Page 103 of Better Than the Movies
Instead I nodded and said, “I had no idea.”
“But let’s talk about you, Liz.” He set his chin on his hand. “Wes told me that you’re ‘literally’ the coolest person he’s ever met, so you’ve changed a lot too. I mean, the last time I saw you before we moved, you wore a kimono and bright red lipstick to a neighborhood cookout. You ate your hot dog with silverware.”
I laughed in spite of myself as he said, “That’s one hell of a level-up.”
I cleared my throat and said, “Wes was exaggerating. I may not eat hot dogs with a knife and fork anymore, but I haven’t changed that much.”
“Don’t be modest.” He pulled out his phone and started scrolling, clearly looking for something. After around thirty seconds, he muttered, “Boom” and held out his phone for me to look. “See?”
I took his phone and looked at the screen. It was a message thread between Michael and Wes, dated right around the time Wes agreed to help me.
Wes: She’s definitely cute, but she’s also cool AF.
Michael: She is? Thought she was always kind of high-strung.
Wes: Liz is… different. She’s the kind of girl whowears a dress when everyone else wears jeans. She listens to music instead of watching TV. She drinks black coffee, has a secret tattoo, runs three miles every day rain or shine, and still practices the piano.
Michael: You sound cuffed already lol.
Wes: Whatever. What time are you going to be there?
My eyes were scratchy as my heart stuttered in my chest. I gave an exaggerated eye roll and handed back his phone. “That isn’t real.”
“What?”
I sighed, and it occurred to me that it was a good time to fess up. Maybe if I confessed my sins, he could follow his heart and find happiness with Laney. Because why should they suffer just because I was a shitshow? I looked at him and said, “He was trying to help me. I asked Wes to talk me up to you, so that’s why he said all that. He was doing me a favor.”
His eyebrows crinkled. “Are you serious?”
I didn’t want to make things weird with him and Wes, so I just glossed over how planny it all had been and pretty much just said that Wes did me that tiny favor.
He gave a little chuckle. “You really haven’t changed that much, then, have you?”
That made me laugh. “Sadly not.”
I went on to tell him about how my waitress uniform had actually been my favorite dress and how I’d totally made upTheDiner, and we both laughed until we had tears in our eyes.
I excused myself and went to the restroom while he settled thebill, and once the door closed behind me, it was a struggle to keep the tears at bay.
Because—Wes’s text. God. Yes, he’d sent it to help me, but all those things he’d said? I wanted him to see me that way so badly. He’d gone above and beyond what I’d asked him to do when he’d sent that text, and now I would never be the same.
“Oh. Hey, Liz.” Laney came out of a bathroom stall and began to wash her hands.
“Hey, Laney.” I turned on the faucet even though I hadn’t even used the bathroom, and started washing my hands.
“I love your dress—it’s gorgeous.” She smiled at me in the mirror.
“Thanks. Same, only more,” I muttered, and gestured toward the long pink gown.
“Are you okay?”
I gave her side-eye in the mirror. “Yeah, why?”
She shrugged and looked down at her hands. “You’re here with Michael Young, and he got you flowers and cheesecake and can’t stop looking at you, but you look sad.”
Butt out, Lanesville.
“Is it because of your mom?”
