Page 80 of Something Rad
“Yeah,” Robbie responds, not taking his eyes off of them.
One of my eyebrows shoots up. “Isn’t he, like…one of your best friends?”
“Yeah,” Robbie nods. “I guess he is.”
Damn.I shake my head, feeling an extremely unexpected but true pang of sympathy for Robbie Summers. His girlfriend and his best friend? That’s awful. He must hate them.
“Let’s go talk to them,” he says.
“What?” I question him, blinking, but Robbie is already dragging me in the direction of the group.
It’s Paul Strothers that spots us approaching first, a huge grin spreading across his face. “Hey, man,” he says, clapping Robbie’s shoulder.
“Hey, doing good, man?” Robbie replies, pulling me to his side to join in the circle. I’m certain I look like a deer in headlights as I take in everyone’s heads turning in our direction. Denise and Jesse are the last to follow suit, and, like clockwork, Robbie’s arm slings around my shoulder the minute their eyes land on us. I watch Denise’s smile waver as she takes us in, and it somehow makes me relax some. I force a smile on my face, reaching up and taking Robbie’s hand in mine, pulling him a little closer.
“I’m better now,” Paul says, bringing my attention back to him. I meet his gaze and he smiles. “Hi, Sara.”
My stomach twists in response. Of course Paul knows my name. We’ve gone to school together all of our lives and, as Robbie loves to remind me, Bay View isn’t that big. But it’s just now occurring to me that we haven’t directly spoken to each other since elementary school, if even then. I take a quick glance around the circle and realize I can say that about basically everyone in it.Great.
“Hi, Paul,” I say, returning his smile and trying my best to sound nonchalant.
He looks between Robbie and I, his head tilting and brows pinching. “So, this is a thing then? You two?”
“Sure looks that way doesn’t it?” Robbie responds, and I resist the urge to shoot daggers at him.
Why can’t he ever just answer a question straight? Why wouldn’t he just say yes?
Paul nods. “It does. You guys look great together.”
“Thanks, man,” Robbie replies.
I feel a blush creep to my cheeks. I suddenly hear his voice inside my head, clear as day, as if he’s responding directly to my thoughts.
I don’t have to answer anyone’s questions. Make them answer their questions themselves. Don’t tell them.Showthem.
I shake my head.What the hell?I let out a laugh, trying to cover the whole thing by leaning my head against Robbie’s shoulder.
“I gotta say though,” Paul speaks up again, pointing between Robbie and me. “Who would’ve thought?”
I feel Robbie tense slightly.
“Never in a million years would I have–”
Robbie chuckles dryly, cutting Paul off. “Well, we don’t want you thinking too hard, Strothers. Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.” He taps a knuckle against the side of Paul’s head.
“Right,” Paul murmurs, his eyes narrowing on us as he takes a sip of his punch.
I laugh again, pulling Robbie down just far enough that I can whisper in his ear. “What was that about?”
“Nothing,” he replies. “Don’t worry about him.”
“Hi, Robbie,” another voice calls, this one much higher pitched than Paul’s.
Denise.
We both turn to look at her. She has Jesse’s arm in an iron grip at her side as she smiles sweetly at us. She’s wearing bright pink eyeshadow and has her hair done in a style that would give Farrah Fawcett a run for her money. She looks stunning. And I can’t even hate her for it.
“Hey, Denise,” Robbie says, his voice perfectly even. Not too interested, not too disinterested.
