“Okay.” He jerked forward and pressed his lips against my forehead in a hurried kiss. “Sorry. I—sorry. Okay. See you later.”

He waved again before he disappeared around the building and I was left alone once more. I was such a moron. Then I took a deep breath. I stopped thinking. I stopped feeling. As I went back to the game, I knew everything would sort itself out.

It had to.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Angie collapsed in a chair beside me and groaned. She bent forward to knead her calves. “My feet and calves are so damn stiff from these heels. Tell me how much I love Justin.”

“You love Justin so much that you’re wearing that ridiculous dress for him.”

She grunted and leaned back. “Yeah, and a part of me thinks he chose this dress to make me squirm. I swear, he’s paid more attention to Marissa’s black little bitty than this poof of his dream. Ugh. Boys drive me crazy.”

I suppressed my instant frown. I hadn’t told her about Marissa and I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to in the end. She’d get mad. She’d probably throw a drink on her and then my two best friends would be at odds again. I had no idea what to do.

What Marissa did had hurt me, but I didn’t know the whole story. She might’ve been calling him about me. Cord could’ve gotten it all wrong, so I had made the decision to ask Marissa on my own, and not at the dance. Tonight was their night for fun. All of them seemed to be having fun, even Ben who gyrated and bobbed around on the dance floor with Cord and Marissa.

“I still want to know how the hell she got Cord to come back for a dance. I didn’t even think she knew him.” She narrowed her eyes as she nursed her drink. “Do you know?”

I froze.

“You do know.”

I refused to look over. I couldn’t meet her eyes. She’d see there was something wrong.

“Alex.” Angie scooted her chair closer. “Come on, tell me. I know you know. You do this weird statue thing when you’ve been caught at something. Just tell me. I won’t say anything. Is it dirty? Did they do the deed when he was a senior? That’s it, isn’t it? I knew Marissa had slept with more guys than just Gavin that year, but nooo, she swears she was only with him that year.” She snorted and slapped a hand on the table. “She’s such a little slut.”

I held my breath and counted to twenty. I had to because I wanted to spill. It took every ounce of my control to keep my lips shut. I owed Marissa the respect to give herself a fair hearing, and I owed myself to find out if my best friend had really gone behind my back for some guy.

Angie chuckled and finished her drink. “And I mean that in a good way. Only that girl could get three guys wrapped around her finger at one dance.”

“Yeah.” I sighed and then looked at my lap. Everything was burning inside of me to tell Angie, but I couldn’t. I had to stop with this debate.

“Hey, so, how’s it going with Eric tonight? He seems nice.”

A different tension filled me and I froze again.

“Uh oh.” Angie put her glass down and scooted next to me. Her leg pressed against mine. “Tell me whatever it is. I’m your best friend. It’s a sin for you not to tell me, so spill the beans, woman.”

The words spilled from my lips. “He asked me out. He said he likes me more than friends and he wants to go out on a date with me.” Then I stopped. I almost went into my dilemma about Jesse, but I hadn’t spoken about him for almost three months. It was fair if they had forgotten about him, but then I felt a pang of conscience. Was that what happened with Marissa? Had she forgotten what he was to me?

“Oooh!” Angie squealed. “Are you going to go out with him? You have to. He’s such a nice guy. Come on, Alex!”

“I don’t know.”

“You have to. Trust me, if you don’t he’s going to be scooped up by someone else. Eric is really popular. There are a lot of girls who would kill to be in your shoes. What’s the hang up?”

I hesitated. She wouldn’t like hearing what I had to say.

Then she sighed in disgust and scooted away. “Oh, my god. Really? Do not say Jesse’s name. Please do not say his name.”

I shrugged.

“OH! Alex!” She hit herself in the forehead with her hand. “I can’t believe you. I’m not saying this to be mean, but he’s long gone. He’s at Grant West. He is in a different lifestyle now. He’s hanging out with the Hollywood crowd now. I watch television, too.”

I smoothed out my dress and tried not to squirm under her intense gaze. I didn’t believe for one second that Jesse was hanging out with the Hollywood crowd. I believed that he went as a favor to his dad, but I also believed that he hadn’t gone since. Jesse hated his dad. That wasn’t known by anyone else except my family and his, but Angie said some truth. He was long gone. What made me think he’d come back for me?

So I sighed and I sat there. And I asked myself why I hadn’t jumped at the chance to date Eric Nathan. He was normal. He was here and he thought I was beautiful.

“Heya!” Marissa chirped as she and Cord took their seats across from us at the table. Ben dropped in his and grabbed some napkins to wipe his forehead. His panting had turned into wheezing. “Where’s Eric?’

Cord tapped her shoulder and pointed across the gym.

“Why is he talking to Casey Wright?”

Angie tapped my leg. “See.”

“See what?” Marissa looked between us. Her eyes were lit with anticipation. “What see? Fill me in.”