Page 9 of You Started It

“Hi,” he says curtly. “Could you get your car off my curb so I can pull my bike out from underneath your beast?”

“Beast? I’ll have you know this is a 2007 Dodge Charger.”

“I stand corrected. Anoldbeast. And what’re you doing driving around without your headlights on?” He rises and runs a hand through his curls. The hair on the sides of his head are tapered. It’s a ridiculous cut. Not at all practical. How is one supposed to wear a hat with hair like that?

“Jamie? Is that you?” Ben calls from the end of his driveway across the street.

No, no, no. This is all wrong.I stand quickly, taking a step so I’m face-to-face with Mr. Betty White. “If I promise to fix your bike, will you play along? Please?”

“Play along? What’re you—?”

“Jamie, are you alright?” Ben approaches the scene of the accident. His eyes assess the wreck as his “new” friend joins us.

Olivia Chen.Her?She’s one of those types everyone loves. Popular. Involved in any school committee that has to do with hosting “fun” events. Average intelligence. Basically, my complete opposite.

“I’m fine,” I say, walking over to the driver’s side. “I was just parking here and didn’t see his bike.”Smart, Jamie. Enlist a person’s help when you don’t even know their name.

“Were you coming to see me?” Ben asks. Olivia eyes me up and I eye her right back.

“No. Why would I come see you? We’re broken up,” I say matter-of-factly.

“She came to see me,” curly top says as he approaches us. “Axel. Jamie’s boyfriend.” He places a hand around my waist, pulling me in, and it feels weird, foreign, but I don’t fight it. The look of confusion on Ben’s face is worth having this strange person’s fingers on me. Butboyfriend? “I moved in a month ago.”

Ben’s eyes zero in on mine. “Boyfriend? Already?”

“That’s right,” I say, staring back at Ben. “I guess we both recovered quickly.”

Ben swallows before his eyes size up Axel. He extends a hand, in typical Ben fashion. “I just got back from being away this summer, so I didn’t notice someone had moved into the Khans’ old house.”

Axel shakes Ben’s hand. It’s civil at first but then Ben shakes harder, almost aggressively. Axel matches his energy and my body vibrates alongside his. “That would be us.”

“You going to Maple View?” Ben asks, withdrawing his hand and rolling back his shoulders.

“Yep. Eleventh grade.”

Oh my god, he’s younger than me.

“So how did you and Jamie meet?” Ben asks, his eyes back on me. “Jamie never mentioned you.”

I interject to control the narrative. “I was on a run and…”

“A run? You don’t run,” Ben says, looking me square in the eye.

“Okay, I was on a brisk walk,” I say, gritting my teeth, “and I happened upon Axel’s house the day he was moving in and, you know, we started talking.”

“And how did it go from talking to this?” Ben asks, waving an accusatory finger between us. The nerve he has considering only moments ago he was kissing OLIVIA EFFING CHEN!

We got paired up in geography last year to do a project on earth’s nonrenewable depleting resources and she thought it would be “cute” if we staged a fundraiser with props, but each prop would represent a step everyday citizens could take to help. Ironically, she ordered balloons for this presentation/fake fundraiser, completely missing the mark on the helium shortage. Despite that, we got an A because of how “accessible” the lesson was. Another win for mediocrity.

Axel clears his throat and tightens his grip around my waist. He’s not as tall as Ben, but he’s pretty built and I can tell Ben is slightly intimidated. Olivia smiles a nervous smile at me and I squint my eyes in response. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have Ben believing, at least for a little longer, that this Axel person and I are together.

“I’ve been waiting for Jamie to finally cut you loose,” Axel says. “Sounds like you did me a favor. But don’t worry. It was all above board until you set her free. Canyousay the same?”

Axel leans in and Ben takes a step forward. I kind of want to pull Axel back, but I also kind of want to see what might happen. Will Ben take the bait? Will he fight for me?

“Ben.” Olivia locks her arm through Ben’s, stroking her fingers along his wrist. He looks down at her and then across at me.

“Well, I guess there’s no point hiding that I’ve also started seeing someone. Jamie, you know Olivia from school, right?”

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