Page 62 of Didn't See That Coming

“That’s…cool,” he says after an eternity. “I’m happy for you guys.”

“It was a long time coming,” Jonas says. “Right, Kiki? We’ve been flirting for weeks now, and over the weekend we finally made things official.”

“Flirting for weeks, huh?” Liam’s eyes meet mine, and Istare back soundlessly, a world of emotions warring inside me.Look at me and see the truth,I plead silently.You’ve got to know that Jonas is spouting bullshit.

Jonas finally senses the weird vibe between Liam and me. He glances at Liam, then at me, and his eyes narrow a little. Okay, maybe now he’ll end this conversation and put me out of my misery.

But of course, that isn’t what happens, because Jonas is an agent of chaos. When he senses something off, he doesn’t avoid it; instead, he jumps headlong into it. I see the moment of decision, the glint in his eye, far too late.

“How was your date? You had one, like, a week ago, right?” Jonas laughs. “I love how whoever’s running that app thinks an NDA would shut anyone up. Pretty sure the entire school knows who’s going out with whom.”

“Uh, right. It was okay.” Liam’s gaze burns through me before he drops it.

“Well, don’t worry about it, mate. I already asked the Lil’ Aunties to set us up on a double date.”

Both Liam and I snap our heads around and stare at Jonas, mouths agape. Oh my god. I did say that I wanted to go on a double date with Liam recently. But things have changed massively now that I’m “dating” Jonas. I would rather chew off my own arm than go on a double date with Liam, with Jonas as my date. Well, maybe not my own arm, but I would definitely rather chew offanarm than do that.

Jonas grins at us. “They think it’s a great idea. It’ll be on my new yacht, by the way. You’re gonna love it. Kiki’s excited about going on it, aren’t you, babe?”

Acidic words claw themselves up my throat and then die halfway up, because seriously, what the hell can I say to that?

Liam shoves his hands into his pockets, not meeting my eye. “Cool,” he mumbles.

“You’re all gonna love my new yacht, I promise.”

Not even eight in the morning and Jonas has said “yacht” about seventeen times. And I can’t believe I’m going to have to go on a double date with him as my boyfriend while Liam goes out with another girl. How did my life take such a disastrousturn?

CHAPTER 16

Sourdawg:So something REALLY weird happened

Dudebro10:Yeah?

Sourdawg:You know that girl sitting next to me

Dudebro10:Yeah

Sourdawg:So I found out today that she’s dating this guy who’s been straight-up bullying her and calling her crazy

Dudebro10:Huh.

Huh is right. What else can I say to that? My entire face—hell, my entire body—feels like it’s on fire. I swear my scalp has shrunk until it’s squeezing my skull. There’s so much I want to tell Liam. But there’s nothing I can say. Nothing aside from “Huh.”

Sourdawg:That’s weird, right? Like, why would you date someone who’s been such an asshole to you?

Dudebro10:Yeah, it’s super fucked up

Super fucked up’s right. I squeeze my eyes shut until the urge to bawl passes.

Sourdawg:Sorry, I know I’m kind of hung up on it, but it’s just kind of really frustrating to watch

Dudebro10:Yeah, totally. I get what you mean

Trust me, Liam, I empathize so much more than you think.

Sourdawg:I mean, you’ve come across all those stereotypes too, right? You know, the ones that are about how girls just want to be mistreated? And I’ve always believed they’re BS, but IDK anymore

Dudebro10:OK, well, first of all, this one girl isn’t representative of every girl in the world, so…

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