Page 38 of Hate You, Maybe
Interesting. I guess.
Next up is Gretchen, a soft-spoken woman, who moved to North Carolina last year. She’s here with three other nurses from St. Augustine’s: Nadia, Juniper, and Mickey. Their interesting facts are their favorite bands: Coldplay, Radiohead, Linkin Park, and another Coldplay.
“Switch!” Bob announces. A man with a wave of sandy-blond hair and a toothpaste-commercial smile moves into the space across from me.
“I’m Hogan,” he says. "Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Sayla,” I chirp, trying my best not to be boring. “NotSailor.” I point to my name corrected in Sharpie and force an awkward laugh.
“Love your name,” he says.
“Me too,” I blurt, even though I kind of don’t. “I’m a teacher from Harvest Hollow, and I’m allergic to mangoes.”
“I’m from Mills River,” he says. Then he grins at me. “And I’m a mango distributor.”
“Wait.” I blink at him. “Seriously?”
“No.” He shrugs. “IamHogan from Mills River, but myjob has nothing to do with mangoes. I just like making stupid jokes.”
I bust out laughing at this. The fact that I sometimes miss the punchline is another not-so-interesting fact about me. “So what’s yourrealinteresting fact, then?” I ask.
“I think I’ll just stick with the stupid joke thing if that’s okay with you.”
“Ha! Yes. Sure.” Another laugh slips out of me even as I feel a prickle along my neck. It’s the kind of instinctive hair-raising that happens when you feel like someone’s watching you. So I wipe my damp hands down my cargo pants and peek down the row.
Dexter is staring at me. Talking to Hogan.
This definitely makes me feel weird. Especially because he’s not even looking at Gretchen, the nurse who’s in front of him. And she was so nice.
Bob shouts, “Switch!” and the opposite row shifts to the left again.
That’s when Victoria/Tori steps up to me.
“Sayla. Finally,” she gushes. “I already overheard you tell someone you’re from Harvest Hollow, and I just have to tell you I’m obsessed with HadLink.” Her eyes go wide. “You know. Lincoln James and Hadley Morgan? They’re from your town, right?”
“They are.” I nod, grateful Tori’s handing me such an easy topic of conversation. Nothing too personal. Just a bit of celebrity info I can share without violating anyone’s trust or privacy. “Hadley teaches at the other high school in the Mountain Valley District,” I say. “Harvest High.”
Tori lets out a little squeal of excitement. “Don’t you think Dexter looks like him?”
“Looks like who?”
“Link!” She beams at me. “You’re so lucky you get to workwith him. And share a cabin with him.” She giggles. “I mean Dexter, not Lincoln James.”
We both turn and glance down the row at the same time. At least Dexter isn’t staring at me anymore. He’s talking to Nadia now. She likes Radiohead. See? I pay attention. I really do hope there’s a test.
“He’s just so insanely hot,” Tori says a little breathlessly, and I snap my focus back to her. I don’t want to talk about Dexter being hot with Tori. Or about Dexter being hot with anyone.
“Honestly, I haven’t given his attractiveness any thought,” I lie.
“Well, I have,” Tori admits, digging her perfect teeth into her pink lip-glossed mouth. “So based on the fact that you didn’t want to room with him, I assume you two aren’t a couple.”
“Us? Me and Dex? Together?” I crinkle my nose. “Oh, no. For sure not.”
“His nickname is Dex? I loooove that.” She lets out a long groan. “Please tell me he doesn’t have a girlfriend.”
I huff out an amused breath. “He sure doesn’t.” The fact that he just told me back in the cabin that he’s not interested in dating anyone right now shouldn’t feel like a relief to me, but for some reason does.
“Yesss!” Tori’s face breaks into a wide smile. “Because I’d never tinkle on another woman’s territory, but?—”
