Page 103 of Rock Bottom Girl
I pulled to a stop between a tractor and a rusted-out pickup truck. When Marley reached for the door handle, I hit the lock button.
“Jake.”
“Marley.”
“Let me out.”
“I need your guidance first,” I insisted. “Dating question.”
“Okay.”
“What should a guy do if his date is acting all weird and not talking? Should he pretend everything’s fine? Should he force her to tell him what’s wrong? Should he give up and go home and watch porn for the rest of his life?”
She was not amused.
“Come on, Mars. You’re here to make me good at this. What do I do? One second you were totally fine and eating tacos, and the next you’re like a sexy iceberg.”
“An iceberg?”
“A sexy one,” I reminded her.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Come on. Spill. What’s the problem?”
She ran a hand through her hair and then stopped herself. “It’s embarrassing and stupid.”
“You probably shouldn’t discount your feelings like that.”
“I’m about to spend an evening with a whole bunch of people whose main memory of me is getting suspended over antics that ruined Homecoming.”
“That’swhat you’re worried about?”
“Don’t say it like it’s ridiculous.”
“Well, Mars, you grew up in a small town. You know how it goes. People talk about the last ridiculous thing you did until you give them something else to talk about.”
“I destroyed Homecoming, not just for the Homecoming Court but also the soccer team. I ruined Travis’s college sports career.”
“First of all, I wouldn’t say you ruined it. I’d say you made it interesting. You unmasked a villain.”
“And then injured the soccer team’s star player,” she added.
“You know there’s two kinds of people in this world,” I began.
“You mean the kind who divide all of humanity into two groups and the kind who don’t?”
“Har. Hilarious. There are people who take too much responsibility for everything and the people who don’t take responsibility for anything.”
“Which one are you?” God, she was pretty with the moonlight filtering in through the windshield. Her eyes were big and sad, and all I wanted to do was kiss that mouth into a smile.
“I’m one of the perfect ones who only takes credit for what I’m actually responsible for,” I said smugly. “Now, it sounds to me like you’ve been carrying a lot of baggage around with you for too long.”
“Everyone hated me,” she said in a small voice.
I was surprised by her statement. But a few things started to fall into place. “No, they didn’t. Maybe you’re only remembering Amie Jo and her inner circle of demons, but you were a hero to half the school. You don’t think you were the only person that girl tormented, do you?”
She shrugged, but I could tell she was listening.
