Page 25 of You Belong With Me

Sebastian looked at me over her shoulder. “Nellie, Ainsley, do you guys want to come?”

Even though it would have been super rude of him to talk about his plans if he wasn’t going to invite us, I was a little surprised by the direct invitation. With what Tiffany had said about me the other day and how she was looking at me now, I was sure Sebastian would be trying to put some distance between us for her sake. She must have thought the same, because when she pulled out of the hug again, the sour expression was back on her face.

I turned away, pretending to cough so she wouldn’tnotice the laugh that I couldn’t hold back. I hadn’t been planning to go out after the game—already, I’d had more socializing tonight than I was used to—but if it was something that made her look like that, then I was kind of tempted to. But I wasn’t going to go without Ainsley. This was her brother, after all, and I was just here as her guest. And much like Tiffany’s words were seared into my brain, Imogen’s words about all their friends obsessing over Sebastian were too. Even though Sebastian and I had kissed, it was obvious that nothing further was going to happen between us, and I didn’t want to give Ainsley any reason to doubt why I’d agreed to hang out with her.

But Ainsley didn’t seem worried about it at all as she smiled and said, “Let’s do it.”

Ainsley

This girl is insane

I glanced across the dark car at Ainsley, who was just visible from the streetlights shining in through the windows as we whipped past them. We’d met back up with Imogen while Sebastian showered after the game, but she told us to go ahead without her because she was tired, so then we all piled into Sebastian’s car. Tiffany had immediately claimed the front seat, calling shotgun like she thought one of us was actually going to fight her for it, while Ainsley and I sprawled in the back. I noted that I was still the only one that he told to buckle up before hetook off, and Ainsley clearly found that hilarious as she snorted into her hand.

“Shut up,” I muttered, shoving her lightly in the shoulder. Then I froze, because I wasn’t sure if we were close enough friends for me to do that. I never really understood the rules of friendship, how close we had to be before I could do something like that. But it just made her laugh harder, so I relaxed.

The text came through a minute later and in the limited passing light, I saw her dart her eyes toward Tiffany, who was getting angry with Sebastian for talking to some cheerleaders before the game.

Nora

So you don’t like her either?

I thought I was the only one

I turned down the sounds on my phone so Sebastian and Tiffany wouldn’t hear our phones going off every five seconds and realize we were talking about them.

Ainsley

Nah we all hate her

But she makes Sebastian happy so we don’t want to say anything

I found it hard to believe Tiffany really made him happy. With how much they broke up and got back together, there had to be some flaws in that relationship, right? But maybe I was just reading too much into it. Plenty of people were in on-again, off-again relationships atschool.

Nora

Do you think she expects him to only talk to girls he’s related to?

Ainsley

Even then she sometimes gets a little weird about us being around

I laughed softly because I could relate to that quite a bit. Dean’s girlfriends frequently didn’t like me being around either. A lot of them seemed to think it was some personal affront to them that he had any other women in his life, including me.

Nora

Been there

Sebastian took a sharp turn into the parking spot and I slammed hard into the door, narrowly avoiding smacking my head on the window. I sighed but recovered quickly to get out, even if I started stumbling around while everyone else seemed to be walking just fine.

“Not used to Sebastian’s driving?” Ainsley asked me with a laugh.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be used to it.” He’d driven me around enough times that I think if I was going to get used to it, I would be by now, but no.

Tiffany looked like she was planning to walk ahead, but Sebastian hung back, waiting for us before he went up the path to open the front door to Fifty-Fifty, and we all walked in together.

Even though I’d never set foot in a diner before, I felt like I’d been here a thousand times as soon as I set foot inthe door. It was like the classic one from every movie—the red and white booths, jocks and cheerleaders at every table, girls sitting on their boyfriend’s laps and holding milkshakes or sodas while they all laughed.

The waitress led us to a booth in the back, which was the only spot that wasn’t already overtaken by other jocks. Sebastian and Tiffany both waved at people as they walked by, but Ainsley and I didn’t see anybody we knew. She glanced at me and quirked an eyebrow, and I just smiled back. At least we had each other.

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