“You…you used to be bullied?” Andrew stared at me, dumbfounded. “Why? You’re—”
“Perfect?No. Far from it, actually.”
“Why would anyone bully you?”
“Turns out having nerdy hobbies isn’t cool.”
“You, a nerd?”
“No fucking way,” Dani mumbled.
“No one knows, and I’d rather keep it that way.”
“Wait.” Andrew shook his head. “Does Elliot know?”
I raised my shoulders. “Kinda. We talked about it once. I just don’t want him to see me like that.”
“Like what? A fighter? A badass bitch? A warrior?”
“I’m not—”
“Clarke,” Dani cut me off, easing her hand onto my back once again. This time, I didn’t push it away. “That boy idolizes you,and telling him you are a human who has experienced human things isn’t gonna change that.”
“He doesn’t idolize me.”
Andrew let out a boisterous laugh, breaking out into a fit of giggles. “Are you blind? Yes, the fuck he does, and it’s pretty fucking gross.”
Dani nodded pointedly, rocking her head back and forth. “It’s written all over his face every time he looks at you.”
“Really?”
She laughed as though the answer was obvious. “For fuck sake, yes.”
“So, if you’re gonna dump him, do it now, before he falls in love with you,” Andrew demanded firmly, his eyes drilling into mine. “Because if you do it later, it’ll destroy him. So, if you really want your reputation back—”
“I like Elliot more than I ever liked any of them.”
Dani pressed her lips together before speaking. “Then, I guess the question is, do you like him enough to show him who you are underneath all the cheerleading and Prom Queen shit? He deserves to know the real you. He’s already obsessed with you, anyway. He’d probably help you hide a dead body if you asked.”
I had given Elliot a million and one reasons to hate me, to ditch me, to take back our deal and never speak to me, but through every single goddamn thing he learned about me, he stayed, even after knowing things that no one else knew. I glided my teeth against the inner part of my cheek as my heart sped up.
Just the thought of him elicited a physical response. He consumed my thoughts. He was in my dreams. He was the face I’d picture while reading romance novels. Even when I wasn’t around him, I craved his presence.
I wrung out my hands.
Was I falling for Elliot Keller?Was he falling for me?
“You really think he likes me that much?”
“Are you really a nerd?” Andrew shot me a sharp glare. “Because—damn, you’re stupid.”
I matched his expression as I placed my elbows on the table, using them to pull me forward. “My IQ could make yours look like a calculator stuck on 2 + 2 = 5.”
The sides of his lips flicked up as his face morphed into smug satisfaction. He bobbed his head while letting out a barely audible laugh.
“There she is,” he jested, propelling his arm forward and splaying his fingers as he offered me a high five. “She’s back.”
I slapped his hand with mine and offered a quick smile in return as the tension between the three of us began to dissipate. I closed my eyes just for a second, allowing the pressure in my chest to fade as I took a deep breath, holding the air inside my lungs and then exhaling softly.
