The Songs in Our Hearts: A Young Adult Romance(43)

My eyes darted from Rachel to Jennifer, and then across the room to Micah. He was sitting quietly, picking at the food on his tray. I pushed myself up from the table and grabbed my tray, glaring at Samantha coldly.

“You know what, Samantha? You should just shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You think you know everything, because you’re in everyone’s business all the time, but you don’t.”

I didn’t give her the chance to say anything more to me. I needed to get out before I said something I might regret. There was too much anger built up over the years because of her. I hated her for the hurtful ploy involving Dane Wesley and me. I hated her for flirting with Micah. I hated her for pretending to be my friend, and being nothing more than a two-faced backstabber. She didn’t care about anyone, and manipulated every situation to benefit herself. There was no reason for me to worry so much about what she said about me. So, why did I give her such power over my feelings and me? I just needed to get away.

“Charlie!” Jennifer and Rachel called after me. I glanced over my shoulder at them to see Samantha grinning in my direction. Nothing I had said affected her. Of course. Without a second thought, I slid my tray into the return carousel and stalked out of the cafeteria, fuming. I didn’t stop until I reached the outdoor tennis courts. There were a few other students out, hitting a tennis ball between each other with their rackets. I took a seat at one of the wooden benches and watched them. At least they could get it over the net.

“Charlie?” My heart jumped in my chest at the sound of the voice behind me. Slowly, I turned to see Micah standing on the other side of the fence.

“I saw you leave, and…I… Are you all right?”

I shook my head, looking down.

“Look, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about what happened Friday night,” he continued.

“It’s not a big deal.”

“No, it is,” Micah asserted. “It is a big deal.”

“I’m just your English partner, Micah,” I told him. “I’m sorry to cause you so much drama. Once our project is over, things will go back to normal for us.”

“Is that what you want?” Micah came around the fence. “I mean, the first time we met, I was under the impression you had a crush on me.” He tried to make me smile.

“You can’t believe everything you hear,” I snapped. “Especially when it comes from Samantha.”

He came to sit down beside me. “I don’t think I’d like it if we just went back to being strangers after everything.”

I sucked in a breath. I felt the same way. I’d enjoyed the moments we shared.

“I really overreacted at the bonfire,” I confessed, rubbing my sweatshirt-covered arm.

Micah shrugged. “A little bit, but I guess I get it. I probably should have warned you about Marshall’s friends. I don’t really hang out with them all that often. They’re just part of the group.”

“I just felt super uncomfortable.”

He nodded. “I understand. It’s just like how it’s not a normal thing for me to go to a dance. But I did have fun.” Micah grinned at me. “Your moves were actually the best part of the entire night.”

I swatted his arm and did everything I could to not smile.

“So, what happened in there, then?” Micah jerked his head toward the school building.

“Just Sam again.” I sighed. “She said everyone knows about the bonfire.”

“Who is everyone and what do they know? That you left? That Marshall jumped over the fire pit? Some girls got drunk? I mean, what’s worth knowing or telling?”

“That we went together and that I made a big scene and left,” I explained, feeling myself blush. “That I made you run after me.”

“You didn’t make me run after you. I chose to run after you,” Micah said firmly. “I don’t get it. It’s a little too late to be worried about what people will say about being seen with me.”

I shook my head. “It’s not you.” It’s me. Ugh, that’s one of those lame lines used by lame people, but it was true for me. I guess that made me lame. It had nothing to do with him, and yet…it did. Micah continued to watch me, waiting for me to go on.

“Whatever Sam says doesn’t matter, Charlie. People are going to talk. Let them. Whether you have a crush on me, or not.” He smiled. “The people that really matter are the ones who don’t gossip about you, the ones who know the truth.”

I nodded. He was right.

“You don’t have a crush on me, and I don’t have one on you. We’re just friends,” Micah stated. “You said so yourself, earlier today in the hallway. Just friends. That’s it. Nothing else to it. Who gives a damn what Sam says? All that matters are our feelings.”

I had never regretted my words so much in my entire life until that moment. I wanted to tell Micah that he was wrong. Or rather, that I had been wrong. I wanted to confess there and then that I did have feelings for him, whatever they were. I had felt something that first night in the car, and at the dance. There had been something between us. I didn’t know why I had to ruin it by being so worried about everyone finding out. Maybe I was afraid that, if they did, he’d show up with his arm wrapped around someone else. Maybe I was afraid of being a joke to him. I had already been made to feel that way once by Samantha and Dane Wesley.