Page 63 of Kissing the Debutant
“Eh, I just went home and raided the freezer.” Wylder dipped her spoon in the cherries jubilee. She was one of the few students who were local to Twin Rivers.
“How are you doing, Lil?” Devyn finally asked.
“I don’t know.” Lillian’s shoulders fell. “I’m just trying not to think about it.”
“Trying not to think about being an idiot?” Wylder asked.
“Ouch.” Lillian dropped her spoon back into the container. “How am I the idiot in this scenario? And what do you know about it, anyway?”
“I know everything.” Wylder shrugged. “And I also know what it feels like to be an outsider in your world.” Wylder opened a bag of chips and sat them between the girls.
Lillian glanced over at Wylder, recognizing a hint of vulnerability she’d never seen in her before. “You’re not an outsider, Wylds.”
“I totally am, and you all know it. I’m just a small-town girl with parents who run the local hardware store, and I just happen to have a famous brother who pulled some strings to get me into this school. Becks pays my tuition. I don’t know what it’s like to grow up in your privileged world. As an outsider, it’s intimidating. The longer I’m here, the more I see you’re inherently good people, but you don’t have a clue what it’s like for the average Joe. Or Jack.”
“So you’re saying this is my fault?” Lillian frowned. She still wasn’t sure what happened with Jack at the ball. They were having such a good time one moment, and then he just shut down on her. Her mother hadn’t helped the situation at all. She was so rude to Jack, making up all that crap about him being a polo star. Lillian would have promised her the moon just to get rid of her so they could get out of there, but the damage was already done. “He’s the one who broke up with me.”
“Because you’re an idiot,” Wylder said. “I’m sorry, but it’s true. Why in the world would you take a guy like Jack to a debutant ball? Poor guy had to feel like a total loser in his borrowed suit.”
“What? How?” Tears burned Lillian’s eyes. “That’s not true.”
“How do you know, Lil? Did you put yourself in his Walmart shoes? Did you think about the way people would stare at him, wondering what the townie was doing with the debutant?”
“Jack doesn’t care about that stuff,” Lillian insisted. The Jack she knew was confident and comfortable in his own skin. He wouldn’t let that kind of petty materialistic crap get to him. Would he?
“And when you agreed to go to some event with Landon Corrigan right in front of him? How do you think that made him feel?”
“I don’t do all that much girl bonding,” Devyn said, hunting through her rocky road ice cream for the good stuff. “But I don’t think you’re doing it right, Wylds.”
“I’m making a point so Lil can fix this.”
“Hebroke up withme,” Lillian said.
“Just think about it, Lil. You’re right, Jack doesn’t care about what people think, but he does care whatyouthink.”
“He knows I don’t care about this social crap.”
“Does he?” Wylder gave her a knowing look. “Or does he think you agree with all those things your mother said?”
“Were you there spying on us?” Lillian threw her hands up. “How do you know all this stuff?”
“I pay attention, and I know everyone. Now, I want you to think about everything that happened the night of the ball, but try to see it through his eyes, and ask yourself if you blame him for backing away.”
“I…” Lillian chewed on her bottom lip. “I was just trying to get rid of my mom so we could leave.”
“Did you tell him that?” Wylder shoved a delicate truffle into her hand as if to soften the blow with chocolate.
“Well, no. He had to know my mom is just an epic snob.”
“Does he?”
“I don’t like you very much right now.” Lillian popped the truffle into her mouth. “But you have good snacks.”
“And?” Wylder raised her brow.
“And you make a good point. I need to fix this.” Lillian didn’t know how, but she needed to show Jack she could never think less of him. If anything, she needed to show him he had so much more substance than anyone she’d ever known.
* * *
