Page 122 of The Friend Scheme
“Dude, no.”
“What?”
“I told you, I don’t want to talk about my family.”
“This is a date, though, yeah? How come it’s off-limits?”
I chew my lip.
“Oh,” he says, his face falling. “You don’t fully trust me, do you?”
I try to decide how to answer. “Do you want me to be honest?”
“Always.”
“Okay. It’s like… I really like you. And I always have so much fun hanging out with you. But there’s always this part of me that thinks the scheme might still be in place. So if I talk to you about my family…”
“I’ll tell it to my family.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, that’s going to make dating pretty hard if I can’t even ask you about real stuff.”
“Yeah. I guess it will. I just don’t feel comfortable.”
He stares at the table. I think I might’ve hurt his feelings.
Which I get. I’m basically telling him I don’t trust him. Which I don’t, at least not completely. But still. I do really care about him. And maybe I’m just being a coward. He hurt me once, by being a part of the scheme in the first place. He came clean, though. How long do I need to be distrustful of him?
A middle-aged waitress in a white shirt under red suspenders appears by our table. There are huge dark circles under her eyes, like she’s been working nonstop for hours. She lifts her tablet and stares at us blankly.
“You ready?” she asks.
“Yeah, um, I’m going to go for a double cheeseburger with bacon, and a chocolate shake,” says Jason. “I’m bulking. And a plate of waffle fries for both of us. Thanks.”
“I’ll have what he’s having,” I say. “I’m not bulking; it just sounds good.”
“Great.”
She takes our menus, then walks off to the register. Jason rests his hands on the table.
“So, my turn,” he says. “Here’s my question: Which musician do you never get sick of? Like who’s your favorite?”
I guess we’re just going to ignore what I said before. That suits me really well.
“The Killers. I likeSam’s Townbest.”
“Oh, right, you told me that. Sorry.”
“Oh, no worries. Anyway, um, do you like them?”
“To be honest, I only really know ‘Mr. Brightside,’ and that one about being human or a dancer or something. What do you like about them so much?”
“I dunno. I love them, they just click with me, they have ever since I first listened to them. I think maybe it’s because I have this weird love of small-town Americana, andSam’s Townkind of sounds like that.”
“Oh, nice.”
Silence falls. I shift in my seat.
