“You look like you’re about to hurl,” Jenni says, scooting closer. “Want to talk about it? I’m great at fake psychology and really mediocre advice.”
I let out a breath, trying to steady myself. Zach says I shut down too much. That I disappear into myself and expect people to understand what I won’t say out loud. The only other person who could ever reach me was Olivia, and I haven’t talked to herin weeks. It’s not her fault. It’s just hard when we’re both at colleges on opposite sides of the country.
Besides, if I try to talk to her about it, she’ll bring up all the other issues surrounding my father. The same issues that Zach brought up.
No. I need someone who isn’t close to the situation to help, and so far, Jenni hasn’t done anything to betray my trust. In fact, she’s the only one who’s genuinely tried to help me. Maybe it would be good to have someone else besides Zach on this campus I can talk to.
“Okay,” I say slowly. “It’s my boyfriend.”
Jenni smirks. “Oh, yourboyfriend. Yeah, I heard about him.”
“Y-you did?”
I knew it was too good to be true. She knows all about Zach, doesn’t she?
“Chris mentioned you had one the other day.”
“He did?” A flicker of guilt trickles down my spine. Not only did I judge her, but they were talking about me behind my back. I hate it. I hate that my mind always goes to the thought that they must be bitching about me.
She hid it? She’s too good to tell us who her boyfriend is? Doesn’t she trust us?
“He didn’t say much,” Jenni interrupts me mid-spiral with a shrug. “We thought it was weird since you never mentioned him before.”
“That was kind of the point,” I say despondently.
“Why? Is he not a nice guy?” she asks quietly.
“No. It’s nothing like that. He’s a great guy, it’s just—”
Well, here goes nothing.
“He’s, uh, well, he’s kind of a big deal here.”
Jenni raises a brow, and I wait for a second. Mainly for her to finally admit that she knows who he is, but nothing happens. She just continues to stare at me blankly.
“He’s the quarterback for the football team. Zach Evans.”
“Zach Evans. Zach Evans. Zach Evans,” Jenni repeats, her brows knitting together. “The name sounds familiar, but I can’t place him. Is he the main quarterback?”
Main quarterback? Does she know anything about football?
“You sure? There’s literally a poster of his face outside the lunch hall.”
She whips her head toward the door, and I have no doubt she can see his face through the small window slits on the door. The poster is huge. That’s when I see it all clicking together. “Wait,thatblond guy is your boyfriend?” she chokes out, staring at the door in surprise. “I didn’t realize he actually went here. I thought he was just some random model or something—”
She stops before she finishes the sentence.
For some reason, her reaction hits me hard, because if Jenni doesn’t know who Zach is… then she really does just see me.
“Nope,” I say with a pop and watch her reaction carefully. “He’s my boyfriend.”
I see her expression shift from shock into intrigue.
“Wow.”
I shift uncomfortably in my seat. “When people find out, they tend to… change.”
“What do you mean?”