Secondary Characters (Novella) - By Rachel Schieffelbein Page 0,18
was, how soft his hair is, how good he smelled, how cute he is and a bunch of other stuff I couldn’t care less about. I smile and nod and try to act like I give a damn.
In the back of my head, I daydream about Lance.
Chapter Ten
I stand in the hallway at school and stare at Mabel. She’s at her locker with Amber, and they’re laughing about something. She’s wearing the red sweater she wore on our first date, and for some reason that makes me want to wrap my arms around her even more than normal.
I am determined to ask her out. She’s all I’ve been able to think about for days; the feel of her arm leaning against me, her face getting closer and closer to mine, the smell of lilacs.
“All right, you gonna go through with it?” Nick walks up behind me and asks for the millionth time.
“Yes.”
“Liar.” He shakes his head and looks at me like I’m a huge disappointment. “You know you’re going to chicken out again. You should have just kissed her.”
“I didn’t chicken out. You and Amber interrupted us,” I snap at him. My body is too tense, I feel about ready to burst. I take a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to relax. “I was going to ask her out, I just didn’t get a chance.”
“Uh huh,” he says, rolling his eyes.
“Just shut up, all right?” I bark at him, every muscle in my body tightening again. He laughs. He knows how nervous I am and, because he’s a sick and twisted ass, he’s totally enjoying it.
“Well, I’m heading over there. You see, I actually have a girlfriend, and she’s waiting for me,” he says, pointing at Amber and looking smug as hell. “You can stand here like a loser, or you can find your balls and ask Maybie out. It’s up to you.” He turns around and starts to head toward the girls. I run my hands through my hair, take a deep breath, and jog after him.
In the six seconds it takes to reach Mabel’s locker I ask her out in my head over and over again. You want to go out to dinner Friday night? I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me? No, that sounds lame. I was wondering if you’d want to go out some time? No, not “some time.” Be specific. Hey, you want to go out Friday night?
Crap, we’re here.
***
On Monday morning, Amber and I are talking at my locker when Nick and Lance walk up. Just the sight of him gives me a warm gooey feeling and I start to smile.
“Hey,” Nick says. To Amber of course. His eyes are fixed on her and I swear I could fall through the floor right now and he wouldn’t notice. Of course, neither would she.
I don’t care. I’m focused on Lance.
“Hey,” Amber says back, all sweetly. After that stunning bout of conversation they walk off together toward their next class, her hand in his back pocket.
“And that’s why they need comic relief,” I say to Lance, who is still standing beside me.
“Yeah, no kidding.” He laughs a little at our private joke, but he’s looking down the hall at them. “I guess they won’t need us for any more double dates, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess not.” The muscles around my heart tighten up; my stomach is one giant knot. Is he going to ask me out?
He’s still watching Nick and Amber. Or maybe just Amber.
“Guys like Nick always get the girl,” he says with a sigh.
And there it is.
Of course Amber was ‘the girl.’ She’s always ‘the girl.’
I feel like I’m going to throw up. Suddenly I wish I could crawl into my locker and disappear. It was always about her. Aphrodite. I feel so stupid. I should have known better. Hadn’t I learned that lesson after Mike?
I can’t believe I thought he was going to kiss me the other night when really he was just lamenting about not being the one kissing Amber. And there I was, leaning into him like an idiot. Thank God Amber interrupted before I did something really embarrassing. Like kiss him.
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” I say softly. I can barely get the words out. My throat starts to close up and pressure builds behind my eyes. I slam my locker shut. “I gotta get going.” I can’t believe I actually talked myself into thinking it was me he liked, when all signs