Page 31 of The Facade

“No!” I said. “Of course not.”

I was making a mess of this, wasn’t I?

And since I knew it was unsafe for me to really say anything else, I simply said, “I didn’t switch to be partners with Mack because we have a secret relationship going on. And I didn’t give Elyse your name because Ididn’twant to be your partner. I did it for other reasons that I can’t tell you.”

“So you don’t think I’m gross then?”

“Of course not.” I couldn’t help but laugh a little at Ben thinking that I thought he was gross. “Y-you’re the opposite of gross.”

“Well, good,” he said, a half-smile on his full lips. “For the record, I’ve never thought you were gross, either.”

Really?

I knew he hadn’t said he liked me, just that he didn’t think I was gross…but my whole body felt light over the fact that Ben had even thought about me in the first place.

Which meant he’d noticed me.

Our eyes caught, and for a moment, I was weightless, my body floating away from the earth and into orbit among the stars with Ben.

He broke eye contact first. After looking down at his black boots and licking his lips, he met my gaze again somewhat nervously and said, “Uh, my buddies and I were planning to go to this haunted house on Friday night. Maybe you should come.”

Ben was inviting me to hang out with him?

I discreetly pinched the skin just above my ring to make sure I wasn’t still floating off in the universe somewhere.

And yep, from the sting in my finger I knew this was real.

Ben Barnett, the hottest guy on the soccer field, was inviting me to hang out with him this weekend.

“That sounds fun,” I hurried to say before he could think I’d forgotten how to talk.

“Really?” he asked, the look in his eyes telling me he hadn’t fully expected me to accept his invitation.

“Yes,” I said. “Halloween is my favorite holiday, and so I’d love to go to the haunted house.”

“Cool.” Then after a short pause, he added, “We’re planning to meet there around eight.”

“Eight. Got it.” I had to fight to keep my whole face from lighting up with a smile and making me look too eager.

“Y-you can bring your friends too, of course.” He gestured at my house where everyone had disappeared into. “But if you hang out with Mack the whole time, consider your secret out.”

I scrunched up my nose. “Yeah, that won’t be happening.”

Ben laughed, a deep sound that made my insides melt a little. “See you at school tomorrow, Cambrielle.”

Why did my name sound so good on his lips?

I cleared my throat. “See you then.”

And when he walked out the side gate to head toward his car, I could not keep the biggest grin from filling my whole face because Ben freaking Barnett just invited me to spend time with him.

Mack endedup taking dinner in his room, so it was just my parents, my brothers, and me eating together today.

Nash helped Marie put the spaghetti and the steamed veggies on the table, and soon we were all sitting around chatting about our days and what we had coming up.

“Your Halloween dance is this weekend, right?” Mom asked as she twirled some pasta onto her fork, using the spoon to keep it in place. “Are you all ready for that?”

“I think so,” Carter said after taking a sip of his water. “Ava and I finally decided on our costumes anyway.”

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