Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad Page B

Jesse was all she could think about.
    “It really hurt me when you were all over that girl at your birthday party,” Jane went on. “Because I thought that you and I were…well, I thought that you really cared about me and…Anyway, after that night, I wasn’t sure what was gonna happen to us. I was so mad at you. I know that’s no excuse for what I did. I…Ihave no excuse, and…and…”
    Jane’s throat burned as her eyes brimmed with tears. She covered her face with her hands, shaking, trying to stop from breaking down in public, and with the camera guy standing just a few feet away from her, filming everything. It was all catching up to her now: these last few crazy months, meeting Jesse at his and Braden’s house party, falling for Jesse, falling apart when she thought he wasn’t the guy for her, after all…and then Braden coming over to comfort her, offering her a friendly hug that somehow turned into a kiss that somehow turned into more….
    Jane felt Jesse’s hand on her shoulder. “Hey,” he said in a voice that was gruff and tender at the same time. “You okay?”
    Jane sniffed and nodded. She took a moment to try to compose herself. She needed to get this out.
    “I know I don’t have any right to ask this,” Jane said, gazing up at him. “But do you think that we could be friends someday?”
    Jesse looked away. “I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll think about it.”
    Jane nodded. At least there was hope. That was all she could ask for. She had no idea if she was meant to be with Jesse asmore than friends. But she couldn’t imagine not having him in her life. Friendship was better than nothing at all.
    Wiping away a tear, Jane realized that everyone in the room was yelling, “Ten! Nine! Eight!” And then Jesse’s date appeared out of nowhere and wrapped her skinny, spray-tanned arms around his neck. The count-down continued: “Three! Two! One!Happy New Year! ” Confetti rained down to a symphony of noisemakers and popping champagne corks and that New Year’s song they always played (what did
    “Auld Lang Syne” even mean?), and Ms. Bubble Dress stood on her tippy-toes and pressed her artificially plumped lips against his lips. Jane’s heart sank even farther. She should go. But Jesse kind of drew back a little, even as Ms. Bubble Dress kept trying to kiss him, and then Jane realized that he was looking over the girl’s shoulder ather . Their eyes met, and she mouthed the words,I’m sorry , again, as if she couldn’t say them enough, which she couldn’t, and he kind of smiled at her, as if he were trying to let her know that maybe, just maybe, things were going to be okay between them after all.
    Which made this the best New Year’s Eve ever. Even though her life was still a crazy, tangled-up mess.
    15
    LIE UPON LIE
    Scarlett groaned and rubbed her eyes as sunlight flooded her field of vision. What time was it? She glanced over at the alarm clock, which flashed 11:25 a.m. Eleven twenty-five a.m.? How could it be so late in the morning already? Her head felt cloudy, like she had gotten only a couple hours of sleep.

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    Wait! WTF?
    Scarlett did a double take. Where was her beaten-up, retro, turquoise blue alarm clock? This alarm clock was sleek and white and had an iPod dock on top. And now that she thought about it, she didn’t own sheets the color of Cocoa Puffs, either.
    She turned slowly, nervously, to check out the other side of the bed.
    Liam was lying there, fast asleep.
    Scarlett sucked in a deep breath, trying not to panic. What was he doing there? Wait, no—what wasshe doing here?
    She had to get out right now, before he woke up. She searched the room quickly, trying to locate her clothes.Oh. She was still wearing them. And upon closer inspection, she realized that Liam was still wearing his, too.
    And then it all came back to her.
    After the amazing kiss they had shared at the stroke of midnight, a