
Dinner with the Connors…I wonder how different it is from lunch.
“Britt,” Liv sighs, appearing beside me, “Delanie says she’s at the food court and not to bother apologizing to her.”
I stare at Liv in disbelief. “Seriously?”
She nods. “Yeah.”
“Well…” I trail off, “I guess I should go and try to apologize anyway.”
“Britt,” Liv stops me as I start to leave, “did you do anything wrong?”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so.”
“Then don’t apologize for something you didn’t do.” She rolls her eyes. “Del’s just being overdramatic…as usual.”
I smile. “Thanks, Liv.”
She shrugs. “Sure.”
My phone rings and I see that it’s Derek.
“I’ll be at the food court,” Liv tells me before I can say anything. “You go ahead.”
I “accept” the call and put the phone to my ear as she walks off. “Hello?”
“Britt?” a raspy voice asks. “Britt, is that you?”
“Derek?” My eyebrows crease. “What’s wrong with your voice? Are you okay?”
He sounds—I don’t even want to think about what he sounds like.
“It’s…your brother,” Derek chokes out, “he—”
“He what, Derek?” My grip on the phone tightens. “What happened?”
“He’s crazy!” he exclaims in his normal voice. “Seriously, he’s wicked cool!”
“What!” I shriek into the phone. “I thought something happened to you guys! You had me worried, jerks!”
“Hey, she was worried about us!” he yells to Zach, who says something that I can’t hear and Derek laughs. “Zach says ‘how sweet’.”
“You guys—”
“He dared me to,” Derek interrupts me, “double-dared me.”
“I don’t care,” I snap at him, “tell Zach that I’m mad at the both of you!”
“Britt,” he sighs, “it—”
My eyes widen as I see a blond girl hugging a tall, light-haired guy. “Derek, I gotta go.”
I end the call, still watching the couple in complete and utter shock.
Because here’s the thing…that girl is Savannah, but that guy isn’t Blake.
Chapter 36: I Can’t Hurt Him
——————————————————
It’s not like they’re kissing or anything, but they do look cozy.
The guy drapes an arm over Savannah’s shoulders, and her arm goes around his waist as they walk off…just like when she and Blake left me on the basketball court.
I can’t believe she’s cheating on Blake.
On Blake.
Who does that?
Why would anyone want to cheat on Blake?
Should I tell him? Would he believe me?
He has to.
Of course, I don’t have exact proof that she’s cheating on him…but still.
I immediately “select” his number from my contact list and wait as the phone rings until Blake’s voice comes on. “Hello?”
“Uh…hi.”
“Is this Brittany?”
I let out an awkward laugh. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing…um, that is,” I stammer. “Maybe I—are you busy?”
“No, why?”
“Well,” I try to sound casual, “I thought we could hang out.”
Silence. Oh crap.
This was a bad idea.
What the heck was I—
“Sounds good,” he interrupts me thoughts, “where at?”
“Wait.” My eyes widen. “You want to hang out?”
“Uh—is this a trick question?”
“Yes!” I exclaim and then quickly correct myself. “No—it is not a trick question.”
“Okay, how ‘bout I pick you up?”
“Well…” I trail off, “I’m at the mall.”
“We could hang out ther—”
“No!” I cut him off. “I’ll just—meet you somewhere.”
“Cup of Cozy sound good?”
I sigh. “Cup of Cozy sounds perfect.”
Maybe some coffee will get me in order.
“All right…see you in a few.”
“Bye!”
“Bye.”
I bite my lip as I end the call…he didn’t cut me off and hang up on me.
I love that. And we have a date!
Sure I have to tell him that his girlfriend is cheating on him—but that’s just a minor detail.
I leave the store, practically skipping, and then stop.
Del and Liv. What am I going to tell them?
Well, why should I have to tell them anything?
Liv didn’t tell us where she was on Wednesday and Del’s done the same thing before.
Fine, I won’t tell them. Who cares…I’ll be with Blake.
I make my way out of the mall and unlock my car once I reach it.
“I have a date with Blake!” I squeal, getting into my car. “Yes, yes, yes!”
I start the car then proceed to do a little dance in my seat as I pull out of the parking space.
“Oops.” I pause my dancing and buckle my seatbelt. “That could’ve been bad.”
I play one of my upbeat/dance playlists and drive out of the parking lot, singing at the top of my lungs, then stop at a red light halfway through the song and drum on my steering wheel. “Don’t tell me that—”
BEEP!
I quickly yank my hand away from the horn.
Oops.
That wasn’t supposed to happen.
Maybe nobody heard it.
Apparently the guy next to me did though, because he oh-so-kindly flips me off.
Nice.
The light finally turns green and I resume my driving, then two songs later or so…I make it to Cup of Cozy.
I let out a deep breath as I walk over to the building. “I am calm and I am cool.”
Am I?
“Yes,” I answer myself out loud. “There’s no reason to be nervous or anxi—”
I let out a weird-sounding yelp noise at the sight of Blake sitting inside.
HE’S HERE!!!
Wow, Britt. Pull yourself together.
Calm and cool.
Crap, does he look cute drinking…whatever he’s drinking.
Okay—let’s get in there.
I pull open the door, but instead of my entrance being a big and dramatic, slow motion, beautiful moment…someone bumps into me and—
“HOT!” I shriek as their coffee seeps through my shirt and touches my skin. “Oh flippin’ crap!” Yes, I’m aware that my exclamation was anything but eloquent.
“I’m so sorry!” the girl is quick to apologize. “I was looking at my phone and I didn’t see you.”
What? What?
I hate coffee.
And then the girl leaves without offering any help.
“Britt,” Blake says, coming toward me. “Are you okay?”
“No,” I almost cry, “I’m soaked…in coffee.”
“Yeah.” He winces. “I can see that.”
Everyone can see that, ’cause everyone’s staring.
“I’m going to go.” I laugh a little, cheeks flaming with embarrassment. “I’ll change—and be right back.”
I leave the building with a heavy sigh, not bothering to wait for a reply from him, and start walking toward Always Chic so I can get a new top.
Simple plan.
Once I’m in the store, however, after picking a top out—I manage to bump into someone.
Today…is not my day.
“Sorry,” I apologize for my clumsiness, “I—Owen?”
No.
But yes, it’s Owen.
He licks his lips. “Britt.”
“Owen,” I say his name again, “hi.”
“Hey…” He looks me up and down. “What happened to you?”
“Coffee accident.” I force a laugh while rolling my eyes as if it’s no big deal. “What are you doing here?”
Because, you know—Always Chic only sells clothes for women.
He holds up a couple of dresses. “Shopping for my sister.”
Oh. He has a sister.
We awkwardly just stare at each other and I clear my throat some. “Well, I should go get this checked out.”
I go around him and start walking toward the—
“Full line?” I wail, stopping in my tracks. “Are you flippin’ kidding me?”
Well that earned me a lot of glances and frowns.
Even grumpier now, I get in line while mentally cursing.
“I guess we’re line neighbors, huh?”
Increased. Mental. Cursing.
Life is cruel.
“Looks that way,” I reply, without glancing back at Owen.
I can feel him breathing.
It’s just in your head, Britt.
My Boyfriend's Best Friend Page 22
