a laugh from me. “Penny Layne, is that jealousy I detect?”
She reached for the door handle again and I caught her elbow.
“Okay, okay, enough teasing,” I said. “I’m sorry I stopped by unannounced, but I had a reason.”
“What’s that?”
“This,” I said, texting her the music files I’d recorded last night.
Her phone dinged and she looked at the messages. “What’s this?”
“I had a few ideas I thought we could try when we rehearse after school today.”
Layne’s face scrunched up in confusion. “For my song?”
“Yeah. Just take a listen and if you like anything, we can try it out at rehearsal.”
“Oh,” her eyebrows rose. “Um, okay.”
She looked impressed by my initiative and it made me smile. I loved how easy she was to read. If more girls were like her maybe I wouldn’t have a reputation. “So,” I said, “Are we good?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure?”
She nodded and this time, when she reached for my door handle, I didn’t stop her.
Chapter Nineteen
Layne
Wyatt walked the short distance from the parking lot to the school entrance with me. I could already feel the stares we were getting.
Most of my life I’d been invisible, happy to be Lola’s shadow, but it seemed Wyatt’s presence was so big, even his shadow warranted attention.
I didn’t like it.
I ducked my head and let my brown hair fall around my face like a protective curtain.
When we walked into the main hall, I tried to split off from Wyatt to head to my locker, but he caught my arm. “Oh, I almost forgot. I spoke to my mother this morning and told her to officially add me to the competition. She said she’ll take care of the paperwork.”
I looked down, my face flaming as girls walked past us slack-jawed to see Wyatt Nash giving me the time of day.
“That is, unless you’ve changed your mind?” Wyatt asked, when he was met with my silence.
“No.”
“No, you don’t want me, or no, you haven’t changed your mind?”
“No, I-I want you,” I stammered, cringing when I realized how that sounded. “I mean, I haven’t changed my mind, I want you to sing my songs in the competition.”
Wyatt’s lips quirked up into a grin. “Good, I’m glad we got that cleared up. But you’re going to have to get over this,” he said, gesturing between us.
“Get over what?”
“Your embarrassment to be seen with me.”
“I’m not embarrassed,” I replied, my hot cheeks instantly betraying me.
“You look pretty embarrassed right now, and even more so when I showed up at your house this morning.”
“No, I wasn’t, it’s just . . .” I trailed off.
“Just what?”
“I-I don’t know.”
Wyatt narrowed his eyes, studying me, then as if he’d come to a decision, he took a step closer, his mouth grazing my ear as he spoke. “You know what I like about you, Penny Layne? You’re real. Don’t stop on my account.”
I swallowed thickly trying to unscramble my brain. “What does that mean?”
He took a step back and shrugged like he had no idea how much his words affected me. “It means, do you. Be proud of who you are, where you come from. It’s all part of the package.” He took another step back, his eyes appraising me from head to toe. “And from where I’m standing, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” He gave me a wink. “See you after school, Penny Layne.”
Then he turned abruptly and disappeared into the churning hall of students, leaving me standing there, my universe forever altered.
The rest of the day I replayed Wyatt’s words over and over. The affect they had on me wasn’t surprising, however, the fact that I felt strangely at ease was.
Wyatt Nash liked me. I didn’t know if he meant, he liked-me-liked-me, or if he meant it in more of a you’re-a-casual-friend-and-I-respect-you-musically, kinda way. But I found I was content with either, because the one thing that was clear from his startling confession was that he liked me for me.
The notion was rare, and frankly thrilling.
‘Do you. Be proud of who you are, where you come from.’ I clung to his words, letting them fill me up. He made it all sound so easy. Like ignoring the perceptions of others was no big deal.
Perhaps it could be that easy. The idea of letting all my self-doubt and insecurity go was tempting. It was what held me back all of these years.
A peaceful calm washed over me as I imagined how liberating it would be to exist in a world like that, where I didn’t care what people thought of me.