Page 104 of Chasing Infinity

I shift in my seat and frown at her. “I just figured you’d have eligible guys lining up to ask thy fair lady to the ball.”

She tries to fight it, but a smile appears on her lips. “You’re such a dork.”

I shrug a shoulder and grin at her now. “Yeah, but you love me.”

Her cheeks brighten, and she averts her eyes. “So are you? Going to prom?”

“Probably not.”

“Why?” she questions, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think there was a hint of disappointment in her tone.

“I don’t know, Parks. It’s just not really my cup of tea, you know? Not really one for silly school dances.”

“Yeah, I get it. It’s dumb,” Parks responds a little too quickly. She tosses her curls over her shoulder and then rests on the couch again. “Forget I asked.”

Regret hits my chest like a bullet, and I watch her warily. “Parks—“

“It’s fine, Noah. Let’s just get back to studying. I told my parents I’d be at the café to help this afternoon.”

I know she’s lying. She told me she was free to hang out all day today, reinforcing my opinion that I just made a grave mistake. I acquiesce, though, and start reading off flash cards. As soon as we’re done studying, she grabs her backpack, tosses me a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes, and then disappears.

“I think I fucked up,” I tell Caleb later that day at the gym. He’s loading one of the barbells with a few plates to do a chest press. My friend shoots me a confused look and then pauses his task.

“You always fuck up, no surprise there. What was it this time?”

I grimace. “I think Parks wanted me to ask her to the prom today, and I was a total asshole about it.”

Caleb’s jaw falls open as he stares at me blankly for a minute. Then without any sense of confidentiality, he turns and yells across the gym, “Hey Jordy! Noah wants to go to the prom with Hurricane Addison!” I reach over and punch Caleb’s shoulder just a little too hard. He flinches away from me. “Ow, what the hell!”

“Maybe don’t scream my business to the entire world, yeah?” I snarl at him.

By this time, Jordan has closed the distance between us. He wipes his forehead with a towel and then looks at me curiously. “You’re asking Addison to the prom?”

“No,” I say too quickly.

“I thought you didn’t like school dances,” he says.

“I don’t.”

“Oooh, he’slying,” Caleb sneers. “Youwantto go with her, don’t you?”

“No. I just had a change of heart, is all,” I argue back. “It’s our last big dance, you know? Don’t want to miss it.”

“A change of heart, right,” Jordan responds, looking amused now. “If that’s what you want to go with.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask my friend accusingly.

“You tell me, man. You’re the one telling Caleb that you want to go with Addison and then changing your mind on a dime. Pick a side and stay there,” Jordan tells me. “Neither of us care if you like her. So if that’s what you’re worried about—“

“It’s not,” I say. It suddenly occurs to me that I’m being way too defensive. These two are my best friends. If I can’t trust them, I can’t trust anyone. “Fine,” I say, letting my guard down. “I think there’s—that is—Parks and me—“

“Oh my God, what is happening right now?” Caleb says, his eyes are wide and unbelieving. “He’s rendered speechless at the thought of her.”

“I told you he was crazy about her,” Jordan says to Caleb. “You owe me.”

“It hasn’t happened yet! I don’t owe you shit.”

I frown at my friends, “What are you two talking about?”

---