I image Preston sputtering to his friends and all the tables around him that there’s nothing wrong with the card while Jay stands over him apathetically, stating with a detached stoicism that his card is declining. Maybe it’s not the same thing as smushing ice cream all over someone, but it’s just as devastating to a guy like Preston. And I have to begrudgingly admit that it is a much smarter, slyer way of being petty than what I did to Jay.
“Well, they deserved it,” I say, stopping myself short of saying I’m proud of him for standing up for Imani against the bullies. He’s still a jerk and we’re still not friends, even if we are on a blind date. “Did you get in trouble? You seem to have more plausible deniability than if you had cussed them all out.”
Jay shakes his head. “Nah. I was lucky that Jamal was the manager that overheard me. He got me the job since his mom goes to church with my granny, so he let it slide. If it was anyone else working, I would’ve gotten written up for sure, even though it wasn’t the worst thing I could’ve done.” He pauses, eyes scanning the menu though I’m not sure he’s actually seeing it. “Honestly, looking back, I wish I had done or said more. They were terrible to Imani—terrible in general. But I really couldn’t afford to get fired, especially not from a job that gets really good tips.”
I understand how it feels, to want to speak up but feel like something is holding you back. For me, it’s fear of confrontation, but for Jay, it was fear of losing his job, and yet he still stepped in for his friend. That was actually kind of cool of him. Guilt gnaws at my stomach, and now I feel even worse for smearing ice cream over his shirt, even though he definitely goaded me into doing it.
Jay leans back and says, “You know, I’ve never had one positive interaction with someone from your school. Whether it was at interschool sporting competitions, at work, at a party, and now even at the cliff, a spot we kept just for us.” He sends me a pointed look, implying he’s talking about me. “You’re all the same: conceited and arrogant. You’re all a bunch of Preston Whitmores.”
My jaw drops, indignation clear on my face. “We are not!”
Jay sets the menu down to cross his arms against his chest, doubling down. “I’ve yet to meet someone from Oakwoods whom I didn’t instantly hate.”
“Maybe you just have a personality that makes you easy to hate,” I snap, heat rising in my chest at the mere thought of being lumped in with Preston. Two years ago, we had a once-in-a-lifetime lesson with a guest artist on glassblowing. I was carrying two structural vases I was so proud of down the hallway, and he purposely went out of his way to bump into me and make me drop them. He thought it was hilarious, and I cried for two weeks straight over my shards of irreparable glass.
“Guess that makes two of us,” he quips back, causing me to glower at him. Here I was actually starting to feel like we wereconnecting, or at least capable of having a human conversation, and he had to go and remind me that he’s a huge jerk.
He’s saved from my comeback when the waitress drops off water to our table and informs us that she’ll be right back. I take a sip of it to avoid his eyes. Maybe I should just leave now and save myself from what’s sure to be a horrible date, especially when we started off with agreeing on our mutual hate for the other.
“So,” he says before I can decide to leave or stay. He casually mixes the ice in his drink with his straw. “Still in love with your best friend’s boyfriend?”
I choke on the water. It dribbles down my chin before I manage to swallow the rest. “What?” I ask, but it comes out too loud, too rough. Wiping my chin with the back of my hand, I clear my throat and try again, calmer and less conspicuous this time. “What?”
The smirk I hate so much is on his face, but now it’s a knowing smirk, one that tells me he’s been paying a bit too much attention to me, that he’s in on my secret.
“That’s kind of a shitty thing to do, you know. But I get it. The heart wants what the heart wants and all that bullshit.”
Deny. Deny deny deny. That’s the best way to handle this situation.
“What are you talking about?” I force myself to seem unbothered, like he’s not hitting the nail right on the head.
He exhales a sharp, amused laugh. “You’re telling me you don’t know you’re in love with him?” He studies my face, which I hope isn’t giving off deer-in-the-headlights vibes, and he shakes his head. “No, that’s not it. You definitely know. Do your friends? I’m assuming they don’t since you’re still friends.”
Words fail me. What can I say to him when he’s one hundred percent right about his assumption? I can’t confirm his suspicions, though. What if he tells Kalani? My life will be over.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lie, squeezing my hands together under the table to stop them from shaking.
“Don’t I?” His eyebrow rises. “Apparently, you’re better at hiding it around them becauseIcaught on fast. But you’re going to have to get over it quick, because they don’t look like they’re breaking up anytime soon.”
How does he know?Am Isuper obvious? Kalani would’ve said something if she suspected me, right? She wouldn’t want me around Emmett if she knew I was in love with him. And if they knew, Emidefinitelywould’ve said something to me—she’s not scared to tell people what she thinks. He has to be bluffing.
“I’m not in love with Emmett,” I say, putting conviction behind each word, as if it can make the statement true.
“Right. And I’m not Black, six foot two, and incredibly handsome.”
My eyebrows draw together. “But . . . but you are—”
“Exactly,” he says, cutting me off. “I thought we were lying about the obvious.”
Frustration builds in my chest. “I wasn’t going to agree with the handsome part, by the way.” Even if he is. “Can we just drop this? You shouldn’t make serious accusations like this with no proof. What if people heard and rumors spread?”
He waves me off. “I’m not going to tell anyone. It’s more fun watching you squirm.”
A pounding starts at the back of my skull, and I take a deep breath for patience. “What is wrong with you? From the second I met you, you’ve been nothing but a huge jerk.”
“Same can be said about you, Princess.” I stumble for words. How can he sayI’ma jerk? He started it! “You know what your problem is?”
“Oh, please, enlighten me.” Everyone seems to take joy in informing me what my problem is. First Kalani, then Emi, now him.