More than Friends - Monica Murphy by Monica Murphy Page A

around, trying to look anywhere but at him. Why, I don’t know. It’s like all the awkwardness of this entire situation has just hit me full force and I feel silly. Lacking. Which is dumb. He’s never done or said anything to make me feel less than in comparison to him.
    But he doesn’t have to. He’s just…him. And I’m only me.
    “Amanda.” I look him in the eyes when he says my name. “Do you need my help or anything?”
    “Can you sit out here while I do some stuff in the back?”
    “Yeah.” He reaches out and brushes stray strands of hair away from my forehead, his fingers skimming my skin, making my blood hum. “Can I buy some yogurt first?”
    I burst out laughing. “Absolutely.”
    Once I ring him up, I start putting away the toppings in the refrigerator, then I make sure the bathroom is clean. I wipe down the yogurt machines, run a quick broom over the floor since I already mopped, then turn off the “open” light and lock the door.
    “It’s only 8:59,” Tuttle reminds me. He’s sitting at one of the tiny tables, eating his frozen yogurt like he has all the time in the world as he checks his phone. I’m instantly curious. Who texts him? Snapchats him? He has an Instagram profile but barely uses it, though he has tons of followers, including myself.
    “I’m a minute early. So what?” I smile at him and he doesn’t return it, which makes me a little sad.
    “You talk to your boss?”
    I frown. “What do you mean?”
    “About Fridays.”
    “Oh!” I brighten. How could I forget? I was so worried about closing I guess I shoved it out of my mind. “I did talk to her. She said that was fine, mentioned that she could cover this Friday’s shift if I was needed that badly, which I assured her I was. I made it sound like I tried to line up the water girl job before I started at Yo Town and she was totally cool with it.”
    “So you’re our new water girl.”
    I nod, pleased with the happy expression on his face. “Thank you for arranging this for me.”
    “I’m glad.” He offers up a smile. “Really glad you’ll be at all the games, Mandy.”
    “Me too,” I murmur.
    “You work on Juliet’s diary entry yet?”
    I frown at his change of subject. “Um, not yet.”
    He sends me a look, one I can’t decipher. “Better get to it.”
    “I’ll work on it tonight.”
    “You’ll text it to me?”
    “Sure.” I don’t know if I want to do that. Talk about taking a chance. What if he shares the entry with his friends? That would be humiliating. He’ll probably make it sound like I wrote that to him, not Juliet to Romeo.
    Yeah. I am so not sending him the entry via text. Forget that.
    I slip behind the counter and work on closing out the cash register. Once I’m done, I go to the back and stash the money in the safe, then lock it and the office as well. Turning off all the lights, I come out into the store to find Jordan leaning against the counter and typing on his phone, a scowl on his face as he stares at the screen.
    “All done,” I tell him weakly. Why does he look so mad? What’s going on? Who’s he talking to? I kinda lift up on tiptoe to see his phone screen and I can tell he’s texting.
    But with who?
    “Ready to go?” He clicks his phone screen off and shoves it in the front pocket of his sweats, waiting for me.
    “Yeah. Let’s go out the front door.” He heads toward it and I shut off the rest of the lights, then follow him, walking through the door he holds open for me. I pull the door shut and lock it with the set of keys Sonja left with me earlier this afternoon, then shove them into my front pocket. “I did it.”
    “Yeah, you did.” He glances around before he takes my arm and leads me out into the parking lot and toward my car. I hurry to keep up with him, shivering when the cold wind hits me. I’m only in my Yo Town T-shirt and jeans. I didn’t bring a sweater because I came straight from school and earlier in the day it had been warm.
    “Your teeth are