Page 44 of Revolve
Kian falls onto a lone chair, making an unnecessary amount of noise as he tries to get comfortable on top of the plastic sheet I’ve got covering my things. “I’m totally digging the whole shirtless, coveredin paint, depressed Van Gogh thing you got going on. But what’s got you so messed up that it made you want to redecorate? I’m very concerned.”
“You can read about it in my diary.”
“Wait, really?” Kian’s interest piques.
“Get out before I give you something to be concerned about.”
Then he gasps. “It’s a girl, isn’t it?”
“I thought we were over this nursery thing.”
“No, you’re into a girl. Holy shit, how did I miss that? No hookups, no partying, but you’re always finding an excuse to leave the house. Something is definitely up.”
“No idea where you got that. Besides, I don’t always bring girls home.”
He ignores me. “Wow, monogamous Dylan.”
“Monogamous Dylan?” Summer walks into my room with her hands over her eyes.
Kian chuckles. “You don’t have to cover your eyes anymore, Sunny. Dylan’s a born-again virgin.”
“Pulling out a page from Kian’s book?” she jokes.
This time I laugh and Kian glares. “Are you two just watching, or are you going to help?”
Summer grabs a paintbrush, but Kian stands back. “Actually, I just bought these jeans, so …” He sprints out of the room.
“I’ll be the first to say I like this new Dylan. Feels more authentic.”
“I think you mean sober.”
She shakes her head. “Nah, it’s you. You’re not looking for an escape route.”
I chuckle. “Psychoanalyzing again, Sunny?”
“Sorry.” She cringes. “But whatever or whoever it is that’s got you redecorating, I think it might help to talk it through. Nothing is as complicated as we make it in our head.”
“We kissed.” I don’t look at Summer as I say it. It just comes out.“Then I pulled away to tell her we probably shouldn’t, but her coach walked in and … I don’t fucking know.”
Summer’s quiet for a while. The only sound is the paint dripping from her brush onto the plastic-covered floor. “Sierra kissed you andyoupulled away? Because you didn’t want to mess up your reinstatement or …?” I can hear the smile in her voice, but she hides it when I look at her.
She knows I don’t do this. Confiding in someone is like wiping the protective layer of varnish from a painting people admire, only to find that the glossy finish was the only thing hiding the ugly cracks.
“Everyone trusted me enough to do this, and I won’t ruin it. I’m not the guy she deserves.” I’ve never been that for anyone. And I prefer it that way.
“Maybe it’s not up to you to decide what she deserves.” Summer starts painting. “But I think you should talk to her about it. Figure out where her head was at when she kissed you. It’s hard to know the answer if you’ve been avoiding the question.”
Talkingonly leads to more complicated shit, but considering I’m partners with the girl, it’ll have to do.
SEVENTEEN
SIERRA
HOW DO YOUlook your skating partner in the eye when you know what he tastes like? I haven’t figured it out yet, but so far running off to my parents’ house has worked. Poorly.
This past twenty-four hours have not been fun.
Scarlett needed my car for some last-minute meeting she’d been awfully vague about, so she dropped me at my parents’ house last night because I got a tension headache, and I couldn’t tough it out in the dorms. The communal shower is bad enough on a regular day. So all I did last night was stay warm under my covers with a sleep mask and a pack of ice my dad placed on my head. We only had one ibuprofen left, and I didn’t want to tell my parents to run to the store.
