Page 46 of Bookish Boys Don't Date Social Girls
Chapter Twenty-One
The four ofus huddle together next to my car, watching the notifications pouring in on my phone. My phone sounds like a beehive with all the buzzing.
“What’s going on?” Ava asks.
The four of us look at each other but no one seems to understand why my phone is suddenly blowing up. The flood of texts and instant messages surprises me. It’s like they announced my phone number at the restaurant or something so that everyone in the room could send me their thoughts. I admit, I’m worried it won’t be very supportive.
“Do you want me to come home with you, Sam?” Ava asks. “I could help figure out what’s happening.”
For some reason, I look at Dylan when she offers this. He nods at me like he totally understands. Then he frowns back down at my phone. “I’m happy to help too if you think we need to set up a command center to manage this.”
I smile at them. “That’s super cool of both of you, but I’m sure this will die down as fast as it exploded.”
Bek and I climb into my car, and I prop my phone in a cup holder. The screen remains lit up the entire time it takes me todrop Bek off at her house. One notification after another scrolling across the screen.
“I don’t know, Sam. This seems crazy big.” She gnaws her lip as she watches the stream of notifications. “I don’t think you should handle this alone.”
She may drive me crazy with her fish allergy, but she’s completely dialed in when it comes to being a supportive friend. I wave a hand at her. “Don’t worry about me. I might not even look at any of it tonight.”
She swings her door open, but then turns back toward me. “I’m so impressed with what you did. That was really brave to stand up for yourself like that.” She wilts in her seat. “I’m so sorry you had to. I had no idea guys were making things up like that.”
I stare at my screen as the notifications pop up one after another. Texts from people I don’t know. Email notifications. I frown down at the screen when I see a flurry of Instagram notifications. Bek sees my expression and leans over to see the screen, and she’s frowning too.
“Instagram?” she asks.
I rub my forehead. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ll worry about this stuff tonight. Thanks for the offer, though.”
I toss my phone, screen side down, onto the passenger seat so it doesn’t distract me while I drive home. The screen has not gone dark for a second since we left the restaurant.
I consider that by speaking out like that, I might have ruined my chances of finding a boyfriend my senior year. I might not even get to go to prom. But when I remember the embarrassment on the boys’ faces as I asked the questions, I know it’s worth it. I’ll go it solo until I go away to college. Standing up for myself like that was the best thing I could do!
Of course, my parents aren’t home, so I grab a sparkling water and head up to my room. I want to plug my phone into the charging cable but it’s too far away from my bed. Turnsout a constant stream of notifications drains a battery fast. I wasn’t planning to look at any of the messages until tomorrow. Being pumped up on anger and adrenaline has exhausted me, and the idea of crawling into bed and burying my head under my covers is very enticing. But if I’m going to have to page through a bunch of messages calling me nasty names for pointing out the liars in the room, then I should get it over with tonight.
I start with my texts. I figure if they have my phone number, we’ve had a connection at some point.
Kurt: I didn’t realize how shallow I am. I’m sorry.
I stare at the message for a long time. Not what I expected.
Me: Apology accepted.
He surprises me by responding immediately.
Kurt: Want to try again?
That feels slimy.
Me: Not on your life.
I open the next text. It’s from Lana, a girl I was biology partners with sophomore year.
Lana: That was the most beautiful, powerful thing I’ve ever seen.
I frown. I don’t remember seeing her in the room.
Me: You were there?
Lana: No.
