Page 19 of Heartthrobs Don't Date Wallflowers
Sloane led me through some hallway I was pretty sure I’d never passed through before, even though I’d been wandering around this school forever. The lockers here were dark blue, unlike the yellow and grey ones upstairs, like the school officials wanted to make sure they showcased all the school colors across them. Sloane pushed open a door that led into a much bigger staircase than the one I’dbeen on before. Of course this was the more official one that went all the way upstairs.
By the time we reached the top, I felt like I couldn’t breathe, but I tried to play it off, because she looked no more exhausted than if she’d walked in a straight line. She turned right into a classroom as soon as we got to the floor and motioned for me to follow her. I did so slowly, my heart pounding off of my chest the same it had been as I walked into each class all day. It looked like pretty much everyone was already in here and we had to weave between people throwing wadded-up papers and yelling to get to the tables across the room.
“So, why are you starting mid-semester?” Sloane asked.
“I just moved here,” I said. I narrowly avoided tripping over some backpacks that were scattered in the middle of an aisle. That seemed like a safety hazard in a lab.
“Well, welcome to Bibridge,” she said, dropping her bag at a table and sitting down. I glanced at the surrounding empty tables, wondering if they were unclaimed or if the students who normally sat there were just standing around the room right now. Sloane gestured at the empty seat in front of her. “You can sit with Megan.”
A blonde girl sitting beside the empty seat looked up and smiled brightly at me. I was hit by the sense that I knew her but I couldn’t place where. Maybe I’d seen her around town in the last couple of weeks? Notthat I’d walked around much, but I guess it was possible.
“Hey,” Megan said, sliding her papers over to make room for me. She glanced curiously at Sloane and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sloane mouthnew girl.
Honestly, I would have preferred Sloane to take her usual spot and let me sit alone, but she was clearly trying to be nice. It would be rude to throw that back in her face, so I awkwardly sat, even though all I wanted was to keep to myself.
“So, did I hear you saying you were new in town?” Megan asked.
I awkwardly bobbed my head. There was nothing I hated more than awkward small talk, especially when starting at a new school. I’d moved five times in my life, so I was used to being the new kid, but I hated all the attention it brought me. It was the same reason Poppy had convinced our parents that she should go to boarding school—it was much easier than having to start over again and again every time our dad’s job location changed. Boarding school was at least stable, no matter where the rest of us moved to.
“Where do you live?” Megan asked.
“Oh, uh…” I wracked my brain for the street. Mom had made me memorize the address so I wouldn’t get totally lost. “Beachwood.”
Megan’s eyes widened slightly. I recognized the look of someone realizing that I lived in one of the huge houses in the neighborhood. I hated seeing that reaction, but I tried not toshow it on my face.
“What about you?” I asked.
“What house number?” Sloane asked, giving Megan no chance to answer.
I glanced at her. She was leaning forward on her desk, looking totally interested in what I was talking about. I frowned a little. Why would she want to know that? Was she planning on coming over at some point? Maybe she was planning a prank, some way of initiating me into the school. I probably should have lied to her and said something, but then she would just do it to some other poor student’s house, and I couldn’t let that happen to them. Besides, how bad could it be? She seemed like a sweet person, and the house, like all the others in the area, was surrounded by huge gates and long driveways. She’d be hard-pressed to try to get in.
“One-eighty-one,” I said, awkwardly clicking my pen. “Why?”
She grinned and flashed a look at Megan, who was smiling back.
“You live next to my boyfriend,” Megan told me.
I blinked at her. I mean, of course, I knew I lived next to Sloane’s boyfriend, but hers too?
I cleared my throat. “You’re, um… You’re dating... Zach?” I asked. Megan shook her head. I frowned and thought of the other’s names. “Neil?”
“Let me save you some time,” Megan laughed. “I’m dating Hudson. Sloane here is dating Jude.”
“And my little sister is dating Neil,” Sloane added, “and Jude’s little sister is dating Finn.”
I frowned, trying to keep all the puzzle piecestogether. Sloane and Jude. Megan and Hudson. Sloane’s little sister and Neil. And Jude’s little sister and Finn.
“So, Finn’s dating his bandmate’s little sister?” I asked, trying to talk it out.
“Yeah, it was a little awkward at the house for a bit,” Sloane said. “Especially since she’s living with them. Jude wasnothappy for a while there.”
“That sounds like a lot,” I strangled out. Both girls just giggled. “So… Zach’s the only single one?”
I hated the way that my heart lifted a little at the idea—I didn’t understand why. There was no reason that him being single was good. I mean, if anything, it was worse that the one who wasn’t even dating anybody else could see me through my window every day. I flushed as I remembered the way he watched me when I was dancing. What did it matter if he was single? I was never going to be able to redeem myself after that. And not that I wanted to, anyway. I wasn’t looking for a boyfriend, and I certainly wasn’t looking to date a celebrity.
“Yep,” Megan said. “We’ve been talking about trying to find him a girlfriend, but he doesn’t seem that interested.”
“Bit of a loner,” Sloane added.
