Rumor Has It (Rumor Has It #1)(18)

“I did not freak out.” I scowl at her.

"Really? You seemed freaked out when you got to my car after school."

“Okay, I freaked out a little. But, I’ll have you know, I didn’t freak out this time. Well, maybe a little, but I answered by the end of lunch. I even asked for a selfie.” I smile at what I consider a brash move, though I’m sure Jen would’ve asked for much more than that.

“Okay.” She smiles and resumes looking at clothes. “That’s not bad. What’d he say?”

"Not until I send him one." I want to sound happy about it, and I am. But just thinking about his answer, makes me wonder about just what I'm doing, and how long I'm going to keep this up. He seems kind and genuine, and he does seem to like me. If I want to try and have a real relationship, I have to meet him. And I don’t want to wait too long because even if he seems nice right now, boys are boys, right? How long will he wait until he decides that whatever we’re doing just isn’t worth it? Trying to avoid the thought, I turn around and start rummaging through a rack of clearance items.

“Hey, you never answered my question though.” Lana looks over at me.

“What question?”

“How well do you know him?”

"She should know him like the back of her hand, the number of texts they've been sending each other," Jen says, teasing me with a smile.

"Thanks." I shoot her an annoyed look. "Pretty well. I mean, we've covered all the essentials."

“His favorite food?” Lana asks.

“Spaghetti.”

“Color?”

“Green.”

“Favorite Band?”

“Empire of the Sun, which is mine too. How crazy is that?” I smile, remembering when we went over our favorite songs from them.

“What about secrets?” Lana lifts an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?”

“You guys message a lot, so you’ve got the surface stuff down. But have you told each other any secrets?” The way she sounds and looks when she says the word ‘secret’, is both flirty and roguish.

“I don’t understand.”

Jen walks over to me, draping her arm over my shoulder while looking at Lana. “Lan, this is Emma, remember? Our sweet little artist, who’s never even–”

“Jen!” I shoot her an angry look.

I've kissed a boy before. Two, as a matter of fact. Because Sophomore year, Jen dared me to at a party she was having. So, I know she isn't going to say I've never kissed anyone before. That leaves two options. Either she'll say something that would genuinely make my face turn red with embarrassment because both Jen and Lana are much more experienced with boys then me, or she'll say I've never had a boyfriend before. Which is true, but not something I'd like publicly paraded around while I'm shopping.

As I stop her from embarrassing me, worry starts to fill up inside. What if I meet this guy and I'm horrible at dating? What if I'm awful at kissing, or just terrible at being a girlfriend?

"I don't mean a bad secret or anything like that," Lana explains. "I just mean, you know, you guys talk a lot. Once you get to that certain level of comfortableness, you'll confess things to one another. It doesn't have to be huge or life-changing. It's just, you know, something between you two."

I nod my head as I stare at the pants I'm holding, thinking over her words. We've shared a lot of stuff. Some of it was trivial, and other things were more meaningful. He told me his mom raised him and that it was really difficult when his grandmother died three years ago because that was the only other family he was close to. But it didn't seem like a secret. It was just the path our conversation went down.

As my mind wonders what I could confide in him with, I hear a cackle of laughs coming from the other side of the store and have to force myself not to gag. Sarah Donovan and her horde of cheerleader friends. I look over the rack of clothes and watch as they joke with each other, near the bikinis. Jen and Lana follow my eye line, and we all stare at them, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Absolutely," one of them gushes, as Sarah holds up a bikini top over her shirt. "Sarah, you'll look freaking hot in that."

“Won’t it be cold?” another of her friends adds.

“That’s the point.” Sarah looks at the bikini once more and then flings it over her arm. “Hopefully I get Carter to warm me up.”

They all snicker and move to another table of clothes. I nod to Jen and Lana, and we leave the store.

“Oh, barf!” Jen says as we walk out. Then, in a high-pitched tone, doing a horrible Sarah imitation, she flails her arms in the air. “I want Carter Dixon to warm me up. And by that, I mean jump my bones. Like at homecoming!”

We all start laughing when I'm reminded of Carter in history class. "That skeez is always checking me out in history." Lana and Jen both exchange looks, then stare at me. "What?"

“Hate to break it to you, Emma, but a lot of guys check you out at school.” Lana smirks.

“Especially, those days you like to get dressed up in your skirts.” Jen lets out a purring sound and acts like she’s clawing at me.

“Fine, whatever. But still, like, at least have some decency about it. Look at me when I’m not looking, like the other perverts in school.”