Page 51 of Talk Nerdy To Me
“I meant together,” she goes on. “And don’t worry, I won’t tell Wren,” she adds.
“Nor will I tell Ethan,” the other says as she mimes crossing her heart. “This is the first time in the hour I’ve been out of the house, that I’m finally okay with being away from Isa for a few minutes.”
My smile only grows, because now I realize this is Bella and Allie. She’s been in my environment so much but I’ve barely seen her in hers.
“You won’t tell them I’m hungry?” Britt asks, confused.
“We won’t tell them you were here with Base Masters,” Bella dutifully explains between loud slurps of her straw.
“Oh, that doesn’t matter. He’s not a potential suitor because he already rejected me. We’re trying to be friends now,” Britt states matter-of-factly.
Bella sputters her milkshake. Allie chokes back a sound of surprise. I groan while scrubbing a hand over my face for the third or fourth time tonight.
“I didn’t reject you,” I quickly point out. Again.
“Sorry. He rejected taking my virginity because he feels it’d be a ‘dick move,’” she continues, simply quoting me as though this is a perfectly natural conversation to have with two women I don’t know, and with the door still open to the nosy burger joint.
Her honesty is usually my favorite part about her. However, I’d really like to have this conversation in private.
I’m starting to realize the drastic difference in her comfort level with them compared to other people.
Bella sighs, looking over at me like she’s disappointed for reasons unbeknownst to me, before shaking her head.
“I promise they don’t all suck,” she says, patting Britt’s hand.
“I don’t think I suck,” I feel the need to point out. Not sure why exactly I’m having to defend this, since it’s technically the right thing. “I’m on the path to sainthood.”
“Says the guy whose band is called The Fallen,” Bella, apparently too quick-witted, is fast to retort. “False advertisement, bro,” she adds, doing this head weave thing as she snaps her fingers in a “Z” formation.
I don’t know what to do with that, so I just stare…
“I’m tired,” Bella says after a beat of silence. “Ignore me.”
“I’m going to go order for us,” I tell Britt, clutching her side to bring her attention to me. “Stop telling people I rejected you.”
As I walk off, I just barely hear her quietly telling them, “I considered reciting the definition of rejection to him, but most people say it comes off as passive aggressive when I do that.”
How the hell did sainthood suddenly turn me into the damn devil?
After getting the burgers ordered, I go back, hoping like hell those two are gone so I can once again explain to Britt that I did not reject her.
Unfortunately, they’re not gone, and I catch the tail end of Britt saying, “No. I’m bringing Tommy. I made plans with him at the park during LARP, so we’re changing plans instead of cancelling them. Now I have to find something else to wear.”
“I’ll come over and—”
“Say what now?” I cut in, quickly joining them outside, and shutting the door as I usher them off to the side.
Bella looks like she has the devil in her eyes when she answers me. “Britt’s bringing a date to tomorrow’s cookout at Dane’s house. We were discussing what we’re wearing.”
“Tommy and I are friends,” Britt states, confused.
“You’re taking Tommy as your date somewhere?” I ask Britt, not missing the way Bella fucking grins.
Now that I remember who she is, I’ve decided I liked her better when she was on the front row and just dancing to the songs I was singing instead of making my life hell.
Allie elbows Bella, but I think she’s just doing better at hiding her smile, because she definitely has humor dancing in her eyes when I glance at her.
“It’s not a date,” Britt says very dryly once again. “We were going to go to a town that has various cos play costumes to see if we could salvage anything to recycle and reuse as our own.”
