"So what, now we're going to live together?" Jamie takes another step towards me. "That's your idea of a good plan?"
Unwilling to back down, I poke a finger at his chest. "This is my family's house. Not yours. I have every right to be here."
"Newsfl...
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Hours later, I was in Danny’s Jeep, squashed between three cheerleaders and a basketball player who was so tall he had to stoop to fit in. I’d made the poor decision to carpool with Reyna, only to learn that she was getting a ride from Danny, who had greatly overestimated how many people his car could hold. When he finally pulled into the fair parking lot, we tumbled out like a circus act.
I’d taken time (but not too much time because it wasn’t a date, wasn’t even sort of a date) to pick out a nice skirt and sweater combo and straighten my hair, and there was no way that car ride hadn’t wrinkled and frizzed my hard work. I leaned over to check my reflection in the Jeep’s mirror.
“Are you done admiring yourself?”
Naomi’s sarcastic question made me whirl around, more out of surprise than embarrassment. She was standing next to Jamie’s car while he climbed out of the driver’s seat. Unlike my outfit, her oversized t-shirt and worn jeans radiated ‘too cool to care’ energy. She was mocking me, but I’d promised myself I wouldn’t let her get to me tonight.
“One sec.” I leaned back down to the mirror. “Yep. Still adorable. Okay, now I’m ready.”
Jamie had come around now and frowned at me in mock concentration. “Hmm, I’m not seeing it.”
I scrunched my eyes shut and smiled as wide as my face allowed, the way little kids do when you tell them to say cheese.
“Oh, yeah, there it is,” he laughed.
Unfortunately, Reyna noticed this exchange, and her eyes narrowed.
She’d called me before they came to pick me up and spent almost an hour trying to talk me out of this.
“What are you doing Lissa?” she had asked, and then answered before I could. “You’re going to a classic date event with your crush who you’re pretending to be just friends with and his ex-girlfriend who hates you. Have you really thought this out? Does this sound like a good idea?”
It did not. But I came anyway. And now that I was here, a small part of me wished I’d listened to Reyna. As usual, common sense came too little too late.
We got in the line for tickets, which stretched all the way down the queue they’d marked off with ropes. That didn’t surprise me. Like Cory said, this was the first night of the fair, and it was a nice night too. Overhead, the flashing lights of the rides cast a cozy glow over us, and the excitement in the air was catching. I loved fairs. There was something magical about a night out of the ordinary, where all that was expected of you was to scream and laugh and have as much fun as you could fit into a few hours.
“Oh my gosh, your face,” Naomi sneered. “You look like a kid at Disney world.”
Jamie jabbed an elbow at her ribs and told her to stop being such a harpy, but I didn’t want her thinking I needed him to stand up for me.
