Four Doors Down(52)

“Unbelievable!” Jessica suddenly exclaims harshly and stalks off, shooting me a filthy look over her shoulder. I scowl after her.

“What is her problem with me?” I ask confused. For God’s sake, she’s the one who threw a ball in my face, not the other way around.

“Oh just ignore her,” Katie says dismissively. “She’s just jealous.”

What? “Jealous?” I ask incredulously.

Katie grins. “Yeah, you know?”

“No. What?” I ask, suddenly feeling nervous.

“Because of you and Ryan being,” she pauses watching me. When I don’t react, she carries on, “…such good friends.”

A burst of laughter escapes from me. “Are you kidding me? We are not good friends. He annoys the shit out of me.”

The guys around us chuckle and Katie nods, trying to hold back a smile. “Right, sorry.”

“Seriously. I mean, we barely talk. She’s crazy if she’s actually jealous over that,” I reiterate. This is turning into one of the most ridiculous conversations I’ve ever had.

“Yeah, right. I know.” She glances over my shoulder. “Well, here he comes anyway.”

I turn to the side and see Ryan approaching with Jake and try not to pull a face. He’s glancing at Katie and his friends suspiciously. “What are you guys talking about?” he asks as soon as he reaches us.

I wait for Katie to reply, but she just stares back at him smiling.

“Just about how much we can’t stand each other,” I inform Ryan.

He glances over at me. This is the first time we’ve spoken since our fight at the beach. I mean, let’s face it: we definitely didn’t speak in Sal’s, we just shot each other dirty looks, and I’m still annoyed at him for the way he spoke about Charlie. I don’t understand him. Was he always this interfering?

“Oh come on, Becca, he’s not that bad,” Jake says, slapping Ryan on the back and coming to his defense.

“Well not compared to Adolf Hitler, he isn’t,” I instantly reply to chuckles from his friends.

“You guys are back to being friends again,” Jake continues.

“Please,” I scoff. “I’d rather go for a sleepover at Jessica Murphy’s.”

Ryan snickers and crosses his arms. “Yeah? Maybe you could play dodgeball again?”

My mouth falls open as I hear the laughter from his friends. I can’t believe he’s just brought that up again. I’m already humiliated enough over that whole incident.

“Fuck you, Ryan!”

“He wishes,” someone says from behind me. I swing my head around but I have no idea who said it and they’re all looking away, trying not to laugh. I immediately get nervous and have flashbacks to teen movies where the popular kids play a prank on the dork to make everyone else laugh.

Something is definitely going on here.

“I’m leaving,” I announce and turn to leave, but Katie reaches out and grabs my arm. “Becca, wait.” I stop with a sigh and look at her. “I’ve been meaning to tell you how much I love your style.”

Wait. What? I glance down at my clothes. I’m wearing faded blue skinny jeans that sit low on my hips, a loose fitting white V-neck t-shirt with a hooded sweater thrown over the top. At best my style can be described as laid-back Cali casual, in reality, I grab whatever’s clean in my closet.

“Thanks,” I answer uncertainly taking in Katie’s own outfit. She looks like she’s just stepped out of a magazine. She’s wearing a green low cut dress which hugs her curves perfectly and compliments her red hair and pale skin, her arms are covered in bracelets and the high heeled boots she’s wearing makes her a couple of inches taller than me. The girl looks freaking beautiful. She always does.

“Anyway my cousin’s wedding is coming up and I need something new. I was hoping you’d come shopping with me.”

My jaw falls open in surprise. She wants to go shopping? With me? “Oh, um. I don’t know. I’m probably not the best person to ask. . .”

“But you’re the perfect person.” She smiles sweetly at me. “I have a tendency to go way OTT. You can help me reel it back in.” I glance at Jake in confusion. Katie has a ton of friends she can go shopping with, she definitely doesn’t need me. Jake just shrugs back at me.

“Um. Maybe Jessica or Bianca could help you?” They’re her best friends and I can’t imagine Jessica being particularly happy about me hanging with Katie.

“No way. They’re like me and I would end up getting the same old thing. I want to mix it up a bit.”

“I mean, I don’t really go shopping that much.”

“What are you doing three weeks from Saturday?” she asks.

I stare at her blankly. Three weeks from Saturday? I don’t know what I’m doing tonight. And why on earth would she want to shop with me? We do not socialize.

“Becca, three weeks from Saturday, are you free?”

“Um, I…” I can’t think of anything to say and my phone starts ringing, distracting me further. I reach down to my pocket to grab it.

“Leave it,” she instructs me, still waiting for an answer. Wow, she’s quite bossy.

“I don’t—” I start to say but John interrupts me. “Just agree to go, Becca.” I glance over at him and he’s watching Katie with amusement. “She won’t give up until you do.”