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“Well, you can tick that off,” I mused, holding the door of the main building open for her. “What else is on that list of yours?”
“Oh, you know,” she sighed, waiting for me to follow her out. “The usual.”
“Humor me.”
“Let go of the past, stop worrying about things I have no control of, get over the asshole who broke my heart, go to mass every Sunday, kiss a boy, make more friends, and take more risks.” She grinned up at me. “Just your stereotypical teenage-girl bucket list.”
“Hmm.”
“What’s thehmmmean?”
“Nothing,” I replied, shaking my head. “We just have a few things in common.”
“The broken-heart part?” She winced in sympathy. “Yeah, I heard about that. Sorry.”
“It is what it is,” I replied, refusing to lose face.
“Do you want to?” she asked then, stopping in her tracks. “Want to hang out sometime after school?”
I stopped walking and turned back to look at her. “Like a date?”
“Or just as friends,” she replied with a shrug. “If you prefer.”
“I, ah…” My words trailed off and I fought down a sudden surge of panic. “I’m not, ah…” Another pause while I tried to push down the guilt that I was drowning in.
Stop it, asshole.
You have nothing to feel guilty about.
“I’m not ready for another relationship,” I admitted, pinching the bridge of my nose. “I’m, ah, I’m still…”
“Licking your wounds?” Katie said gently. “That’s okay. Me, too.”
“We could hang out, though,” I offered, forcing myself to take the leap. “Asfriends?”
Her green eyes lit up. “I’d like that.”
“I like the cinema,” I blurted out, sounding like a fucking dope.
“Me, too.”
“I’m free on Friday,” I added, sounding like a lad who’d never been alone with a girl, let alone spoken to one. I suppose aside from Liz, I hadn’t.
“Friday is good for me.”
I eyed her warily. “As friends.”
Smiling, she nodded. “Friends.”
“Okay then.” I blew out a breath, feeling cautious and reluctantly hopeful. “I’ll, ah, I’ll text you later.”
“And I’ll text you back.” Shoving her hand into the pocket of her skirt, she pulled out a phone and waved it in front of me, cheeks reddening. “I have credit.”
CLOSE YOUR EYES, SWEETHEART
Lizzie
JANUARY 29, 2004
