Page 38 of In Too Deep

“Oh yeah, I knew she looked familiar. I hated that girl.”

My stomach churns as I nod, watching in horror as Stephanie gives Lawrence a kiss on the cheek. Apparently, when I didn’t show up, he simply moved on to the closest available girl. No big deal.

“Hey…” Caroline’s hand lands on my shoulder, and I drag my gaze over to her. “Are you crying?”

I sweep my hand across my cheek, surprised to find it wet with tears. “No,” I lie, my voice cracking as more fall.

“Okay…you need to tell me what’s going on here, or I’m going to march across the street and ask Lawrence.”

“No, please don’t,” I plead. She presses her lips together, and I sigh. “I think I’m in love with Lawrence.”

Her lashes flutter in surprise for a moment, then she laughs. “Well, that’s been pretty obvious for a while now. I’ve just been waiting for you to tell me.”

“You were? And you weren’t mad at me?”

Her brow creases. “Why would I be?”

“Because Lawrence was your boyfriend.”

She sighs. “To be honest, you have more of a right to be mad at me than I do you.”

“What do you mean?”

She averts her eyes as she rocks the swing back and forth. “I could tell you liked him when I asked Robbie to set me up with him, but I did it anyway. I think I did it to keep you apart because of Robbie.”

Her confession isn’t much of a revelation. I always suspected that. Though, I’m a little shocked she admitted it. “That’s okay. I get it. I’m not angry.”

She turns her head in my direction, giving me a warm smile as she continues to swing. “So, your tears now, do you not think he feels the same way?”

“No.” I wipe away my stray tears. “I do…or did. I mean, he asked me to come tonight as his date.”

Her eyes widen as she plants her feet to steady herself. “Wow…” she breathes. Concern crosses her features, and I wonder if she’s considering how Robbie would’ve handled that. “And you told him you would?”

Another tear rolls down my face as I nod. “Yes…but as you know, I didn’t show up.”

“So, now you’re freaking out because you saw him with Stephanie?”

I shrug. “Wouldn’t you be?”

She gives me a slight nod. “Boys are idiots, there’s no question about that. But don’t jump to conclusions. He cares about you, Cat. And I’m going to help you get your man.”

My mouth drops open. I never expected Caroline would be willing to help me with Lawrence.

“What about Robbie?”

She waves off my concern. “He’s dating Angela. He’ll get over it.”

23

Lawrence

The phone feels oddly heavy in my hand as I try to muster enough courage to dial Cat’s number. It’s been weeks since we’ve spoken, the day of my birthday party to be exact. My mother took away my pager and phone privileges at night. She said I needed a break from Cat, and I didn’t fight her on it because I didn’t know what to say or how to act. She’d turned me down twice, hurting my pride and feelings.

Maybe a part of me has been holding out to see if Cat would try to contact me, as if that would somehow even out the score a little, but she hasn’t reached out once. In fact, she’s gone out of her way to avoid me every time she’s come to Caroline’s.

It was beginning to feel hopeless, like I’d lost her for good, until my conversation with Caroline today. She told me they had walked down to the party but sat across the street because Cat was too nervous to go inside. She also let it slip that Cat was upset when she saw me with Stephanie, insisting I should call her.

I headed straight home to ask my mom if I could have a friend over. She wasn’t thrilled Cat was the friend, but said I’d only been worse without her these past couple weeks and caved. Now, all I need is to convince Cat to come over. Which, knowing Cat, won’t be easy.

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