Page 11 of The Love of My Next Life
“Oh, trust me, I won’t.” She bounces her eyebrows at me, and I laugh with her. Claire isn’t a virgin. Not by a long shot. I’m technically not either, but she’s way more experienced than I am.
We climb out of the car, she locks the door, and hands me the keys.
“Let’s do this, Bae.” She holds her arm out to me, and I loop mine through hers.
“Lead the way, Bae.”
Inside the house, Claire makes a beeline for the kitchen, where we find three coolers full of cheap beer. She turns up her nose at the beer and opens the fridge.
“Bingo,” she says, and pulls out a spiked seltzer, opening it and taking a big gulp. “Let’s do a lap.”
I walk with Claire, arms linked, around the house, and she stops to talk to basically everyone. She’s much more popular than I am. Part of it is because she’s grown up here. She’s been to school with all these kids since kindergarten, and I’ll always be the outsider who showed up in the middle of fourth grade.
But the other part, probably the bigger part, is that Claire is just more likable. She’s got one of those personalities that draws people in. She’s witty, she’s stylish. She’s outspoken when she wants to be.
And I’m...amiable.
Polite.
Nice.
No onedislikesme—well, except for Sam and Macon, but I don’t like them either—but no one reallylikesme either. They can take me or leave me, makes no difference to them.
Claire laughs and flirts, and I smile and speak when spoken to. My outfit draws a few appreciative glances, but otherwise, I might as well be one of the bangles on Claire’s wrist.
“Oh my god, he’s coming over here,” Claire whisper-hisses at me, breaking me from my staring contest with the wallpaper. I glance at her, then follow her eyes.
Josh.
All-American sparkling smile on his face as he pushes his way through the house, eyes stuck like a tractor beam on Claire. I can feel her vibrating.
“Deep breaths,” I whisper back. “You got this.”
“I got this,” she repeats, and then flashes a Miss Virginia Teen smile just as Josh steps in front of us. “Hey, Josh,” she chirps. “Thanks so much for the invite.”
“You havin’ a good time?” He flicks his eyes from Claire to me, then does a double take. His eyes drop from my face to my camisole, down my body to my shoes, then back. When Josh’s eyes linger long enough to make me uncomfortable, Claire jostles me and speaks up, getting his attention once more.
She gets him talking about school, then flashes me an annoyed look that I don’t quite understand. Is she mad at me because he was leering?
No. Definitely not.
I fold my arms over my chest anyway.
I’m lost in my thoughts again when Claire nudges my arm. I glance at her, and she’s got that giddy smile on her face and Josh’s arm slung over her shoulder.
“I’m going to go sit with Josh at the bonfire,” she says, then flares her eyes at me slightly. I get the hint.She’sgoing to the bonfire. I amnotto follow. I nod.
“Have fun,” I tell her. “I’ll be here.”
“You sure you don’t want to come, Lennon,” Josh asks, and Claire laughs nervously.
“That’s not really her scene, right, Len?”
“Yeah,” I say slowly, “I’m not really a fan of bonfires.” Claire’s smile grows with my lie. She mouthsthank you, then tugs on Josh’s arm.
“See you in a bit, Lenny,” she says, then she and Josh turn and walk away, leaving me to just...stand around by myself.
I head back to the kitchen and rummage through the cabinets until I find a glass, fill it with water from the fridge, then wander over to a corner and plant myself in it. I pull out my phone and open my e-reader, settling in for a few hours until my services as designated driver are needed.
