Page 110 of The Dollhouse

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m used to people walking straight into me like they don’t see me,” he spoke with a shake of his head. Today his red hair looked a little messy, but that only lent to his boyish appearance. He did remind me of Lake, which wasn’t good. I might start to feel guilty and shit.

“I see you,” I said, and the words came out sounding a little too intimate, for some reason, so I quickly added, “I was just too focused on getting this and paying. I’m starving.”Nice segue, Zoey, I lauded myself.

He was still grinning when he gestured to the front of the shop, saying, “Then let’s get you checked out.” As we walked toward the register, he said, “I’m actually going on break now. I was going to grab some food and eat it in the backroom, but if you want, maybe we could, uh, eat together?”

God. He sounded so awkward, but so sweet. Definitely like Lake.

“Don’t have any dates for lunch lined up?” I asked.

“Not today,” he chuckled, standing beside me as we reached the register and I handed the guy working it the textbook. His green eyes were on me the entire time, watching as I paid with a card that, technically, belonged to Roman.

Okay, okay, there was nothing technical about it. I wasn’t wasting my own money on a stupid textbook I didn’t even need. The old me might’ve viewed using Roman’s money as some form of charity, but I didn’t have that problem now. Good thing.

“Do you want a bag for that?” the guy at the register asked, and I shook my head, taking my receipt and the useless textbook off the counter. He gave Wyatt a knowing look, and Wyatt, bless his awkward soul, blushed.

I pretended not to notice as Wyatt and I walked out of the shop and toward the cafeteria area, where dozens of tables were lined up, most of them full of other students since it was lunchtime. When the time was odd, the union was a lot emptier.

“What do you like?” I asked. “I could eat anything.”

“I’m a big fan of the Chinese here.”

“Then let’s get that.” I grinned. Today wasn’t about making my sister see me and Wyatt together; that would come later. For now, I had to flirt, I had to smile, I had to worm myself into his heart, or at least start the process. I had no idea how much he’d been talking to Willow, but if I had my way, it wouldn’t matter.

We meandered to the Chinese place, and I let him order for me, saying I’d eat anything. Didn’t mean I’d enjoy it, but I could fake it. I was faking this whole interaction, really. I had no interest in any man that wasn’t Roman, Carter, or Lake. Three boyfriends were plenty enough for me already; there would be no adding to the numbers. No late additions to the harem.

After we got our food, we headed to an empty table, away from everyone else. Wyatt sat across from me, which was more than fine with me. I didn’t want him sitting next to me, not yet. Had to work this angle slowly and not overdo it.

“So, what year are you? A freshman?” When I didn’t answer, he shrugged and said, “I am. I only look like I know what I’m doing because I started working at the shop before the semester started, and Kyler told me all these stories from last year.”

“Really? You hide it well,” I spoke with a smile. “And I’m not exactly a freshman. I came here last year, but I had to leave due to some… extenuating circumstances.” I took my first bite of the food he’d picked out for me, watching as he lifted his eyebrows at me. “There was a lot of drama in my life, and I just couldn’t focus on school and all that at the same time.”

“Dang.”

I nodded, mostly to myself. “Yeah, it was… it was rough. At the time, I didn’t think I’d ever make it back here.” Pausing, I bit my bottom lip and glanced up at him, finding he watched me, seemingly forgetting all about the food before him. “I’m glad I did, though.”

He snapped out of his staring, starting to eat. Amongst mouthfuls, he said, “I’m not sure if I’m glad, yet. You’d think scholarships wouldn’t really matter to people these days, but to people here, they do. Plus, I work in the union store, so that’s another notch against me. Everyone around here is so…” Wyatt trailed off, probably trying to think of a nice enough word to describe the kind of people that lived in Hillcrest and went to its university.

“Stuck-up?” I offered with a grin.

Wyatt nodded. “Yeah, kind of. It’s like they’re all in their own cliques, and they know who the outsiders are.” Something occurred to him right then. “Wait, if you came here last year, does that mean you’re from around here?”

“Yeah, I grew up in Hillcrest, unfortunately. Not the best place to be.” I took my time in explaining, choosing to pause to take another bite of the food before saying, “Some people think it’s all fun and games, that life is easy when you have money, and that’s true to some extent, but it’s not always. People come to expect certain things of you.” I looked down at my lap. “My parents were the worst.” I reached up to my hair. “They hate this. In the beginning, I think I did it to spite them, but now I love it.”

The smile he wore was infectious. “Screw your parents. I think you’re rocking the pink.”

“Thanks,” I spoke with a smile. “They had my whole life planned out for me, and I was going along with it, until…” I chose that moment to trail off, knowing Wyatt was listening intently and would want me to continue. The way he stared at me, as if I held every ounce of his attention, told me all I needed to know.

My plan was working. I had him hook, line, and sinker, which was the only reason I was about to tell him what I planned to.

He leaned forward, eyebrows creasing somewhat. “Until what?” Wyatt must’ve realized it wasn’t good, for he said, “I mean, if you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. It’s okay.” Though he said it, he sounded genuinely disheartened, as if he really wanted to know, like he wanted to know me on a deeper level.

“That’s okay,” I said. “I actually have a sister. She’s younger than me. At the time, I was dating my high school sweetheart. I’d never been with anyone but him, and I thought we would stay together forever, like a lot of kids in high school think with their first love.” I wanted to vomit, talking about Bryan like he had been everything for me.

So what if he had? He wasn’t anymore. He didn’t matter. He was gone, and he was never coming back. Bryan had made a fool of me, and he’d paid the price. It was hard to feel sad for him, the darkness in me peeking through I supposed. I hated the old me, the me that had fallen for his shit. I didn’t like talking about it, especially with a stranger, but I had to give Wyatt enough to make him interested.

“My sister and my ex, they…” I paused, meeting Wyatt’s eyes, and the pause told him more than my words could. I watched as his gaze widened, as it set in what my sister and my ex had done to me, and his mouth dropped open. “Yeah, they went behind my back for a while. A whole lot more than once.”

“Oh, God,” Wyatt muttered. “I’m so sorry. That’s just awful. I never understood guys who cheat. And what kind of sister would do that? That’s, like, the worst kind of betrayal. I’m sorry, Zoey.” His sympathy didn’t really matter to me, but it was still nice to hear, regardless.

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