Ethan said, “For a girl who claimedLady Fridaywas her favorite movie, your phone screen says otherwise.”
I winced, remembering the background of my phone was set to the poster for my current obsession. An extremely cheesy action movie sequel starring Teddy Flunder, the hottest actor of the moment, and an animated purple monster. Holding my head high, I said, “It’sHis Girl Friday, and I refuse to apologize for appreciatingDeath Ship Five. It had a clever fusion of animation and camerawork.”
“Right,” Ethan said, pressing his lips into a flat line to keep from laughing as he passed me the phone. “I’m sure that’s the reason.”
“It is.” I nodded a little too much to be convincing as Ethan backed away from the door, still skeptical. “Watch it, and you’ll see what I mean.”
“No need.” Ethan shook his head, mock sincerity on his face. “I totally believe you, Webb.”
“See, this is why we aren’t friends,” I called down the hallway. “A real friend would believe me.”
“But I do believe you.” Ethan threw his hands over his heart, feigning hurt. “Why do you insist upon breaking my heart when you know how much I care?”
“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes and stepped back into the room. “See you tonight.”
“See you soon, friend,” Ethan’s jovial voice came down the hall right before the door clicked.
Turning around, I caught Gabby and Nittha exchanging massive, floodlight-level-bright smiles. Narrowing my eyes at both of them, I tried to stem the incoming tide of excitement. “Don’t get—”
“Oh my god. This is your second date!” Nittha bounced up and down on the bed, disrupting Cricket’s regal repose. The poor dog rushed to the other end of the bed and settled on a pillow, irritated.
“We are filming for the contest together.”
“Girl! He was basically falling apart trying to explain himself to Nittha. He was nervous about talking to you because he likes you.” Gabby drew out the wordlike, so it sounded as if it had about fifteen syllables in it.
“I think he was nervous about turning up randomly, nottalking to me.” I shrugged, then walked over to the bed and flopped down next to Nittha, which turned out to be a mistake, because my friend started nudging me with her elbow.
“Would it be so bad if this was a sneaky date?” Gabby asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
“No one is showing up with Swedish Fish, Gabby,” I said, keeping my voice flat. “You know my parents’ no-dating-until-graduation rule. Even if BamBam didn’t disown me over this, my parents would ground me for life.”
Nittha rolled her eyes. “But what they don’t know—”
“Anyway, I have to be at BamBam’s merch signing soon. Are we gonna finish filming or what?” I cut her off before she could try to make lying to my parents seem like a good idea, too.
“Fine, fine. But we are gonna talk about this more at lunch,” Nittha said, lunging across the bed to get to Cricket.
“And we are helping you pick out an outfit to wear tonight. I love you, but your jean shorts are kinda killing the date vibes,” Gabby said, lifting herself out of the chair.
“We aren’t talking about it at lunch, and no one is dressing me.” I sighed and walked back to where the reflective screenwas.
As the two of them started talking about how to arrange Cricket on the dresser next to the mirror, I let my mind wander. Objectively, I knew tonight wasn’t a date. Ethan and I would be working. But now that Gabby had put the thought in my mind, I was having a hard time letting the idea go.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out, my breath catching in my throat as I watched Ethan’s number come up on my screen.
Ethan:On a scale of -5 to 5 with 0 being a true neutral, I’m level 5 excited to hang out with you tonight.
Rolling my eyes, I typed back the same answer I’d given the day before, fighting the urge to read too much into his text.This isn’t flirting, I told myself. This was merely a callback to yesterday’s misadventures. I checked to make sure Gabby and Nittha were still engaged in arranging Cricket before answering.
I’m still a 2
A moment later my phone buzzed again, and a smile crept across my face. I bit down on my bottom lip to try to get ahold of it.
Ethan:I can work with a 2. See you tonight.
CHAPTER TWELVE
I should have known thatsomething was off. When BamBam overheard Nittha and Gabby begging to get me dressed up at lunch, she insisted I let them. More alarm bells should have gone off when she offered to press my hair instead of going to the afternoon panels. BamBam didn’t typically care what I wore unless we were going to one of her church functions or something. Gullible me, I did as BamBam asked, happy to have yet another viable reason I couldn’t take the time to apply to that stupid business school.
