Page 204 of Something Rad
Because you asked him to.
I clear my throat, pushing the thought away. “Hey, Paul,” I nod, giving him a smile. “That’ll be two dollars.”
“Sure thing,” he says, not taking his eyes off me or letting the grin leave his face as he reaches for his wallet in his back pocket.
“Do you think that’s enough to get you through the car ride?” Jesse asks Paul, motioning towards the giant bags of candy. “Jesus, man.”
“If not, I guess we know where to find more,” Paul replies, still looking at me.
I let out a fake chuckle as I take the cash from his hands, turning towards the register to make change.
“So,” Jesse begins, “I was just telling the girls–”
“Cooper, Jesse’s throwing a party tonight,” Paul interjects. “You should totally come.”
My finger slips and I accidentally hit the button to open the register, making the drawer fly out into my stomach and knock the wind out of me.
“What?” I manage to choke out.
“People have missed you around lately,” Paul says. “It’s been awhile. You should come to the party. Both of you, if you want.”
My brain is still processing what just happened when Alice speaks up.
“Well, that sounds so fun,” she sings. “Doesn’t it, Sara?”
I narrow my eyes at her out of view of the boys, but it doesn’t faze her. “I don’t know, I wouldn’t wanna impose on Jesse…” I say.
“It’s not a problem at all,” Jesse insists. “You guys should come.”
My head snaps in his direction, and I find both him and Paul looking completely casual about this entire thing, looking at me expectantly.
I swallow against the sudden lump in my throat, looking between them and Alice. Alice tilts her head towards me, raising her dark brows as a way to tell me to answer them.
“We’ll think about it,” I blurt. “Thanks for the invite.”
“No problem, sounds good,” Jesse says, tapping a knuckle on the counter before turning to head back to their car with a backseat full of girls whose faces I can’t make out from here.
“See you later,” Paul grins, taking a few extra seconds to look me up and down before he follows after Jesse.
As soon as the door closes, I let out a massive breath I didn’t realize I was holding, immediately turning on Alice. “Do you care to explain yourself?” I ask her.
“What?” she questions me, an innocent look on her face. “We needed something fun to do tonight.”
“Nowedidn’t,” I correct her. “And how is that your definition of fun? You want to go to a party with Jesse Lamonte and Paul Strothers?”
“You act like they’re the only two people that’ll be there,” she rolls her eyes. “Sara, the whole school will be there, and you know it.”
“Just knowing they’re there at all is enough for me to not care to engage,” I tell her. “If you’ve somehow forgotten, Jesse is sort of my arch-nemesis–”
“Is he? Really?”
“Well, yeah, kinda,” I stammer. “I mean, hewas,at least.”
“He wasn’t really acting like it now. He seemed plenty nice. And besides, you won. You beat him. If he seems cool with being in the same room with you, why do you care?”
“Well–I mean–I…” I trail off, pushing my hair out of my face.Could she pleasenotmake logical sense right now?
“And, come on, arch-nemesis seems a little dramatic. I’d think if that was anybody it’d be–”
