Page 10 of Love is a Game

Sadie looked up and furrowed her brow. “What? You mean Tyson? Yeah, the beard looks great.”

Julie rolled her eyes. “No. I meant Andrew! Pretty sexy, right?”

“What?” Sadie cried, horror written across her face. “Ew!”

“Oh, come on, you didn’t notice those broad shoulders? The cut of his jaw.” Julie wiggled her eyebrows. “I remember him being kind of a baby face when you guys graduated. Not anymore.”

“That’s just . . . I didn’t . . .” Sadie sputtered. She had noticed. Of course she had, but she wasn’t about to admit it. “I haven’t seen him in over a decade. Obviously, he’s changed.”

“Yeah, he’s changed into someone who spends a lot of time at the gym.”

Sadie shut her laptop and stood. She pointed a disapproving finger at her sister. “You’re a married woman,” she said, before heading into the kitchen.

“What, I can’t notice things?” Julie asked, following her. “I’m not looking for myself!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“When you said you were coming back, I thought maybe I could, you know, help you have some fun.” Julie grinned but Sadie didn’t understand. “I’ve been scouting out the dating pool for you!”

Sadie’s forehead dropped into her hand. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“What? I’m your sister. I was just trying to help you out.”

“And your idea of helping me out is setting me up with the person I hate more than anything else in the world?”

“He’s a great guy,” Julie insisted. “Everyone seems to like him!”

“Of course everyone likes him!” Sadie cried. “Somehow he always manages to win everyone over. But he’s a jerk! He doesn’t take anything seriously, and he thinks he’s better than everyone else. He made my life miserable when we were in school.”

Sadie got herself a glass of water and sipped at it, hoping it would cool the heat in her cheeks.

“Was he really that bad?”

Sadie grabbed an orange off the counter and sat down on a stool next to Julie to peel it. “In the fifth grade when the nurse came in to talk about puberty, he announced to the whole class that I’d already started my period.”

“How did he know?”

“He didn’t. He was lying. He’s a liar.”

“He was a liar,” Julie corrected, “when he was ten.”

“Freshman year, he told Mrs. Riggs that my name was Shady. You remember how old she was, right? I tried to correct her, but she never got it right after that.”

Julie bit her lip, trying to hold back a giggle. “That’s not that bad.”

Sadie glared at her and said slowly, “He convinced all the other kids at the Model UN conference to declare war against my country!”

Julie burst out laughing. “What? I didn’t even know you could do that!”

“Neither did I until I read their declaration!”

Tears streamed from Julie’s eyes as she tried to catch her breath. “Aren’t there teachers there to supervise?” she finally managed to ask.

“Yes!” Sadie cried. “And he convinced them all to let it happen!”

“Okay, that’s pretty funny,” Julie said, and then caught herself when she saw Sadie’s expression. “I mean, awful.” She coughed. “That’s pretty awful. But admit it, it went both ways. Didn’t you rig the debate club, so he would always have to argue the worst positions?”

“I was defending myself,” Sadie told her. “He was the instigator.”

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