Page 42 of Don't Love the Boy Next Door
Katie stands beside me, peering over my shoulder as my thumbs work overtime texting this sweet, kind, perfect person.
Yes, perfect.
“Wow, you really have it bad,” she says.
I glance up. “No, I don’t. I told you we’re just friends.”
She hides a knowing smile. “Sure, whatever you say.”
“Katie, Itoldyou I don’t know anything about him.”
She sits down on the bed, reaching for a pillow and crushing it in her arms. “But you’re slowly getting to know him. And I’m not blind. You’re really into him.”
“Nope.”
She shakes her head like she doesn’t believe me. Is she right? Am I into him? I mean, sure I love gaming with him and we were up last night texting about random things. But that doesn’t mean Ilikehim, does it?
I shrug. “Andyou’reinto Eric.”
Her mouth opens and closes so fast it looks like it’ll break. “I told you I’m not.”
“And I’m not into Liam!”
She holds up her hands. “Fine. Let’s drop it.” She stands and continues to dig through her closet.
“I find it interesting how you’re going crazy looking for something pretty to wear for someone you’renotinto.”
She whirls around, placing her hands on her hips. “I just want to look good for the…for the stream, okay?”
“Sure, sure, whatever you say.”
It takes a little while, but she finally settles on a shirt and jeans and we take the city bus to the game. I so don’t want to do this or think about that jerk or anything negative, so I read over Liam’s comments. He totally was my knight in shining armor last night. And he even went back to previous videos to defend me.
We reach school and I follow Katie to the football field, where we find Eric and Cody on the bleachers. Eric gives Katie such a sweet smile that definitely melts her into a puddle on the ground. Her face is a little red as she averts her gaze from him.
I spend my time texting Liam, but he doesn’t really answer back. Right, he has that family thing. I’d better not bother him. So I continue reading over my comments and talking to Katie, Eric, and Cody.
I hate being here, but the only thing making it bearable is Katie, and my looking forward to gaming with Liam later.
The football jerks spill onto the field and the crowd goes wild, especially when the captain comes in. I’m streaming live right now, hoping to catch it all for my fans.
I grit my teeth as I remember the smug smile he gave me when Mrs. Holden told us she really loved the last page. She said we ended it with a bang.Whatever. It’s not like I care about school, anyway.
She and the rest of the kids at school can continue feeding The Jerk’s ego that’s the size of the sun. I’ll have no part in it.
And I sure as heck amnotgoing to cheer for them. Not even when they score their first touchdown. Last time, I was yelling over the rest of the crowd, but now I’m sitting in my seat wishing I were elsewhere. Like live streaming my games instead of this football game.
I scan the comments as I video. Some are from kids from school who aren’t at the game, but most are from people around the world. Many have heard about our awesome football team and want to support us virtually.
“Yep, we’re awesome,” I say to the camera with a wide, fake smile. Because there’s nothing awesome about these football bullies. “The Dragons lead one to zero. Go Dragons!” So much for not cheering for the team. Ugh. Sometimes I get so carried away in the stream.
The comments zoom like crazy and I can’t make sense of them. Except for…TheTman and his friends.
Wait a second. TheTman…Thad. How the heck are Thad and his friends trolling me when they’re kicking butt on the field?
They’re all there, each member of what I thought was the team. Was I wrong? Could it be it’s not them?
But how can it not be? I was so sure…
