Call It What You Want(44)

Then Rob turns to look down at me, and he holds out a hand as if to pull me to my feet. “Maegan, do you know Callie?”

No boy has ever offered a hand to me, so it takes me a moment to get it together to take his, even though I can stand from a bench on my own. “Yeah, we’ve had a few classes together over the years.”

“Sure,” she says. “Hey.” I brace myself for some kind of nasty comment about cheating or screwing over my classmates, but her expression isn’t dismissive. Maybe my edges are too raw from everyone else, and now I’m the one who looks unkind.

I offer a small smile. “Hey.”

Her eyes flick back to Rob. “I’ve been wanting to call you, but I wasn’t sure … ah …”

“I’m around,” he says.

I’m around. What does that mean?

Her eyebrows go up. “Oh! Well, great. Are you …” She hesitates. “Connor’s having a party tomorrow night. I was going to check it out. Any chance you might want to …” Her voice trails off, and I can tell she’s waiting for him to fill the silence.

He doesn’t.

But he waits for her to finish.

“Well,” Callie says, her voice faltering. Her eyes flick to me and back to him. “Maybe I’ll see you guys there?”

It takes a moment for her words to register. I’m so used to people giving me a wide berth that it’s a shock to be treated like I’m part of a couple.

“I don’t think I’m invited,” Rob says.

Samantha appears beside us. She smells like she’s chewed an entire package of spearmint gum. “Invited where?”

Callie glances at Samantha, then back at Rob, and her cheeks turn pink. “Sorry—I didn’t mean to get in the middle of a … of a …” Those words trail off, too. She shifts her feet. “It’s been a rough few months. I just—I think a lot of people miss you being around. You should come.”

“I don’t think so,” he says.

“Are you talking about a party?” says Samantha. Despite the fact that she spent the last twenty minutes puking, she sounds interested. “Tonight?”

“Ah … tomorrow,” says Callie. “At Connor Tunstall’s.” That little frown line appears on her forehead. “Aren’t you Samantha Day? I thought you went away to school.”

Samantha wraps an arm around my neck. “I did. God, I need to get out. Can we come, too?”

I glance at Rob. Samantha has no idea about the dynamics here, but I would bet money that Rob would rather rip his fingernails out with pliers than go to a party at Connor’s house.

I clear my throat. “Sam, you’re in college.” And pregnant, I think. “We don’t have to go.”

“No, it’s okay,” says Callie. “There are some other college kids coming, too. You know Connor has connections.”

“I remember,” says Rob. I can’t read anything from his voice.

“It’s fine,” says Callie. “Connor won’t care.”

“Pretty sure he’ll care.” For the first time, a dark note creeps into Rob’s tone.

“Well, he won’t be the only one there. Come if you want, stay home if you want. No pressure.” She glances across the rink. “I need to get back to my sisters.” She turns and strides away.

Samantha hooks an arm around Rob’s neck, too, and pulls him into our bizarre hug, like we’ve been hanging out together all our lives, and not just for the last few days. “Rob, my friend, you have to take us to that party.”

“No way.” The hard-edged confidence is gone from his voice. He sounds as off-balance as I feel.

“Who was that girl?” says Samantha. She still hasn’t let go of his neck—or mine. “Do you know her?”

“Ah … my ex-girlfriend.”

My face warms again. I didn’t know that. Not that I ever kept track of that crowd, but still. It explains the tension. Worse, I can see them together. Preppy girl, preppy guy. Dancer plus athlete. They’d go to college, get degrees, then buy a six-bedroom mansion and have generically beautiful children.

Then he adds, “I haven’t talked to her in months. Not since before … before.”

I frown. “She broke up with you because of your dad?”

“No. She broke up with me because I was more into lacrosse than into her.”

I duck out of my sister’s hold. My face is still warm from all these realizations. I shouldn’t even care. Rob has never done so much as flirt with me. “We can’t go to a party.”

“We can.” Samantha gives Rob a shake. “You have to take us.”

“You are soundly out of your mind.”

“Please?” She presses her forehead against his face and mockingly pouts. I wish I had a shred of her confidence. “Please, Rob?”

He glances at me like she’s not attached to his neck. “Is something on me? I feel like there’s something on me.”

Now I’m blushing for an entirely new reason. I don’t know why she’s being like this. If she wants to go so badly, she could go by herself. No one is going to throw Samantha out of a party.

Samantha stage whispers at him. “If you don’t take us, I’ll tell everyone this is your baby.”