“Zander loves you,” Mom warns. “Don’t break his heart.”
So now I’m a Jezebel?
“I’m not going to break his heart.”
And as for Zander loving me? Well, I think he does. Heactslike he does, but neither of us has said those three words. Call me old-fashioned, but I want Zander to say them first. Unfortunately, it’s like it’s never occurred to him that they’re words I might like to hear.
I don’t know if I’m relieved or annoyed when Mom spends the rest of lunch and the walk back to my room questioning me about Rush. Open houses, the application, what I’m wearing to all the Rush Week events. I think she’s worried I’m heading down the wrong path with these strange new friends I’ve made.
So I tell her everything she wants to hear.
When it comes time for my parents to hit the road, they’re all tenderness and affection, hugs and “love you, sweetheart.” I wave as they disappear down the hall, then I shut the door and collapse onto my bed.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Almost as soon aswe walk through the door of O-Chi, it becomes apparent to me that Liv is up to something. She smiles and sparkles as she works the small Saturday night crowd, laughing and talking like she’s having the time of her life. But to Braden she gives nothing more than a bored wave. He pinches or tickles her whenever she passes by, only to have her distractedly brush him away. As the night wears on and they both get drunker and drunker, he ups his game, trying even harder to get her to notice him. I have to hand it to her, the tactic works. By the time she’s too blitzed to fight him off, he’s practically on his knees, begging for her attention.
So, of course, she sleeps with him again.
The only problem is, it’s now the middle of the week and—surprise, surprise—she hasn’t heard from him. This is Braden’s modus operandi. When a beautiful girl is right in front of him, he wants her. When she’s not, he forgets she exists. Liv is coming to terms with it, but it’s taking some time.
“I mean, I know he’s not boyfriend material,” she admits. “But still…”
But still…she was hoping that with her, he would be. Evidently sowas Peyton. I think Braden McCormick should come with a warning sign:This man wants hot sex only. Those seeking a relationship need not apply.
Liv sighs. “I guess not everyone can be as lucky as you.” She thinks it’s romantic that Zander wanted to beat the crap out of Leo. When I tell her I found it scary, she dismisses me. “You had two guys fighting over you. That’s, like, every girl’s dream.” Sure, until it actually happens and you realize one or both men could get seriously hurt. Or arrested.
Luckily, Zander hasn’t noticed my amethyst, but then he rarely pays attention to what I wear. He thought my navy blue cocktail dress for last year’s spring formal was black, and told me I should’ve worn flip-flops when I complained about how my heels were hurting my feet.
Liv, on the other hand, does notice the pendant. “Hey! Where’d that necklace come from? I love it.”
I prevaricate, “Oh, I just picked it up somewhere. You know, because I wear a lot of purple.”
The fact that Liv likes it is a testament to Leo’s taste. He could’ve gotten me a necklace that was clunky, but he went for feminine and delicate. No one I know would ever guess it’s an amulet.
As I lie on my bed and work, I run the pendant along its chain, soothed by the reassuring tug on the back of my neck. I’ve been reading in the quiet for over an hour, so completely absorbed inRoll of Thunder, Hear My Cry,that when my phone buzzes and vibrates against my arm, my heart leaps into my throat.
It’s a text from Leo.
Pulse racing, I snatch up the phone and read the message.
Leo: How are you?
How are you? What kind of question is that? Does he mean how am I after not hearing from him for ten days, or how am I after my boyfriend threatened to rearrange his face? I type an answer as obtuse as his question.
Me: Fine. U?
Leo: Fine. Sorry I went offline for a while. I had to go out of town for a few days.
Me: That’s ok. It was a busy weekend.
Leo: Did your parents come down?
Me: Yes. And the less that’s said about it, the better.
Leo: Sorry. I know how that can be.
Hmm. Everyone has some baggage with their parents, but what could his possibly be? He seems like the ideal son to me: studious, self-controlled, mature.
