The Secrets of Boys by Hailey Abbott

she wanted us to go see this movie, and there’s a quiz on it Monday.”
    Larissa didn’t appear to be convinced. “Your homework is your 911?”
    Cassidy crossed her arms in front of her chest and scowled.
    “Right, you’re a nerd. That makes sense,” Larissa conceded. “But let’s talk about the more interesting part of this experimental educational thingy. Like how you’ve got the sexiest TA ever.” Larissa’s voice rose the way it always did when she got excited about something.
    Cassidy glanced toward Zach, but he was already in an animated conversation with Fumiko, Dina, and their two friends. Cassidy could barely believe he’d been as shy as she was just a couple of years before.
    “You really think he’s sexy?” Cassidy lowered her voice so that Zach wouldn’t be able to hear her.
    “Um, does Mary-Kate Olsen shoot up in between her toes?” Larissa asked sarcastically. “Cass, I know you love Eric to pieces, but you’ve got eyes too, right? Did you really not notice how hot Zach is?”
    “No, I didn’t,” Cassidy lied through her teeth for the second time that day.
    “Is he single?” Larissa asked. “Can I hit on him, or would that be icky since he’s your TA?”
    Cassidy tried to quell a major heart palpitation. “I’m not sure.”
    “Whatever. Like it matters,” Larissa replied as she shifted her boobs for maximum cleavage. “You sure you don’t mind if I—”
    “You can do whatever you want,” Cassidy blurted.
    But that wasn’t what she’d wanted to say at all. She just couldn’t bear to hear Larissa going on and on about Zach anymore, and if she’d said that making a move on him would make her uncomfortable, Larissa would know the truth.
    Cassidy was absolutely smitten.
    “Cool.” Larissa wiggled her eyebrows. “Wish me luck!”
    She bounced off toward Zach, leaving Cassidy walking by herself and feeling about as important as a dusty sock that had fallen under the bed. Her stomach wrenched again as Larissa slid into step beside Zach and said something that made him laugh. When he responded, Larissa threw back her head and shook out her hair, which shimmered briefly as they passed under a streetlight before falling back into shadow.
    The image of Zach and Larissa enjoying each other’s company made her squirm inside. Cassidy couldn’t believe how jealous she was getting over someone who wasn’t even her boyfriend. Sometimes she got a little cagey when Eric talked to other girls, but it never got to the point of physical pain. She slowed down, falling even farther behind the rest of the group. She took deep breaths, hoping that later on she wouldn’t have a good reason to want to close her eyes.

Chapter Nine
    We’re here!” Fumiko announced, stopping at an unmarked black metal door in a nondescript building on Main Street in Santa Monica. Cassidy could hear muffled music thumping through the walls of Bar Copa. After Fumiko said something about them all being on a list, Cassidy followed the group inside and down a flight of narrow metal stairs, the music growing louder and louder as they descended. Cassidy could hear hip-hop beats layered on top of each other, could smell the sweat of bodies crushed together before her group was all the way downstairs. The long, narrow room was barely lit, so that the people writhing on the dance floor were mere shadows flickering in the red lighting. She slid into an empty purple velvet chair in the corner, watching as Larissa followed Zach to the bar, gesturing animatedly the whole way.
    What was up with Larissa’s newfound ability to pretend Cassidy didn’t exist? She tapped her foot against the floor, watching the DJ flip a record in the air and land it precisely in the center of the turntable, snapping his fingers casually along with music. A long-haired guy in a tight black tank top sat next to him on a metal chair, a drum between his legs. He drummed another layer on top of the beat, his hands flying over the drum’s tight