Page 9 of Don't Love the Boy Next Door
I snap my eyes from the window to her. “What? Oh my gosh, I totally forgot to ask you about your date. I’m so selfish.”
She shakes her head, snorting. “That guy is already filed to the back of my mind.”
I lift a brow.
She snorts again, crossing her arms over her chest. “You know how I thought this guy would actually be decent? Nope, I was wrong. Guy’s a jerk.”
I take her hand, giving her a sympathetic smile. “What happened?”
She twists her nose like she ate something sour. “He called me crazy. Said the only reason he asked me out was because he thought I was hot. So I got out of his car. Late at night. In the middle of nowhere. Seriously. Like there were no houses around and I had no idea where I was.”
My mouth drops open. “That’s terrible. And terrifying.”
She shrugs. “Yeah, I’ll admit I was a little scared. But there was no way I would have stayed a second longer with that jerk.”
“You should have called me.”
“Phone didn’t work in no man’s land. Anyway, I started walking home. I had no idea where I was going, but I figuredI’d find my way. Then this guy on a motorcycle started following me.”
My eyes grow as wide as melons.
“It was Ethan.”
I heave a sigh of relief. “What was he doing there? Oh, right. Football party.”
She nods slowly. “Yeah, except he wasn’t going to the party. He left to look for me.”
“What?”
She shrugs. “Thad told him what happened and he came looking for me. Kind of forced me to get on his bike—okay he didn’t force me. I mean, I didnotwant to get on there, but I didn’t want to walk all alone in the dark, you know. So that’s my story.”
I cover my face. “At least yours isn’t embarrassing.”
She throws her arms around me, yanking me close to her. “It’ll be okay, Kates.”
If only that were true.
“Let’s watch the show before I drive myself crazy with the memory.”
She presses play and we lose ourselves in a fictional world. My thoughts keep drifting to The Incident here and there, but for the most part I do a good job at blocking it out.
Chapter Three
Eric
I’m sitting at my window, staring at the room next door. Katie’s shade is firmly shut, and I wonder if she did that on purpose. Not that I expect it to be raised all the time, it’s just that I want to talk to her.
But I don’t think she’d want to talk to me. I still can’t get the image of her eyes widening in horror after our kiss. How she stumbled back and ran away from me. It’s as if she was…disgusted with me. Like I somehow hurt her.
I don’t understand. Not one bit. Why would she run?
Peering down at my notebook, I tear the page out and launch it into the trash bin. I’ve been working on this new song for hours, but it gets worse the more I delve into it.
I just can’t get what happened out of my head. I didn’t mean to hurt her or make her feel uncomfortable. The kiss was very short, but sweet and perfect. At least in my eyes. Maybe it was different for her. Maybe I really do disgust her and she doesn’t want to be near me again.
My phone is beside me and I’ve been contemplating if I should text her. But I figure she wouldn’t want that.
If she’s so uncomfortable around me, how are we going to play opposite one another?
