Lying Out Loud(29)

Amy and I glanced at each other, then turned around, clearly no longer a part of this conversation.

“We should’ve made a map,” Amy whispered.

“I don’t think we’re neurotic enough for that,” I whispered back.

The minutes lurched by as the line got longer and longer on the sidewalk behind us. There was no doubt about it — when those doors opened, we were in for a freaking stampede.

“Ready?” Amy asked when there was only a minute to go.

“Why do I feel like I’m about to go to war?” I asked.

But she didn’t have time to answer because right then the front doors of Tech Plus swung open.

And everyone charged forward.

I ran, tripping over my own feet in order to avoid being trampled. With my relatively short legs, this was not easy. But after a lot of pushing and shoving and cursing at complete strangers, I made it inside the doors. It was still a madhouse, but people spread out, running for the items they’d come to buy.

“Okay, where are the game consoles, Amy?”

But when I turned to look at her, Amy wasn’t there. She wasn’t anywhere near me.

“Shit,” I muttered, realizing too late that we’d been separated by the crowd. Finding her in this chaos, especially when I wasn’t all that familiar with the layout of Tech Plus, was going to be impossible.

Maybe packing a map wasn’t as neurotic as I’d thought.

I wove my way through the crowd, hoping to spot a tall, curly head somewhere. A few times, I popped up on my tiptoes so I could look over the heads of the people around me. Unfortunately, with my neck craned and my balance compromised, I ended up falling flat on my ass in front of an iPod display.

“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

I looked up at the person who’d just slammed into me and was met with two very surprised green eyes.

“Sonny,” Ryder said. “I didn’t recognize you.”

“I’m sure I look different from this angle,” I said. “Help a girl up?”

“Sorry.” He took my hand and pulled me to my feet. I wanted to relish that moment of having his hand in mine, but it was over so fast I barely got to enjoy it. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Just surprised to find you here.”

Lie.

Confession Time: Ryder, not Amy or Wesley, was the reason I was at Tech Plus that morning.

It had been a couple of weeks since our little texting tryst (which still made me feel icky when I thought about it) and Ryder had been sending messages almost every day since. I’d ignored most of them, knowing that responding was counterproductive. That last conversation had, apparently, given him the confidence to approach Amy in person again. Luckily, I was with Amy pretty much any time she wasn’t in class, which meant I was able to shut down the conversation and hurry her away before she found out about the texting.

I knew I shouldn’t risk giving him more encouragement to pursue Amy, no matter how temping it was to reply to his messages. We were making some progress in person, but not as quickly as I’d hoped, and texting was the only way I really got to talk to him.

I’d been holding on to my last shred of willpower, fighting my self-destructive urges, but Thanksgiving break meant not even seeing him at school, and when he sent a text about needing a new iPod, I couldn’t help suggesting he go to Tech Plus on Black Friday. I knew Amy would be going, and it would make perfect sense for me to join her.

So here I was, in the middle of Black Friday madness, all so I could run into a guy who didn’t even know he liked me.

“I’m surprised to find me here, too,” he admitted. “But my iPod broke and Amy said this place would have them on sale, so … Hey, if you’re here, is she?”

“Um, yeah. Somewhere. I’ve lost her.”

And I sort of hoped she stayed lost. At least until Ryder and I had had a few minutes together.

Not that this was the most romantic setting, but I’d take what I could get.

“Oh. Do you think we should go look for her?”

“No, no. She had some shopping to do. I’m sure I’ll find her soon.” I cleared my throat. “So. A new iPod? What sort of music do you listen to?”

“If I told you, you’d probably call me a pretentious hipster.”

“Yeah … probably. But I already do that.”

He laughed. “At least you’re honest.”

Not something I heard often.

“So indie stuff no one else has heard of, then? Like Goats Vote for Melons, maybe?”

Ryder’s eyes widened, shocked. “You know Goats Vote for Melons?”

“I’ve heard a song or two.”

I’d checked out some of their stuff after Ryder had raved about them. As expected, it was pretty terrible for the most part. All acoustic, no catchy hook. Yes, I was part of the masses. I admit it. I loved bad pop music, especially if it was released in the nineties, and grunge, of course, but that was awesome. GVM just went way over my head.

They did have one decent love song, though, inexplicably titled “Of Lions and Robots,” which I’d been listening to a lot lately.

“Well, I’m also trying to broaden my musical horizons.”

“Oh, yeah?”

He nodded. “I’ve been exploring some other genres. Kind of getting into nineties grunge, actually.”