And
there was absolutely nothing I could do about that.
Every day I would watch her saunter
up to the board in class and I couldn’t breathe. I needed to move away. Change
schools. Something.
Finally, there was no line at
Zoey’s booth. She was alone. I wandered over to her without even realizing I
was going to. I just found myself there. At her booth.
When she saw me standing there,
watching her, she dropped the book she was holding. She was flustered around
me—always was. Like she knew there was something going on inside me even
if I never confessed it. At least I thought she knew—suspected, anyway.
She gave a surprised gasp, then
tried to cover for it by being overly friendly. “Oh, hi Riley!” She smiled all
toothy but awkward, like Why are you here
without Finn? But all she said was, “By the way, thanks for the band
tickets the other night. My friend, Summer , and I used
them—since Finn didn’t want to go.”
I nodded slightly, at first not
saying anything. The band tickets—not exactly my finest
moment. I’d bought them knowing (well, suspecting) I’d be paired with
Zoey for this school thing … and I’d been right. We were paired together. But
of course I couldn’t go through with this idea I’d had—suggesting she go
with me to see my favorite band—which I knew was her favorite band too.
Even as I bought the tickets, I
knew I wouldn’t use them. My only saving grace was the fact I wasn’t altogether
certain I’d be paired with Zoey … but of course in the end, I was. (And deep
down, I’d known I would be.)
Funny thing was, while the school
computer had paired me with Zoey, it paired Finn with this guy, Max—a guy
in our band. But he and Finn blew off the assignment and planned to go to the
movies instead—and they went, even though I gave Zoey the tickets and she
begged Finn to take her to the concert.
Finally, I managed to speak,
tearing my eyes away from her smile and focused on the conversation—Zoey
using the tickets I’d given her and ending up going to the concert with Summer instead of Finn. I managed not to look sympathetic. Or overly interested. “I know—Finn told me.”
She gave a weak smile. “He didn’t
want to miss his zombie movie.”
I grinned a little, “Or his date
with Max.”
She laughed. “Right.”
Her laugh made my heart pound. I
looked away from her, feeling guilty.
And I didn’t feel any better about
myself as I got a rush hearing her next words, “They’re my favorite band. I’m so glad you had the tickets. I didn’t even know
you liked them.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, then tried
to give a teasing smile as I raised my eyebrows. “There’s a lot you don’t know
about me.”
Before that could be taken too
accurately, and seriously, I added really quick , “But
maybe that’s for the best—I hear I’m a heartbreaker.”
I watched her pretty face redden.
As I knew it would. I’d overheard her call me that—a “heartbreaker.” She
said it to one of her friends that had had a crush on me. But I really hadn’t
known how to handle the girl’s crush. I mean, she was Zoey’s friend, and I was
in love with Zoey. So, it didn’t seem fair to the girl. And really, I didn’t
think I could handle it anyway, dating someone that would talk about Zoey all
of the time. So, when I shot the girl’s plans down—that we go to a movie
or something—Zoey told her, “You don’t want to get involved with Riley
anyway—he’s a heartbreaker.”
But see, really I wasn’t like that.
Only, I guess to Zoey I was. ‘Cause she didn’t know. Had no clue what she did to my heart—that she was the heartbreaker. And that she was the reason I
avoided getting serious with girls … because they weren’t her .
Zoey’s cheeks grew even redder as I
just watched her reaction, unable to hide my teasing smile. She stammered out,
“You—you heard me say that?”
I breathed out a laugh. “Yeah, I
heard you. You said it right in front of me. How could
there was absolutely nothing I could do about that.
Every day I would watch her saunter
up to the board in class and I couldn’t breathe. I needed to move away. Change
schools. Something.
Finally, there was no line at
Zoey’s booth. She was alone. I wandered over to her without even realizing I
was going to. I just found myself there. At her booth.
When she saw me standing there,
watching her, she dropped the book she was holding. She was flustered around
me—always was. Like she knew there was something going on inside me even
if I never confessed it. At least I thought she knew—suspected, anyway.
She gave a surprised gasp, then
tried to cover for it by being overly friendly. “Oh, hi Riley!” She smiled all
toothy but awkward, like Why are you here
without Finn? But all she said was, “By the way, thanks for the band
tickets the other night. My friend, Summer , and I used
them—since Finn didn’t want to go.”
I nodded slightly, at first not
saying anything. The band tickets—not exactly my finest
moment. I’d bought them knowing (well, suspecting) I’d be paired with
Zoey for this school thing … and I’d been right. We were paired together. But
of course I couldn’t go through with this idea I’d had—suggesting she go
with me to see my favorite band—which I knew was her favorite band too.
Even as I bought the tickets, I
knew I wouldn’t use them. My only saving grace was the fact I wasn’t altogether
certain I’d be paired with Zoey … but of course in the end, I was. (And deep
down, I’d known I would be.)
Funny thing was, while the school
computer had paired me with Zoey, it paired Finn with this guy, Max—a guy
in our band. But he and Finn blew off the assignment and planned to go to the
movies instead—and they went, even though I gave Zoey the tickets and she
begged Finn to take her to the concert.
Finally, I managed to speak,
tearing my eyes away from her smile and focused on the conversation—Zoey
using the tickets I’d given her and ending up going to the concert with Summer instead of Finn. I managed not to look sympathetic. Or overly interested. “I know—Finn told me.”
She gave a weak smile. “He didn’t
want to miss his zombie movie.”
I grinned a little, “Or his date
with Max.”
She laughed. “Right.”
Her laugh made my heart pound. I
looked away from her, feeling guilty.
And I didn’t feel any better about
myself as I got a rush hearing her next words, “They’re my favorite band. I’m so glad you had the tickets. I didn’t even know
you liked them.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, then tried
to give a teasing smile as I raised my eyebrows. “There’s a lot you don’t know
about me.”
Before that could be taken too
accurately, and seriously, I added really quick , “But
maybe that’s for the best—I hear I’m a heartbreaker.”
I watched her pretty face redden.
As I knew it would. I’d overheard her call me that—a “heartbreaker.” She
said it to one of her friends that had had a crush on me. But I really hadn’t
known how to handle the girl’s crush. I mean, she was Zoey’s friend, and I was
in love with Zoey. So, it didn’t seem fair to the girl. And really, I didn’t
think I could handle it anyway, dating someone that would talk about Zoey all
of the time. So, when I shot the girl’s plans down—that we go to a movie
or something—Zoey told her, “You don’t want to get involved with Riley
anyway—he’s a heartbreaker.”
But see, really I wasn’t like that.
Only, I guess to Zoey I was. ‘Cause she didn’t know. Had no clue what she did to my heart—that she was the heartbreaker. And that she was the reason I
avoided getting serious with girls … because they weren’t her .
Zoey’s cheeks grew even redder as I
just watched her reaction, unable to hide my teasing smile. She stammered out,
“You—you heard me say that?”
I breathed out a laugh. “Yeah, I
heard you. You said it right in front of me. How could
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