Page 47 of Don't Let Me Go
“But what if I ask him out and he says no?” Duy groans. “Or what if he says yes, and it ends up being a total disaster, and I die of mortification after being rejected by literally the hottest boy on the whole entire planet? No offense, Jackson.”
“All great points,” Tala concedes. “I’m going to counter with what if Caleb says yes and you have a great time and you get to make out with that sexy face for the rest of the year?”
Duy glances over at Caleb, whose face in the bar’s soft lighting does look particularly kissable.
“Ugh,fine,” Duy relents. “I’ll talk to him. But you’re coming with me.”
“Me? Why?” Tala asks.
“Because I need to make it look like we’re going to the ladies’ room to fix our makeup and I just happened to run into him.”
“Or you could just walk up to him and say hello.”
“Oh my God, T., you are so naive,” Duy scoffs. “No wonder you didn’t notice you were dating Audrey for six months.”
Before Tala can protest, Duy grabs her by the arm and pulls her up from the booth.
“Wow,” Jackson exclaims as he watches the two of them disappear into the crowd. “Duy does not take no for an answer, do they?”
“Not really.” I’m still feeling a little awkward after Duy’s reminder that texting does not necessarily equal romance, but I’m trying not to show it. “It’s kind of the best thing about them. Also maybe the worst.”
“Tomorrow should be fun, then.”
“Oh, you have no idea what you’re in for.”
Jackson grins and begins counting off on his fingers. “Carnivals, roller discos, drag-queen karaoke, modeling—do you and your friends ever do anything, I don’t know, normal?”
“Normal?”
“Yeah. Do you ever just chill at home and watch a game?”
“Oh, I see the confusion. I think the word you’re looking for isboring.”
Jackson laughs one of his big, full-body laughs. And despite my confusion about my ever-increasing attraction to him, I can’t help laughing back.
“Well, bless my soul,” a drag queen drawls in a thick Southern accent as she sashays past our table patting her enormous red beehive wig. “Aren’t you two the cutest little couple I ever did see.”
My shoulders stiffen. If there’s one thing guaranteed to make a straight boy freak out in a gay bar, it’s having his sexuality questioned. And even though that was absolutely my original intention in bringing Jackson here, I don’t think I could bear to see that happen now. In fact, I’m almost certain it would break my heart.
Jackson, though, only laughs. “Why do people keep thinking we’re a couple?”
“I have no idea!” I force myself to laugh back.
“For real, that’s the third time someone has thought we were dating.”
“It is?” I remember the fortune teller at the carnival but—
“My aunt said the same thing last night,” Jackson clarifies.
Oh. Huh. That’s?.?.?.?interesting. “Why did your aunt think we were dating?” I ask, trying not to sound like swarms of butterflies are flapping inside my chest.
“Because I was texting you so much. She thought you were a girl.”
“Oh.”
“It’s crazy this keeps happening, right?”
“Yeah,” I say, turning away so he can’t see my face. “Crazy.”
