Kissing in Cars (Kiss and Make Up #1)(42)

She shakes her head like she's shaking feathers out. "I'm sorry, I just...I'm surprised, that's all. It's not a bad thing." A smile tugs at the corner of her mouth, but she's totally fighting it.

"Can I ask you something?" I push the noodles around in my bowl and watch her from the corner of my eye. She nods as she takes a sip of her water. "What were you thinking about when you looked up?"

She thinks about it before answering. "Do you want me to be honest with you, or should I lie?"

"Well, if you're about to say you had wanted to get naked, than say whatever you want." I wiggle my eyebrows to punctuate my sentence and shoot her one of my toothy megawatt grins that girls go crazy for.

"Well, not exactly. I was a little... freaked out. I mean. It's not like you have this sterling reputation. I thought you were a jerk - or I mean, that's what I heard."

I consider this information. "Huh. Well that sucks. I like my version better."

Finally she throws her head back and laughs. "The naked Molly version? Figures."

"Uh, I bet naked Molly looks incredible. Let's see, if I close my eyes I can almost picture it..." I squint my eyes closed and pretend to be searching for a visual. "Yup. Oh yeah, there it is. Nice..."

Molly's laugh is airy and light as she hits my arm. "Knock it off Weston. Stop trying to picture me with no clothes on."

"Fine, but only because there's something I need to ask you. Well, more like tell you..." but I can't finish my sentence because we're interrupted by the sound of a feminine voice calling out, "Hey Wes, what's up?" causing both Molly and I to crane our necks to see two girls from school - I think their names might be Mary and Olivia (but that's just a guess) approaching our table. They're both wearing backpacks and have their cell phones out, so one can assume they're at Kyoto to study. The blonde (Olivia?) has ear buds in and is slightly bobbing her head as she walks towards us.

Now, I'm not sure what possesses people who hardly know me to greet me with such familiarity, but they do, and I'm irritated. So by the time they're done dodging and weaving through the sparsely attended dining room and arrive at our table, my leg is bouncing under the table. Maybe you've already noticed: this is a habit of mine when I'm annoyed or nervous.

The girls bounce up to the table - yeah, bounced - the one called Mary (I think) taking the lead. I notice (only because her shirt is too small) that she's got big boobs and she's sticking them out. Dear god, how obvious can you be?

I shift in my chair knowing this is going to be awkward.

"Hi Wes, how's it going?" Big Boobs Small Shirt is now standing at the corner of our table, eyes trained on me with a huge smile on her face. It's a lot creepy, and I shift my gaze to Molly who is eating noodles with a smirk on her face. Her eyes are crinkled at the corners and I get the feeling that she's secretly laughing at me.

She is going to be no help at all getting these two away from me.

"It's going fine," I give the girl a vague answer, hoping if I'm curt enough she'll leave.

"Gosh, do you eat here a lot?" Like I'm going to walk into that trap by answering that question. So instead, I grunt and say nothing.

"I saw your bike outside. Are you going to ride it home in this rain?" the other girl asks, playing with the strap on her backpack. She's mousy and it's quite obvious she's Big Boobs 'Yes' girl - you know - everyone has that one friend that goes along with everything they say. Always fading into the background, never stealing the spotlight for themselves.

"It's raining?" Molly breaks in.

"Yeah. Just started. Just a drizzle though." How did I not know it was going to rain?

"If you need a ride home Wes, my mom borrowed me her car," Big Boobs Small Shirt says with hope in her voice, again using my first name like she knows me.

I snort. "Yeah, like I want to climb into your mom's mini-van when my date here has a perfectly good Jeep."

There.

That ought to give them a hint. To really amp up the jerk factor and to be a bigger prick, I stuff my face with a fork full of food and chew with my mouth open. It's pretty revolting if I do say so myself.

I can't force myself look at Molly.

She's got to be totally disgusted with me right now.

"This is a date? Like, you're on a date?" Big Boobs sidekick asks.

"That's what I said isn't it?"

"So. Do you date other people, or just her?"

"Um, excuse me - 'her' is sitting right here and she has a name..." Molly says, the irritation in her voice palpable.

"Just her." I grind out.

"Oh." Big Boobs sounds crestfallen, and her shoulders slump. She starts biting her lip, oblivious to the fact that her trusty sidekick keeps clearing her throat behind her. Then a thought must occur to her, because she perks up again. "So are you taking her to Fall Formal?"

Okay, now I'm one hundred percent pissed off. My dating status is none of their f*cking business, and I'm suddenly furious they're asking me these questions in front of Molly. If we were out on the ice, I'd take Big Boobs Small Shirt by the facemask and lay her out flat on the ice. However, my only recourse is to calmly lay down my fork and clasp my hands in front of me on the table. I can feel my nostrils flaring. "Uh, no, I'm not taking her to Fall Formal, not that it's any of your business. You might not know this, but I don't have time for that kind of kiddie bullshit." I pause. "Now, are you done interrogating me, or should we wait until my food is completely cold before you walk away?"