Page 2 of Before We're More Than Friends
“We really are.” I looked back at my letter and grinned. “Glad I got a supercool rich girl instead.”
“Ooh.” He put his chin on his hands. “Do tell.”
I squinted at the address that was on the glittery purple envelope. “She’s from some place in Nevada, she loves animals, and she wants to open a jewelry business.”
“A girl your age who has big goals? Toby approved.”
I snorted. “You say that like I’m going to date her or some crap.”
He shrugged. “Hey, you never know.”
I shoved him, nearly knocking him into a girl who was using her phone from under the desk. “Don’t even start.” I snuck a glance at my crush, Darla Stratton, from the other side of the classroom, my cheeks growing warm. “You already know I’m spoken for.”
“In your dreams.”
If the teacher hadn’t been facing our direction, I would’ve flipped him off. “Dreams come true.”
Toby rolled his eyes. “What are you going to write back to her?” He picked up his pencil. “I’m going to tell Coby everything great in life that doesn’t involve video games.”
“Wait, his name is Coby?” I snorted. “Coby and Toby?”
“Don’t even.” He covered his snort with his hand. “For all I know, he could’ve seen my name and decided to pick one that rhymes.”
“I’m going to tell Chloe my favorite things.” I tapped my pen on the table. “Should I tell her my real name now that I know she’s not anyone weird? We’re both going by our middle names.”
“Keep it the way it is for now.” He leaned over my desk to look at my letter. “Go by Alex instead. Seems to fit you.”
“Alex and Chloe.” I smiled. “Not bad.”
“Way better than Dallas from Dallas, don’t you think?”
“This is the appropriate time for you to shut up and tell Coby that too many video games will fry his brain.”
“Joking, joking.” He spun his pencil around. “I’ll tell him you said hi. Tell Chloe I said hi, too.”
“I will.”
I grabbed a new sheet of paper and started writing with my green pen. NowIwas the one hoping I didn’t sound boring as heck. Toby was the only friend I’d had longer than a few weeks for a reason. The other boys thought I wasn’t “cool” enough, and the girls, at least the ones who were in my class, wanted nothing to do with guys unless it involved dating or kissing.
As much as I loved to dream about Darla, nobody found me as kissing or dating material. For now. Once I got control of my black curls, stopped my pale face from flushing at mere contact with heat, and got some meat on my lanky figure, I’d be good to go.
Hey, at least I had dimples. Those were cute, right?
When I finished, I showed Toby my letter. “How does this sound?”
He narrowed his eyes at it. “Looks great.” He held up his letter. “What do you think of this?”
Dear Coby,
Hi, I’m Toby, and I’m here to tell you about everything in life that is better than the lame video games you sit inside playing every free second of the day.
If you keep living on video games and soda, you will for sure die. How are you supposed to finish your games and improve your gaming system if you’re already dead?
I didn’t need to read any more to say, “Yeah, donotsend him that. You sound like one of those moms who believe video games are the devil.”
He threw his hands up. “I thought you were with me on this!”
When school ended, I went home and grabbed a plain envelope from the office, where my sister, Kami, played some movie star game on the computer. She was searching through her avatar’s closet when she raised an eyebrow at me.
