"I mean, you wouldn't have seen us together, not in public." He gave a humorless laugh. "And you wanna know why?"
"Because…" I winced. "You were dating in secret?"
"Yeah. And you can probably guess, it was byherchoice, not mine." The moment he said it, so many things clicked into place, including his odd behavior from last night.
Obviously, the whole dating-in-secret thing was a huge sore spot, and like a total idiot, I'd been poking it for weeks.
As I listened, Drake went on to explain that their relationship had started when he'd been tutoring her in math. They'd hit it off, but had never gone public because she had never felt it was the right time.
He finished by saying, "But you can guess therealreason."
Sadly, I could.In high school, I'd hung out with the bookish types, but I knew enough of teenage politics to realize that popularity was a big thing to some people. "So what happened?" I asked. "I mean, you're obviously not together anymore, so I'm guessing you broke up?"
"Oh, yeah. It was right after senior prom. I'd been dying to take her, but she'd turned me down, telling me that she was going with the varsity quarterback." His mouth tightened. "As just friends."
I was staring now. "So she cheated on you?"
Drake shook his head. "Nah, the guy had a girlfriend in another state. It reallywasjust a friend thing. But they sure made some pretty pictures." He gave a low scoff. "The most popular couple in school."
My heart went out to him. "Oh gosh, that must've been horrible."
"It was," he said. "And the worst part was, she didn'treallywant to go with him. She just didn't want to be seen withme."
I felt like throttling her. "What a horrible person."
Drake shrugged. "I dunno. She wasn't so bad. In private, she was one of the sweetest girls you'd ever meet. And funny, too." With a sheepish smile, he said, "And you can guess she was my first."
I reached for his hand and gave it a tender squeeze. "But not your last, obviously."
His gaze met mine. "No. I'd likethatspot to be held by someone else."
A warm happy feeling settled over my heart. "Yeah, well…I can sort of relate. I mean, when you find that special someone, who needs to look further, right?"
Drake smiled. "Not me."
I almost giggled. "Me either."
"Good to know."
Right then, I might've fallen into his arms, but I was still holding the yearbook and desperately wanted to hear the rest. "But you didn't finish. You said you two broke up?" I paused. "So, who did the breaking? You or her?"
"Me." His voice hardened. "I woke up and decided I was done."
"You mean with her?"
"Not justher," he said. "Everything that I didn't like about high school. I start lifting, get the braces off, and have eye-surgery to ditch the glasses. Then I go off to college and become a different guy." He gave a rueful chuckle. "With a different name, too."
"Ohhhhh." I smiled. "Sothat'swhen you became Drake?"
He reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah. I mean, I was hanging with all new people, so it was easy to say, 'Yeah, my name's Murphy, but I go by Drake.'"
I almost snickered. "Why Drake?"
"Because it sounded cool, you know, the kind of name that girls would go for."
"So,didthey?"
A faint blush appeared on his cheeks. "Yeah, well, I had my share of fun."
