tutoring session with Tara.
“We hit the diner with these guys, plus the girlies they hang out with,” Lester explained, gesturing at Josh.
“Yeah, Darla was pretty interested in you,” Josh told Orion. “You gonna tap that?”
A streak of red spread across Orion’s face. “I don’t know. She seemed pretty cool.”
“Yeah, but you should have seen how Caroline Policastro and Patty Flynn were practically fighting over our boy here,” Mitchell said to Gavin, chucking his chin at me. “The second they heard Claudia was out, it was like a bad episode of The Bachelor .”
“Like there are good episodes of The Bachelor ?” Gavin replied.
They laughed as Mitchell turned purple. “Shut up, man,” he muttered. “My mom watches it.”
“Sounds like you had a great time,” Gavin said, giving me some kind of meaningful look.
Down on the court, Liza counted the number of boosters against some piece of paper on a clipboard. I was staring at Claudia again,imagining her with some other guy and trying not to barf. She looked up and I glanced away as quickly as possible, but the deed was done. She’d caught me. And now Lester was staring back and forth between us, putting two and two together.
“And the fun’s not over yet,” he crowed, standing up. “Hey, girls? Why you wanna sit so far away? Come up and hang with us while Liza gets her crap together.”
The freshmen and sophomores on JV giggled as Liza shot Lester a look that should have killed him on the spot. He pretended not to notice while the JV girls hesitated.
“Come on! We don’t bite.”
Finally one girl stood up from the center of the crowd and looked right at me. It was the girl from yesterday. The dancer. She was wearing a skirt that was so short I could practically see her underwear. Her thick dark hair hung down over her chest and a lollipop stick stuck out between her plump lips. She looked me up and down, smiled, and slowly pulled the lollipop out.
“Only if I can sit next to Peter,” she said.
I kicked Gavin’s foot. “Move.”
Gavin’s jaw dropped, but he got up. The way that girl moved her hips when she walked toward me should have been illegal. She paused next to the empty space on the bench and smirked.
“On second thought.”
She sat down on my lap. Just wedged herself in there and put one arm around my neck. She touched the lollipop to her lips, looking me directly in the eye.
“I’m Josie,” she said.
Then she rolled the pop around inside her mouth.
“Holy shit,” Lester said, watching us.
“P-Peter,” I stammered. “I’m Peter.”
“I know that,” she said with this laugh that filled the entire gym. Her butt pressed down firmly into my lap before she pushed herself up and took Gavin’s spot on the bench. Which I could suddenly not imagine Gavin ever sitting in. Not when it was filled with that skin and that hair and those lips.
“Hey, football players!” Liza announced. “We’re ready for you. Let’s practice the player roll call.”
While the rest of the team got up and tromped down toward the floor, Josie trailed her fingertips down my arm, and I did everything in my power to look her in the eye and not check out her body again.
“Hey, Marrott!” Liza shouted. “Way to be a leader, Captain!”
I glanced around and saw that Josie and I were the only people left on the bleachers.
“Oops,” I said.
And everyone laughed. Everyone except Claudia, who was turning purple. Josie got up and we walked down together as I told myself there was no reason to feel guilty.
Claudia and I weren’t together anymore. And apparently she was auditioning homecoming dates. The thought maybe made me want to strangle someone, but it also meant I could do whatever the hell I wanted.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
True
“Did you know that you’re the second-tallest girl in the junior class?”
I blinked up at the guy standing next to the lunch table Hephaestus and I occupied. It took me a second to focus. I had been so
“We hit the diner with these guys, plus the girlies they hang out with,” Lester explained, gesturing at Josh.
“Yeah, Darla was pretty interested in you,” Josh told Orion. “You gonna tap that?”
A streak of red spread across Orion’s face. “I don’t know. She seemed pretty cool.”
“Yeah, but you should have seen how Caroline Policastro and Patty Flynn were practically fighting over our boy here,” Mitchell said to Gavin, chucking his chin at me. “The second they heard Claudia was out, it was like a bad episode of The Bachelor .”
“Like there are good episodes of The Bachelor ?” Gavin replied.
They laughed as Mitchell turned purple. “Shut up, man,” he muttered. “My mom watches it.”
“Sounds like you had a great time,” Gavin said, giving me some kind of meaningful look.
Down on the court, Liza counted the number of boosters against some piece of paper on a clipboard. I was staring at Claudia again,imagining her with some other guy and trying not to barf. She looked up and I glanced away as quickly as possible, but the deed was done. She’d caught me. And now Lester was staring back and forth between us, putting two and two together.
“And the fun’s not over yet,” he crowed, standing up. “Hey, girls? Why you wanna sit so far away? Come up and hang with us while Liza gets her crap together.”
The freshmen and sophomores on JV giggled as Liza shot Lester a look that should have killed him on the spot. He pretended not to notice while the JV girls hesitated.
“Come on! We don’t bite.”
Finally one girl stood up from the center of the crowd and looked right at me. It was the girl from yesterday. The dancer. She was wearing a skirt that was so short I could practically see her underwear. Her thick dark hair hung down over her chest and a lollipop stick stuck out between her plump lips. She looked me up and down, smiled, and slowly pulled the lollipop out.
“Only if I can sit next to Peter,” she said.
I kicked Gavin’s foot. “Move.”
Gavin’s jaw dropped, but he got up. The way that girl moved her hips when she walked toward me should have been illegal. She paused next to the empty space on the bench and smirked.
“On second thought.”
She sat down on my lap. Just wedged herself in there and put one arm around my neck. She touched the lollipop to her lips, looking me directly in the eye.
“I’m Josie,” she said.
Then she rolled the pop around inside her mouth.
“Holy shit,” Lester said, watching us.
“P-Peter,” I stammered. “I’m Peter.”
“I know that,” she said with this laugh that filled the entire gym. Her butt pressed down firmly into my lap before she pushed herself up and took Gavin’s spot on the bench. Which I could suddenly not imagine Gavin ever sitting in. Not when it was filled with that skin and that hair and those lips.
“Hey, football players!” Liza announced. “We’re ready for you. Let’s practice the player roll call.”
While the rest of the team got up and tromped down toward the floor, Josie trailed her fingertips down my arm, and I did everything in my power to look her in the eye and not check out her body again.
“Hey, Marrott!” Liza shouted. “Way to be a leader, Captain!”
I glanced around and saw that Josie and I were the only people left on the bleachers.
“Oops,” I said.
And everyone laughed. Everyone except Claudia, who was turning purple. Josie got up and we walked down together as I told myself there was no reason to feel guilty.
Claudia and I weren’t together anymore. And apparently she was auditioning homecoming dates. The thought maybe made me want to strangle someone, but it also meant I could do whatever the hell I wanted.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
True
“Did you know that you’re the second-tallest girl in the junior class?”
I blinked up at the guy standing next to the lunch table Hephaestus and I occupied. It took me a second to focus. I had been so
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