Page 54 of Crew
"Sunday, I--" Taz began.
"Don't apologize." I was trying to be gentle here, but if Taz wanted to stop taking her shit, this was a time to stand up and base her feet. Or whatever she'd said. "You were being honest."
Steam could've been coming out of Sunday's ears.
Taz's eyebrows lifted. "But I wasn't sensitive. You can be honest, but you have to be sensitive." She said the last bit to her friend/enemy. "I'll be more sensitive. I'm sorry, Sunday."
For fuck's sake.
This was why I didn't have female friends, except for Taz. Either I didn't know how to be sensitive or I didn't speak that language. If that's how female friends had to be with each other, I didn't know if I'd ever have one.
I knew Taz would say she was being nice, but she looked like she was kissing Sunday's feet. And as the red coloring left her face and a smirk flared, I knew Sunday thought the same. In her head, in her group, she had won just now.
The door opened again, and Jordan, Zellman, and Cross came out.
I almost sagged in relief. The school gods must've heard me.
"And that's my cue to go," I announced.
The guys saw me as they went out to the parking lot, and they lingered a few feet away, waiting.
I started for them, then remembered what Taz had said, and I wheeled back around to Monica. "Taz said you wanted to ask about me and Cross."
I could feel him watching me.
"He's my best friend," I told her. "That's all that's going on, so it's up to you whether you're secure enough to handle that. That's your problem. Don't make it mine."
Taz let out a short laugh as I caught up to Cross and the guys.
Zellman glanced back at the girls as we headed to Cross' truck. "What's going on there?"
"They're clearing the air."
"You okay with them now?" Jordan asked, his finger waving from me to them. "Can we get with them again?"
I nodded. "For now, I guess."
Zellman's eyes got big, but he didn't say anything. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, hunching his shoulders forward. "So what's the plan for hanging out?" Zellman's cheeks bulged out. He was refraining himself. "Jordan's or somewhere else?"
Jordan's lips twitched, so did Cross's. We could all see the struggle. Z just got the green light to get some Boobs, but it was crew time right now apparently.
"I'm down for whatever," I said. "I just have to have dinner with my brother at seven, wherever he's at."
"Dinner with your brother?" Cross asked. "That's the debt Alex can't pay off?"
"Yep. Which sucks."
"We could dress him up to look like a girl," Zellman offered.
Alex was probably a hundred and fifty pounds heavier than me. "You're right. Channing would be fooled. Let's do it."
Zellman frowned. "I wasn't joking. You guys always laugh at my suggestions."
"The dinner just you and your brother?" Cross asked, eyeing Zellman.
So was I, but I replied, "You want to come? He said I could bring anyone with me."
"Fuck." Jordan's eyes flashed with anticipation. "Dinner with Channing Monroe. I know he's your brother, but man. That'd be awesome. I'm in."
