Match Me

Chapter Twelve: This Better Be A Booty Call

Chapter Twelve: This Better Be A Booty Call

I scratch my head as I lean against the doorframe. My heart thrashes in uneven thumps, to the beat of a clumsy elephant running. Just keep calm, I think to myself. If you freak out, you'll look like you have something to hide.

With that, I feel one of my eyebrows beginning to twitch.

Wow, great job Ember. You've already blown your cover!

"W-Well..." I stammer, quickly finding myself at a loss for words.

What could they possibly know? If they don't know about the matchmaking, then I have no clue what it could be. I live a pretty dull life; I mean, I'm a part of the school concert band and my friend group consists primarily of those who enjoy getting decent grades and having as average a lifestyle as possible.

Not exactly what you would scream 'juicy secret-keeper.'

"Uh, what do you know, exactly?" I ask, my voice wavering slightly as the girls look like they're about to burst with the news any moment now.

Please don't say matchmaker, please don't say matchmaker...

Katie jabs a finger between my collarbones, her thin lips disappearing as they're swallowed into a line reminiscent of Voldemort's pouts. "We know all about you and Levi, Ember."

Phew.

Okay, so it might be the smallest of successes, but I can take whatever they'd throw at me about Jetts.

I huff out a big breath of air, letting strands of my almond coloured hair blow out as I release some of my pent up anxiety. "Why don't you guys come in first? Then I'll let you interrogate me about Levi all you want."

X O

The smell of piping hot fettuccine overwhelms every other nasty scent that lingers from the unwashed laundry scattered around my floor.

Blowing on a piece of the creamy, spice-infused spaghetti, I take a bite. I'm not one to smack my lips or eat particularly loudly, but the only sound in my room is the of my mouth scarfing down the food.

I'm so used to the unceasing chatter of Katie, Autumn's incessant tapping and Carrie's humming that the fact that each of them are as still as a stone makes me more nervous than I should be.

But much like your stereotypical teen fiction boyfriend, I'm almost creepily overprotective and possessive over my one true love - fettuccine Alfredo - so I'm not up to share.

"So..." I drawl, adjusting my cross-legged position on my raggedy unicorn printed duvet, "Could you guys possibly fill me in on whatever is happening between me and Levi? Because I don't seem to know."

Katie sighs, "When are you finally going to learn that it's okay to open up and tell us something once in awhile?"

"I can't tell you anything more than what you already know," I reply, but as soon as the words leave my mouth I know they're nothing more than lies.

They can't possibly know about the graveyard, about Levi's dad, about the guitar lesson, that kid Robert and the water-ballooning or the matchmaking... But they could know about the fact that Levi shrugged Claire off that one day he was supposed to give me a bass lesson...

Crap. That's definitely what they know.

"We know that you and Levi have some sort of weird relationship going on, and Claire is pretty heartbroken." Carrie says, her eyes straying from the split end she was fiddling with to me. Her eyes narrow. "You're not the 'other woman', are you?" She asks, furrowing her eyebrows.