Chapter 28 Easton #2
That isn’t exactly the response I was expecting, but fine.
I can work with this. She’s clearly distracted by something important. School, probably.
I pull out onto the main road.
“Do anything fun over the weekend?” I ask, hoping to engage her in conversation. Literally any conversation. About anything.
“The weekend was, like, forever ago.” She sighs, shifting in her seat. “But since you asked, I hung out with some friends.” She pauses and looks over again. “You wouldn’t know them.”
Ouch.
I tighten my grip on the steering wheel. “Right. Cool, cool.”
So what if Maddie isn’t the easiest girl in the world to talk to—we all can’t be good at everything all the time! I just need to break the ice. Should I ask her something about school?
Or…prom?
Yup. That seems like a safe topic of conversation.
“Are you, um. Going to prom?”
She rolls her eyes. “Obviously. I was waiting for someone decent to ask—but that hasn’t happened, so…”
Maddie Miller doesn’t have a date to prom?!
My heart zings and I push on. It cannot be a coincidence that she asked to come take pictures of the decorating committee—and now she wants a ride to school? From me?
“Yeah,” I say. “Prom’s gonna be cool this year, with the whole knights and castle theme.”
“Castles aren’t my thing.” She looks up for a second, giving my outfit a once-over before going back to her phone. “Like. Who wants to spend their time painting cardboard knights or whatever. That’s like, so friggin’ weird.”
Okayyyy.
I mean, I thought decorating was stupid, too, at one point, but now I’m having fun. Also I can’t help but think: If Harper were here, she would be mortified by Maddie’s assessment of it.
Also. Harper would never say that.
She can be a brat, but she’s not blunt to the point of being rude.
I bite the inside of my cheek. “It’s not all painting stuff. Some of it’s pretty cool.” I inch forward when the seat belt tightens to loosen it. “Like the photo booth I’ve seen them setting up—it’ll look like a medieval throne room.”
Maddie doesn’t even pretend to care.
She shrugs. “Sounds like something for freshmen.” She yawns.
“I’ll probably take some pics for my Insta and leave.
Not really my scene.” I get another once-over and am abruptly glad I’m not squeamish.
There’s something about her stare that terrifies me.
“Why are you trying to make small talk about the dumb dance? Stop being weird.”
Weird. There’s that word again.
Not that I’m sensitive about it. “I mean, I’m trying to think of things to talk about since we have a ten-minute drive.”
She sighs heavily and crosses her arms, the seat creaking under her ass when she shifts. “Look, I asked you for a ride. That doesn’t mean we need to talk or anything.”
Right. “Totally.”
I avert my gaze so I’m focused on the road ahead and not on her beautiful face. This isn’t how I pictured this morning going. Not even close.
Or! Maybe she’s just not a morning person.
I try again. “So what is your scene?” If not dances, then what?
She shrugs again, continuously scrolling through her phone.
“I dunno. Just not school dances and boring shit like that. I’d rather be at a party—college parties, mostly.”
Except you dated Cal Uchie, who is most definitely not in college, I want to remind her.
Instead, I nod as if I totally get where she’s coming from because I like college parties, too. Not.
“Right. Sure, I get that.”
Maddie’s thumb stops moving when I say, “I saw you posted that video from the football game last week.” I clear my throat. “That was pretty cool. Do you like filming stuff?”
Her laugh is short. “I guess? I’m not gonna, like, make a career out of it or anything. It’s just for fun. And followers.”
I have no idea what to say to that. “Right. Well, you’re good at it.”
“That’s why I have so many followers.”
Duh.
God this is so brutal.
Help me.
All her sort-of-mean quips are hitting me harder because I was not expecting them. I feel a tint of embarrassment staining my cheeks, and suddenly, the idea of driving her to school feels like the dumbest thing I’ve done since stealing that effing mascot head.
I thought this would be fun. I thought she’d be flirty—or at least nice.
Maddie is not interested in me.
She’s not even interested in this conversation.
The silence stretches thinner, broken only by the tap-tap-tap of her fingernails on her phone.
I give her a sidelong glance as I drive, watching as she leans back against my mother’s plush passenger seat, completely engrossed in whatever she’s doing.
Not a care in the world…
One last look as we pull into the school parking lot.
Maddie is already gathering her things, ready to leave the moment my car stops. I park, and before I can utter another syllable, she’s unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door.
“Thanks for the ride.” She says it flatly, not looking at me. “See you around.”
She slams the door without waiting for my response, strutting off toward the school with her phone still in her hand, texting someone who’s evidently a lot more important than me. I sit for a second, staring at the empty passenger seat, feeling like I’ve been…
Sacked in the nuts.
What the hell was I expecting? Her to be a damn delight? Giggle? Flirt?
YES. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS FREAKING EXPECTING.
Shaking my head, I realize there’s only one thing for me to do: move on with my already shitty day.
I grab my backpack and climb out of the car.
Seriously, could I be a bigger moron? Harper will hate it if she finds out I gave Maddie a ride—I have no idea what I’m going to say. Or how she’ll respond.
Just kidding. I know exactly what she’ll say: I told you so.
Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I wonder how many of the students ambling through the parking lot saw Maddie climb out of my car. Better yet, how many of them are laughing at me behind my back?
I book it toward the entrance, sneakers squeaking.
“Yo, Easton!”
I turn to see Marcus jogging up, grin plastered on his face. He’s wearing that goofy smile like he’s got no worries in the world.
“Hey.”
“Dude, what’s up?” Marcus slaps me on the back. “You look like you’ve just been hit by a bus.”
Funny, ’cause I feel like I’ve just been hit by a bus. “Yeah, something like that.”
He scans the parking lot, his eyes following my gaze to where Maddie stands near the door, her laugh ringing out as she chats with some other girls before they go inside. Why couldn’t she have laughed like that with me? I don’t think she smiled once.
“Oh man, don’t tell me you look like shit because of her,” he says, lowering his voice.
“No way. Actually, I drove her to school this morning.” I’m trying to flex but the words come out flat.
“Wait. You drove her here?” His eyes are bugging out of his skull. “Dude, why would you—?”
“She needed a ride.” I cut him off. “It wasn’t a big deal.”
But Marcus doesn’t let it go. “Bro, you’ve got to stop chasing her. Maddie Miller loves no one but her own reflection.”
Annoyed, I clench my jaw—I do not want his unsolicited advice. I’m never going to admit I was wrong about her, and we are not having this conversation in the parking lot. Not this early in the day. No chance.
No way.
“Lesson learned,” I mumble, staring at the ground.
Marcus grips my shoulder. “Dude, you’re talking to Harper—we all thought you were going to ask her to prom. You can’t be sniffing around someone else. Macy would kill me if she knew I knew you drove Maddie to school. Like—tear my balls off.”
Tear his balls off?
I doubt that but give him a pity nod anyway.
He walks into school beside me, the hallways filling with students, chatter growing louder by the second.
My dude won’t shut the hell up about how lucky I am to have Harper, blah blah blah, piling on the guilt.
It makes me feel like a dick for driving her archnemesis to school; I wonder what possible excuse I’m going to have to come up with to explain this away.
“Bro, Harper’s actually cool. Unlike Maddie.” He’s going on and on. “I dunno. That girl’s a headache.”
More like a concussion.
I grunt, my mind replaying every second of that cringey car ride.
I don’t need to hear Marcus singing Harper’s praises right now. Not that he’s wrong—Harper is awesome. But I feel like crawling into a hole and pretending the whole morning didn’t happen.
As I round a corner, I spot Harper.
She’s standing at her locker, rummaging through her bag.
She hasn’t noticed me yet—obviously—which gives me a moment to take a breath, pull myself together, and shove my self-loathing down where no one can see it.
Marcus elbows me. “There she is, man.”
“Bruh, shut up.” I roll my eyes, but there’s a half smile on my face.
He smacks me on the back. “Good luck. You need it.”
Harper lifts her head when I approach and stops digging through her floral tote. She beams up at me as I smile sheepishly down at her.
“Morning.”
Her pretty brown eyes light up when I greet her. Immediately I feel like a complete. Fucking. Douchebag.
“Wow,” Harper breathes. “You’re early for once.”
“Ha ha. I figured I’d start the day off on time.”
She tilts her head, studying me. “You okay?”
Dammit, why is she so fucking perceptive? Avoiding her inquisitive scrutiny, I spin the dial on my combination lock and give her what I hope is a convincing nod.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Just tired.”
That much is true. I was up all night thinking about her, then awake early to taxi her enemy to school.
She frowns. “That’s right—the other night you said you haven’t been getting much sleep.”
I did tell her that.
“Same, by the way.” Harper pulls out a binder and shuts her locker. “I feel like a zombie myself.”
I laugh a little, but the sound is hollow. So much so that she looks at me sideways; I can feel her eyes lingering on me.