Rumor Has It (Rumor Has It #1)(42)

“Yeah, I’m good.”

“You sure?”

He peaks an eyebrow over the sunglasses. “Why, did you hear something?” I can’t stop my cheeks from flushing. He reaches up and takes off his sunglasses. “I’m sure there’s no hiding when it’s plastered on my face.”

"Holy crap." I see the black eye, and my hand instinctively reaches up, but I stop myself from touching his face. "So, it's true?"

"That all depends," he says, pulling out his other earbud, wrapping the cord around his phone. "If you've heard the story that I was hooking up with McCormick's girlfriend behind his back and my teammates jumped me after practice, then no. It's not true. But, if you heard we got into a fight after practice, then yeah. That one's true."

“That’s the one. Only it was during practice.”

He laughs. “No, it was after.”

“Why?”

He lets out a long sigh, shaking his head. “Stupid rumors. Rumors that got out of hand. That I let get out of hand.” He looks away, dejected.

"So, all the stuff about you and Sarah?" He shakes his head. "Wait, so Jeremy got mad at you because you didn’t hook up with her.”

He finally meets my eyes again. “Not so much that, but that I didn’t tell him the truth. That I let him, and the other guys think it happened.”

“Why’d you do it?” I throw my hand over my mouth. “Sorry, that’s none of my business.”

“It’s okay.” He smirks, staring at me. “Who are you, Emma?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, who are you? What makes you up? What makes Emma, Emma?” he asks with a smile.

I stare down at the ground, unsure. "I've never really been asked that before." I look back at him, and he seems to enjoy that he's asked me something so peculiar. "I don't know. I guess I'm honest. Thoughtful. At least, I try to be. I like to look at the bright side. Jen says I'm a little too much of a Goody Two-Shoes, but it's okay because she evens out our friendship with her sluttiness. Her words, not mine."

Carter lets out a laugh and a full smile, one that draws me in.

“You are. I don’t know about a Goody Two-Shoes, but honest. And thoughtful.”

“Carter, you barely know me.”

"Nah, I know you," he says with a smile. The look he gives me, it's as if he does. "But me? All that I know I am is basketball. I've played all four years. I'm good at it. Freshman and Sophomore year, I wasn't anything else. I didn't have anything else. Then in Junior year, before the season, I hooked up with a girl …" He pauses, looking away and I see his Adam's apple bobble nervously. "Anyways, after that people thought I was cooler. It's so stupid. Even if I barely held hands with a girl after that, if the rumors started, I didn't do anything to stop them. Because with every new rumor, a new echelon of this cool persona I was building for myself grew. When the rumors started spreading about Sarah and me after homecoming, well … I'm going to sound like a douche, but after homecoming, I was on another level."

“You’re right.” I look at him and smile. “That does sound douchey.”

“Thanks.” He laughs. “So, that’s why I didn’t say anything. That’s why I let almost everyone believe the rumor. Rumors.”

I don’t know what to say or how to respond. I can’t imagine people thinking of me a certain way and letting them believe it, just so I could get popular. But the way he explained it, it’s just what it is. He let it happen. So people would think he’s something he wasn’t. Would I ever do that? I’d like to say no, but what if it was something I really wanted? What if letting people believe one thing about me helped me in my art? Or get into a great art school? I don’t know.

“Can I ask you something?” Carter breaks the silence. “That day I met you here when you were waiting for someone. Did you ever meet them?”





Chapter 29





Carter





I don’t know when I started holding my breath, but I finally realize I’m not receiving any oxygen as I wait for Emma to answer. When I walked past her and her friends in the quad, I had no idea how I was even going to approach her. I came to the oak tree, the one place I could find a little solace in the wake of everything being blown up in my face. I wanted to connect with her. I want her to know who I really am and not what all the rumors say I am. Then, to my surprise, she came and found me.

I have no idea why she’s here, talking to me, but she is. And when she asked me about the rumors, I’d been more honest with her than I had been with anyone. Even Matt knew the truth, but I never told him why I let the rumors keep going and never put a stop to them.

I’m nervous when I admit to listening to Empire of the Sun, but I’m done trying to hide everything. I just have to figure out how much she still wants to meet Texting Me. And I’m scared to death that bringing up that topic will give her a reason to get mad at me. Again.

She shakes her head no and looks away.

“Sorry.” I keep my eyes on her. “How come?”

She looks off into the distance. "I don't know."