Page 20 of The Heart That Breaks
“You don’t have to. Is he cute?”
I smile a little. “Yes. He is.”
“Tell me!”
“There’s really nothing to tell.”
“I don’t believe that. What’s his name?”
I decide I don’t need to hide this from Brandi. “Nathan.”
“How did you meet him?”
“We go to school together. He rode his bike out to see me last night.”
“From where?”
“Town.”
“That’s a really long way! He must really like you.”
“It would never work.”
“Why not?”
“He’s like from a different world. His dad’s a famous songwriter.”
“Well, that’s cool, but he’d be lucky to have you, Ann-Elizabeth.”
I hear the sincerity in her voice and feel a little catch in my throat. “That’s nice, but he could pretty much have his pick of any girl in school.”
“But he came out to see you. Why?”
I look down at my hands, and hear myself saying, “He asked me to go to Homecoming.”
“Oh, wow. That’s exciting. You’re going, aren’t you?”
I shake my head. “I don’t have a dress.”
“There’s got to be some way you can get one.”
“He said I could wear one of his sister’s, but I don’t want to be a charity-case girlfriend.”
“I bet he doesn’t think of it like that or he wouldn’t have offered.”
“I would think of it like that.”
“Then maybe you should change your way of thinking. Ann-Elizabeth, you have to go. This is a good thing. You deserve a good thing.”
I want to act like it’s no big deal and that I don’t really care, but I don’t have that kind of acting ability. “It just seems too complicated. He really comes from a different world.”
“Who could be better than you? You’re pretty and nice.”
“Thanks, Brandi. You are just about the sweetest girl I’ve ever met.”
“I really mean it.”
“I know you do,” I say, giving her hand a squeeze.
