Page 36 of Anyone But Her

Luke gets up from the couch. "Last chance. You coming with?"

"No. I'm going to stay here and watch a movie."

"But you'll go out with us later this week, right?"

"I don't know. Maybe." I pause. "Why do you keep insisting I go out with you guys? I thought you came here to hang out with Cal."

"Which I'm doing, but I'd also like to hang out with you." His eyes lock on mine. "I like you, Taylor."

My heart skips a beat. He likes me? Like a friend, or more than that?

"Taylor?" he says when I don't respond.

"Oh, um, thanks."

Thanks? What kind of response is that? I'm thanking him for liking me? Why do I keep saying stupid things? It's like my brain stopped working.

"You're welcome." He smiles. "I was kind of hoping you'd say you like me too but I'll take a thank you."

I laugh. "Sorry. That was totally stupid of me to say. I was just surprised you said it so I didn't know how to respond."

"You didn't know I like you?"

I don't answer for fear of saying something stupid again.

"You're Cal's sister," he says. "And since I like Cal it only makes sense I would like his sister. You two are a lot alike."

So he likes me as a friend. Nothing more. I'm just the girl version of Cal.

"Okay, we can go." Cal hurries down the stairs. "See ya, Taylor."

"Yeah. Bye."

"If you change your mind," Luke says to me, "just meet us there. Cal can text you the address."

"Okay. See ya."

When they're gone I call up Birdie and tell her what happened.

"He wants to date you," she says without even the slightest amount of doubt.

"He doesn't want to date me. Didn't you hear what I said? He sees me as a friend. Like Cal. That's it."

"He only said that because you didn't respond when he told you he likes you. He was afraid you were going to reject him so he changed course and decided to go the friend route."

"I guess it's possible but—"

"Why didn't you tell him you liked him back? When a guy tells you he likes you, you can't just sit there and not say anything."

"I didn't know what to say. I was too shocked he told me he liked me."

"Yeah, but you can't say nothing. Silence is an answer. It means you don't feel the same way about him as he feels about you but you're afraid to come out and say it because it'll hurt his feelings."

"But that's not what I meant."

"It doesn't matter. Sometimes silence can say more than words and today, your silence told Luke you're not interested."

"Then maybe that's a good thing because I'm not interested. I can't be. He's Cal's friend."

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