Rumor Has It (Rumor Has It #1)(41)

“What? Why?” Even though we only talked a little bit, I find myself feeling defensive of him.

“He lied to them all. I guess he was making up stories about hooking up with girls.”

“Ew. What a sleaze,” Jen says.

“That’s not exactly true.” Micah jumps in. “Brittany came up to Taylor in English and asked if it was true. She heard her name was being thrown around.”

“And?” Lana looks at him.

“I guess Carter never hooked up with Sarah. Supposedly, he hasn’t hooked up with half the girls people say he did.”

“So, he just told everyone he did?” Jen asks.

“Well, no. Not exactly. He just let everyone think he did, without correcting them.”

“That’s one way to go about it.” Jen laughs.

I should feel a little irritated. Or even annoyed with the news. But I've gotten to know Carter, and he seems decent enough. He's usually always with his friends, so watching him walk down the hall alone, a pang of sympathy hits me. I feel the urge to check on him. I mean, he was kind enough to come and apologize to me, even when I told him off. If all his friends do hate him now, he's probably feeling pretty bad.

I start to gather my stuff when Jen looks over at me. "Where are you going?"

In all honesty, I don’t know, because I have no idea where Carter is headed. But I want to try and catch up with him.

"Nowhere." I look over, and she shoots me a look that says she knows. "Stop."

“What’s going on?” Lana asks.

“Ask Micah,” Jen says, giving him a smirk.

“Me?” He looks at her, then me, then at Lana. “How am I supposed to know?”

“You didn’t notice anything kind of funny last week when we were in the gym?” Jen looks at Micah, who looks heedless. “Ugh, never mind. Text me before lunch ends,” Jen says to me as I leave, knowing she’s going to tell them my embarrassing story of checking Carter out during his practice.

I head the direction I saw him walking, but as I go further along, I can take two pathways. One leads to the courtyard and the other leads to the student parking lot. He could've gone to the parking lot, maybe to try and ditch the rest of the day. If that's the case, I won't make it there before he leaves. So, I head to the courtyard.

As usual, it’s mostly empty when I get there. A few people are off to the side, sitting on one of the benches, eating their lunch. I see the large oak tree and a leg sticking out behind it. When I get closer, I can see Carter sitting at the base of it. One knee propped up with his arm over it, he’s got the sunglasses on and seems to be looking up at the sky. With not much of a breeze, his hair stands up in its poof.

Getting closer, I notice he has earbuds plugged in. His foot taps along to the rhythm of whatever he's listening to. I don't know what I should do because I'm standing only a couple of feet away and he should see me, but he hasn't moved or said anything. I lean over and tap his shoulder.

“Oh,” he says a little louder than necessary, before pulling out the earbuds. “Hey, Emma.”

"Hey," I say, and he flashes a grin, revealing his dimple. "Sorry, I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

“No, not at all.” He motions for me to take a seat.

Sitting down, it feels different than last time. We planned to meet then. This time I just sought him out. He stares at me a moment, expecting me to say something, probably wondering what I’m doing here. I’m starting to wonder the same thing. That’s when I point to his phone.

"What are you listening to?"

He glances down at his phone and seems to get nervous. I'm not sure because the glasses are covering his eyes. "Oh, um, Empire of the Sun."

“Really?” My eyes jump to where his should be, but I only see my reflection in the lenses.

“Yeah.”

Maybe it’s because he seems nervous, but I start to feel more at ease. Enough so that I hold out my hand, asking for one of the earbuds. He smiles and gives it to me, and that’s when I hear the song; Walking on a Dream.

“That’s a good one.”

“Yeah.” He lifts his shoulders. “But I think my favorite is probably I’ll Be Around.”

“Really?”

I remember texting with Baller, and it was one of the nights we covered likes and dislikes. He said Empire of the Sun was his favorite band and we talked about which songs from them we liked. That was one of his.

“How come?”

“The lyrics.” He looks away, and even though I can’t see his eyes, it’s like he’s thinking of something specific. “They talk about running and chasing flames on a dare.” He glances at me, giving me a half smile. “It feels like all I’ve been doing is chasing flames.”

The way he says it sounds remorseful. Like he's made a mistake about things. Then I'm reminded of what Lana and Micah said about the rumors. Maybe he did make mistakes. Deciding to change the topic, I hand him back the earbud.

“What’s yours?” he asks.

“DNA," I answer without pause and start reciting the lyrics.

As soon as I'm done saying them, I realize he's still holding my hand, and I nervously look away, taking my hand back. Trying to regain my focus, and the whole reason I sought him out, I look back at him. "You okay?"