Page 88 of Going the Distance
And he said, “So, uh, Elle…how’s Levi?”
Really? Was he serious? Of all the things to talk to me about—why Levi? He couldn’t say hi, but he could ask me about Levi?
Lee coughed and said, “Hey, Brad, Liam, you guys know that the Hulk would beat them both, right? Elle, back me up here.”
Now wasn’t the time to ask him, anyway.
I stared back at Noah. God, he looked so good. Why did he have to look so good?
Why did he care so much about Levi when he was here with his new girlfriend?
“Yeah. He’s good.”
Noah nodded. And kept nodding.
And I bit my lip, staring back at him and waiting for him to say something else, but also wanting that to be the end of it.
Amanda intervened, luckily—because things were starting to get really awkward. “Is Levi the boy who moved from Detroit? You had all those nicknames for him, Noah. The jeans guy. True Religion, Diesel, stuff like that. He lives by your friend, um…is it Carl? I want to say Carl.”
“Cam,” I corrected her, slightly stunned.
Noah had talked to her about Levi? What the hell was that about? It was weird that it was easier to talk to Amanda than Noah, but I went ahead and said, “Yeah, that’s him. We just got to be really good friends. We keep each other company when we have to babysit. He’s got a little sister a few years younger than Brad.”
“That’s nice, though.” Amanda smiled brightly. “And I suppose it makes babysitting easier, too.”
“Uh-huh.” And then, because I couldn’t resist, I said, “I asked him to the Sadie Hawkins dance a couple weeks ago. That was really nice. It was only in the school gym, but it was cute.”
I wasn’t exactly sure why I said it. I just couldn’t help myself. I guess I just wanted to make Noah feel as bad as I did.
Or I wanted to make him feel jealous.
I wasn’t sure which, and I really didn’t want to spend too long thinking about it.
“Yeah,” Noah said, obviously making an effort to keep his voice casual—it came out sounding sort of strained, though. His eyebrows pulled together almost into one straight line because of the frown on his face. “I saw. There was that photo of you guys in the kissing booth.”
Oh my God. He’d seen the photo. And judging by the look on his face, itbotheredhim.
Well, so what? What damn right did he have to be mad about a photo? Did he hear what a hypocrite that made him? And at least I wassinglewhen that photo was taken.
I stared back at him, chin jutting out. “Yeah. Cute, right?”
Noah scowled down at his plate; I saw his Adam’s apple bob as he gulped. Amanda glanced between us, then smiled again, reaching an arm across the table to me and waving it excitedly. “Oh my goodness,” she said, all bubbly, “my school never did dances like you guys have over here. Tell meallabout it. Was there a theme? Noah said you’re on the planning committee for stuff like that. What did you have to do?”
She kept on babbling—and I was pretty sure she knew she was babbling. I figured she was doing it on purpose, trying to alleviate the tension between me and Noah, which was tangible now. I bristled.
I locked eyes with him and felt the urge to start crying again. I felt Lee bump my leg with his again, and I inhaled deeply through my nose, trying to keep my eyes from drifting back to Noah.
We were over.
I had to move on.
I couldn’t let him keep getting to me.
I swallowed hard, smiled politely at Amanda, and told her, in the most upbeat voice I could manage, all about the Sadie Hawkins dance.
• • •
I helped clear up the dishes when we were all done. Lee asked me quietly if I was okay, and I assured him I was (although I wasn’t so convinced myself). He went outside to play football with Brad and Liam in the backyard.
