Page 34 of Heartthrobs Don't Date Wallflowers
My mind flashed back to the moment seeing Zach in front of the school this morning—then I remembered the way the secretary called me a lovesick puppy on my first day and how Zach saw me dancing through the window, and quickly pushed any thoughts about thinking he was cute to the back of my mind.
“There’s no one,” I said firmly to Poppy. “Anyway, what about you? Any cute boys there?”
Poppy sighed yet again. “Why do you think I’m hounding you about the boys at your school?”
I laughed, even as my gaze slid over to the house next door. It was dark out now but all their lights were on, illuminating their back patio.
I hadn’t told Poppy that I’d met some of the boys, mostly because I didn’t know how to bring it up or how she would react. She wasn’t one of those girls who was absolutely obsessed with the band, but she definitely liked them. I was pretty sure she knew all their names, regularly played their music, and had a poster of them on her wall. So, how was I supposed to tell her about them? About the four moments now that I’d had with Zach? I wasn’t sure I could call them interactions since we’d barely spoken, but they were moments. Embarrassing moments for me, sure, but moments nonetheless.
Once again, against my will, I felt the way his hands had been on my arms as he moved me aside in the office and pulled me away in Starbucks. So warm and big. Comforting, even. I shook my head. I shouldn’t have been thinking about him like that. He’d barely even spoken to me, so I wasn’t sure why I was. But then, as if he was waiting for me to be thinking about him, the back door slid open, and someone walked out.
It could’ve been any one of them. All five of them lived in that house, so it could’ve been any of themgoing into the backyard, but the second he stepped out, I knew.
The dark hair. The tattered shirt. All of it.
But in the end, he wasn’t alone. Another boy and a girl trailed up after him, both laughing about something. The boy, I realized after a moment, was Finn—the light brown hair was the give-away for him. I’d done a little more research on the band after talking with Sloane and Megan, because it felt only fair that I learn their boyfriends’ names. So, if that was Finn, then the girl next to him must’ve been his girlfriend—Jude’s little sister, according to Sloane. The three of them all went to sit on some chairs set up in a circle in their backyard, and my heart clenched as I watched them and remembered my own house behind me, so dark and empty. My parents were out at some dinner with their friends and wouldn’t be back until very late tonight, so it was just me here. Alone.
And of course, Poppy on the phone, who I had completely forgotten about until this moment. She was babbling on about something in her math class, but I was coming into the conversation halfway through, distracted by the sight of what was going on next door.
I was a terrible big sister.
“Uh, Ivy?” Poppy’s voice broke through my thoughts, pulling me back to the present. “You still there?”
“Uh-huh,” I mumbled.
“Ivy!” She yelled and I almost dropped myphone from shock.
“Jeez!” I rubbed at my ear. “What was that for?”
“You were ignoring me.”
“No, I wasn’t!” I argued, even though there was no denying I was. Clearly, sitting out here was too big of a distraction. “I was just… distracted.”
“By what? Are you watching TV?”
“Not exactly.” I bit my lip, fighting the urge to spill about what I was looking at. “Just, uh, thinking.”
Poppy groaned. “You’re the worst.”
“I’m sorry,” I said again.
“Forget it,” Poppy said. “Call me back when you’re lessdistracted.”
She hung up before I could even try to promise her I was listening now. I groaned. At least Poppy didn’t really hold grudges, so she wouldn’t be mad at me for long. My phone buzzed and I assumed it would be a text from her telling me she’d call me tomorrow, but when I glanced at it, it was the group chat again. It had died down for a little while, but now it was filling with texts again, so rapidly that I could barely keep up. How much time did these people spend on their phones?
Group name:I promise this isn’t a group chat, Dad
Members:Ni-Ni, Bay, Sharky, Tis Moi Luca, Eggo, Not Zesty, I cheer you cheer, the fangirl, Ivy
Tis Moi Luca
I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW
I am alive.
Bay
We appreciate the update.
