Page 84 of The Friend Scheme
“Sorry.”
He enters my room and sits down on my bed. Eddie follows behind him and curls up at his feet. Today must be one of his needy days. Luke scratches the top of his head, and Eddie’s tail thumps against my bed.
“Just give it to me straight: Are you and Cass a thing now?” he asks.
Oh boy. I don’t know how Luke can be so aware sometimes and so damn wrong at other times.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“I saw you two talking at the ball, and I know you’ve been hanging out. So I was just wondering if she’s the girl you’ve been dating.”
“Oh, no. This is new. Cass and I are just friends.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure, man,” he says. “Cassidy doesn’t giveanyone the time of day she doesn’t think is worth it. If you’re hanging out with her, she must seesomethingin you.”
“She doesn’t like me like that,” I say. “There’s no way.”
“Dude, why are you always so down on yourself?”
I shrug. “I’m not. She likes me as a friend. That’s not a bad thing.”
I actually do think that. I think there’s way more power in friendship than people realize. Anyone who’s never had friends would agree with that.
He eyes me warily.
“Seriously!” I say. “Besides, you two have history. It’d be weird if we hooked up, right?”
“She’s not used goods, Matt.”
“That’s not what I mean! I mean emotionally.” I stare up at the ceiling for a second. I need to be careful. His thinking I’m secretly dating Cass is definitely better than his figuring out the truth.
“Nothing’s going on, I promise,” I say. “And I’ll tell you if that changes. I mean, it’s not going to. But if it does, you’ll be the first to know.”
He nods. “I better be.”
He leaves my room, closing my door behind me. He knows me well enough to know that I always want it closed.
I open my messages to Jason. I know I shouldn’t, but…
I finally cave.
Hey. It’s cool if you don’t want to, but I was just wondering if you’d like to go to a fair? It’s in the city. Again, it’s totally cool if you can’t. I know I shouldn’t, but I miss you.
And send.
The typing bubble appears right away.
Oh my God.
Please don’t disappear, please don’t disappear. A message comes in.
You don’t think it’s a bad idea?
No, I do. But I still want to risk it.
