Page 24 of Grumpy Darling

“Yeah, the best.” I wasn’t even trying to hide the disdain in my voice. Damien didn’t seem bothered by my frosty attitude though. He was far more interested in Paige.

“But you’re moving schools in the middle of your senior year,” Paige said as she focused on him once more. “What happened?”

“My parents split up,” Damien replied. “My mom wanted to move back home to Ransom, so here I am.” He gave a weary smile. Clearly, returning to Ransom wasn’t his choice and he was doing his best to get through it. Hearing about his parents did make me feel a touch guilty about the cold reception I’d given him. But then Paige reached out her hand to touch his, and I immediately returned to loathing the very sight of him.

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” she said gently.

“It is what it is.” He shrugged. “I’m just glad to see some familiar faces.”

“Well, we’re glad to see you.” Paige’s sunny expression returned. “What class do you have now?”

“Uh, let me check.” He fished a piece of paper from his pocket and glanced over it. “Biology. Though I have no idea where the classroom is.”

“Oh, that’s easy.” She laughed. “Just head up those stairs behind you, and it’s the first door on your left. Do you want me to show you?”

Damien shook his head. “It’s okay. I think I can handle that. If I get lost, I’ll just follow the smell of latex gloves and bleach.”

“Okay.” Paige laughed again, but this time the sound was high-pitched and spluttered awkwardly. I frowned at her. I hadn’t heard her nervous giggle in a while. It only usually made an appearance when she was really flustered or taken by surprise. The last time she’d fully unleashed that sound was when we’d been playing volleyball in PE last year. She’d been looking upward as she’d gone to bump the ball, but had accidentally hit Matt’s butt instead. It was an understandable reason to be mortified. I couldn’t make sense of what was causing it to appear now.

She quickly cleared her throat, as though she too had noticed it and was trying to compose herself. “Good luck,” she added.

“Thanks, P, I’ll see you later. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.” He emphasized his words with a wink.

“We do,” she squeaked. Was she blushing? Why was she blushing?

“Grayson.” Damien gave me a nod before heading for the stairs. I stared after him, still trying to come to terms with what had just happened. I was feeling a little blindsided. A little blindsided and a lot annoyed.

“Oh my gosh, can you believe Damien’s back?” Paige gushed as she turned to me, her eyes brimming with excitement. “He looks so different, but still familiar. Obviously taller. A lot taller. Bonnie was right, he’s kind of hot now, don’t you think?”

I took several deep breaths, trying to remind myself that I was a supportive best friend.

“Do you think I sounded okay?” she continued as we started down the hall. “I didn’t come off too ditzy or desperate, did I? Can you believe my first kiss could end up being Damien Stone?”

No, I couldn’t. I was still surprised by how seriously she was taking this first kiss thing. And I’d never seen her babble over a guy this way. Under normal circumstances, I’d have thought her reaction was cute. Her eyes were big, and her cheeks were lightly flushed. I loved when she got this excited about something and her every thought spilled from her lips. But right now, she was talking about another guy, and as cute as Paige was, it sucked.

“You were fine. Just the right amount of ditzy.”

She made a playful face at me, but then she started to frown. “You don’t seem very happy he’s back.”

I hated that her excitement dimmed because of me. I should have been happy for her. Instead I was ruining her mood because of some fifth-grade jealousy. It was moments like these that reminded me why I didn’t deserve her. Why she’d be so much better off with someone else.

“Why wouldn’t I be happy?”

Her gaze was intent, like she could see right through me. “He’s your friend, Grayson. But you’re looking at him like this is a hockey game and he’s on the other team.”

“He was on another team until today. And no, he’syourfriend, Paige.”

She waved me off like that made no difference. “I wonder what he’s like now. He still seems so nice. Or do you think he’s changed since we last saw him?”

“Well, we haven’t seen him since we were, like, ten years old, so I’d hope so.”

Paige kept going, apparently deciding to ignore my comment. “I’m surprised he came back though, even if his parents split,” she said. “Starting a new school midway through your senior year must be hard.”

“I’m sure he’ll be okay.”

“Of course he will.” She smiled confidently. “He’s Damien.” She said his name like he was some kind of superstar.

I didn’t exactly trust myself to reply. It was becoming harder and harder to watch Paige’s growing enthusiasm for a guy who had just been selected as the perfect candidate for her to kiss. She and Bonnie had made that decision before they’d realized who he was though. When they thought he was just some random new kid. Maybe this changed things.

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