Page 68 of The Love Interest
Juliet closes her car door and starts jogging over to us.
And I see the truck. It’s an orange pickup, sort of like mine, and it’s cutting right through the lot, heading right toward her. And it’s not slowing down. The driver is some kid who is screaming and he isn’t even holding the steering wheel—he’s slapping it like that’ll do something.Oh God, it’s going so fast, it’s going to hit her!
I go to cry her name and someone hits my shoulder and I spin, then fall to my knees. On the ground, I look up just in time to see Dyl take a running dive at Juliet. He grabs her and tucks her against his body. The two fly out of the way just as the pickup speeds past. It bounces over the sidewalk, then hits the school fence hard enough to bend the metal.
Holy fucking shit, did that just happen?
Natalie’s hands are clasped to her mouth, and Trevor is slack-jawed.
“What the fuck,” says Trevor. “What the actual fuck.”
The pickup driver clambers out to be greeted by a bunch of students who flocked over because of the noise. He’s crying, and he has some blood on his face, but he’s definitely up and moving, which is the important thing.
Dyl and Juliet are on the ground, with Juliet lying on his chest. They’re looking into each other’s eyes. He raises his hand and brushes a strand of hair out of her face.
Oh.
That’swhat just happened. It was a set piece.
I make my way over to them, but when I reach them they don’t even react. Dyl brushes a tear off Juliet’s cheek with his thumb and asks her, “Are you okay?”
She nods, then pushes herself up off his chest and stands on shaking legs. “Yep. Yeah. I’m super.”
He rises quickly, then offers his hand to her. “Come with me. I’ve wanted to show you something for a while, and now’s the perfect time. It’ll help, trust me.”
She nods slowly and takes his hand.
***
Juliet and I are leaning against the fence that surrounds the school, waiting for our lift to nationals. Trev’s dad, who is also his coach, has organized a limo to take us all to the stadium.
I’m glad school is over, because after the crash, classes were canceled so that everyone at the scene could get counseling. My counselor kept trying to get me to calm down, telling me that accidents are a part of life, and that I should besograteful no one was seriously hurt. She’s clearly good at her job, but her attempts to help me process what happened didn’t work at all because I know no one was ever in danger. Well, except maybe me, because Dyl’s play was such a big success. I couldn’t even think about explaining that to her, though.
On top of that, I can’t stop thinking about Dyl and Juliet talking in private after the set piece. I’ve been trying to keep my mouth shut, but it’s only a matter of time before I crack and ask Juliet about it. It’s an itch I have to scratch.
I shouldn’t ask.
But Ireallywant to.
I crack. “Where did you go?”
Juliet turns to me. “Huh?”
I cross my arms. “With Dyl, after, you know. Where’d you go with him?”
Caden, calm down; that’s none of your business and you’re coming across like you’re jealous.
Juliet sighs. “Nowhere, honestly. It was nothing, Caden. I was, well, I was so grateful to him for saving me, I went along with it. I mean, you saw him—he was like a freaking superhero. Once the adrenaline wore off I realized how weird it must’ve looked. And I’m sorry about that. But how do you turn down an offer from the person who just saved your life?”
But he didn’t save you. All he did was lie.
“It’s no problem, Juliet, it was a scary situation and you dealt with it really well. I have no idea how I’d deal if that happened to me.”
“Caden, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to stop talking about it now. Honestly, I’m weirdly fine about it. Sure, it was scary, but it’s also not that big a deal, and I don’t want to let it ruin tonight. Is that okay?”
Is it okay? Not really. I want to pick at this thread to expose Dyl for the liar that he is. It’s way too risky, though, as by exposing him I could reveal myself. Then we’d both be killed, and all my stress would’ve been for nothing.
I mimic zipping my mouth shut as a white limo pulls up to the curb and parks right in front of us. The tires crunch the gravel. Natalie clambers out in sky-high silver heels and a tight sparkly dress. Her hair and makeup are perfectly done. Juliet and I are both still wearing our school uniforms.
