Page 32 of Valentine Dare

“Yeah, I know. Crazy, right?”

She slammed her hand on the table. “Not crazy, that’s fucking wild. I’m so jealous. You have three guys! Back in my old high school, I had a boyfriend, but we broke up after moving here.”

I sighed. “Sorry. Is it because of the long distance?”

“Nah, he was a jerk. Bit like your ex. I got tired, or bored, or a little of both and just told him it should end. Moving was a good excuse.”

Lacey laid our orders on the table, smiled again and then left as the diner started to get busy.

“Yeah, dad being arrested seemed to be a good excuse for Kurt to dump me.”

She pointed at me. “You should have dumped him a long time ago. The guy’s been cheating on you for the last year or probably longer.”

“I know now, didn’t at the time.”

“Really? You blind or something?”

I giggled because I loved the way she talked. There was no holding back with her; she said exactly what was on her mind.

“It seems that I was, and I didn’t even realize.”

We had a lot more in common than I ever would have imagined, and I felt comfortable as we both tucked into our muffin and slurped on our milkshake.

I reached out my hand, after cleaning the chocolate off of it.

“Tracey Williams, will you be my friend?”

She lifted her shoulders and wiped her hand. “You’re weird. You need me to shake your hand to agree to be friends with you?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay then, Jenny Hampton, I’ll be your friend. You’re one and only friend in high school. Deal?”

I laughed. “You sure do have a deal.”

And like that, it was only seven months till the end of high school, but my life had completely changed. Not only did I break-up with Kurt before the Valentine’s dance, but I’d been not only with one brother, but two of them.

For the first time in high school, I’d had a friend.

A real one.

* * *

There wasan unspoken silence between Brent and I as we were the only ones in the house. I was tired, I’d been out late with Tracey, and I forgotten what it felt like to have a girlfriend. I used to back in middle school, but she moved away and then ever since then my world was all about Kurt and nothing else.

“Tracey and you are getting on well. I’m glad to see that.”

I slumped down onto the sofa.

“Yeah, can you believe throughout high school I’ve never had a girlfriend? So, it’s been cool.”

Brent agreed. “She’s cool. She’s always in the diner. Think it’s her second home. Doesn’t matter what time or day I go. She’s in there. I sit with her at times. I can tell she’s lonely and everyone else are just jerks.”

“Why is it? Cause of her skin?”

“Jenny, why would you think that? Nothing to do with that, just everyone sticks to their damn groups, and no one even thinks of doing anything new. They’re closed minded. You must see that. You were one of them too, remember? Doesn’t mean it is a color thing, it’s just the way they roll. Anything new is seen as a threat. They can’t fucking process it.”

“You mean we live in a bubble?”

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