The Carter Project ✓

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"NO FREAKING WAY!"

That was my best friend Rita Lopez's reaction to the story I had just told her in first period. Since we luckily had a substitute today, it was only for a few seconds after attendance that he had control over the class and we had descended into chaos. This gave me the perfect time to tell her about what happened last night. Sure, I had planned to keep my mouth shut for the most part, but there were some people who you couldn't keep things from.

At least, you couldn't keep the fact that your boyfriend dumped you from them. Any and all things related to Carter Abram's were locked and sealed in an imaginary vault and I spent the whole ride to school making sure I forgot the combination to unlock it. I knew I would never be the one to brag about my sexual conquests, especially when they felt more like I was conquered, so there was a good chance that this wasn't going to get out until the fifty-year reunion.

That is, unless that airhead Carter sees that it should.

But I ensured myself a failsafe for that. On the ride to school, I had suddenly remembered how Liza Hamilton approached me at his party last night, clearly wanting to get back together with him despite their weird, wild history together and mysterious breakup. Liza was, if not a ten on the scale, then a rounded down nine. I didn't consider myself ugly enough to be disrespected in any way, but we both knew that if he told the school about our hookup, then he would ruin his chances with the prettiest girl for someone like me who just wasn't...that. Nasty, spiteful things would immediately circulate about the both of us and as much as I felt I was above all of the petty high school drama, the thought of trying to stack up to Liza was so hard for me to comprehend that I got a headache.

Carter hadn't said anything after I mentioned Liza to him, but he didn't have to. The look in his eyes as they met mine for a brief second before focusing completely on the road told me everything. I just had to fill in the blanks for him so that I was sure we were on the same page. In fact, his laser focus on the road had given him the drive to get us to school a minute before the first bell and we didn't have to worry about detention. It was clear as day that this denial was going to work out well for us. He could live without getting the sick satisfaction of bragging about how much sex he had for one person, I knew I would be replaced soon enough.

"Yes," I said with a groan, "it was so awful. I really thought we would last. At least long enough for the dance."

Walking into school this morning with Carter and not Landon was just a cruel reminder of all the awful things besides Carter's body in the nude that happened to me last night. Especially the signs hanging up for the St. Thaddeus Spring Fling. I could see a twitch in Carter as we passed by reminder after reminder to buy tickets, that he wanted to ask me as a joke or something, but I had really hit him deep into his core with the Liza situation.

Boys like him needed a reality check.

"It's okay," she said, grabbing up my hands in hers. "I broke up with Sandy a few weeks ago, she was always calling my mom and trying too hard to get close with my family and it felt creepy, we can just go to it stag and make fools out of ourselves. Or we can stay home because I heard a rumor that none of the seniors are going anyways. So then the cool juniors don't go either and we end up dancing with mostly sophomores and freshmen. That's just indisputably and undeniably not the move here."

Rita did have a point, as she always did. Not to mention, a really big house in the suburbs where all of our friends could hang for the night, watch movies, go swimming, and have a sleepover. It was the ideal retreat space, especially after debate meets would go on into the night at schools outside of the city. Even her parents were fun and we could have a great time with them upstairs in their bedroom because it wasn't like we were alcoholics.