tears. “That sounds really nice, Grayson. I don’t have to go up to the condo, though. We could just do something here and that would be good enough for me.”
“Nonsense!” Cheryl said. She was looking at me with pity now, but I couldn’t blame her. I was pretty pitiful right then. “If your mom can go up with you, then you’re welcome to use the condo next weekend.”
The way Grayson jolted next to me, I think he assumed she’d never go for it. “Awesome! You’re the best mom ever!”
“Yes, thank you, Cheryl. I promise we’ll be responsible.”
Grayson jumped forward to give his mom a hug. When he pulled back, she nailed him with a suspicious gaze. “How many close friends are we talking about?”
“Just us, Owen, Pam, Chloe, and the nerd herd.”
“The nerd herd?” Cheryl repeated while I gasped.
“You’d invite the science club? With Owen, Pam, and Chloe there?”
Cheryl finally understood and stared at her son in surprise. “My oldest son mixing social classes?”
“Oh yeah, Mom!” Grayson chirped. “It’ll be an interesting experiment. Didn’t you know? I’m all about social science now.”
Cheryl laughed, but I could still hardly believe it. “You’d really invite Brandon, Levi, Libby, and Tara along with Owen, Pamela, and Chloe?”
All the playfulness left Grayson. The way he looked at me made my knees feel like shaking. Somehow I managed to keep them steady, though.
“Those are your friends, Aves. It’s your birthday. I want you to spend it with all the people you care about, even if half of them are really weird.”
I was too choked up to say anything.
“Well,” Cheryl said. “I think it will be a good experience for all of them. Make sure Kaitlin can go. Boys and girls sleep in separate rooms and absolutely no alcohol. If Kaitlin finds even one drop of it, you will all be murdered.”
“Deal,” Grayson said.
“Then you have my blessing. Now go away so that I can get some work done.”
Grayson dragged us out of there so fast that I thought he was afraid Cheryl would come to her senses and take back the offer. He was so excited about my birthday that it took a while for him to settle down enough that he could focus on writing his paper. It ended up taking longer than we expected.
We were on Grayson’s bed, and when I stretched and lay back on his pillow, he closed his notebook. “I can write the conclusion myself. We can be done now.”
“No, it’s okay,” I said, but as I did, I yawned again.
“It’s getting close to nine. I should get you home anyway.”
“Okay.”
I made no effort to sit up.
Grayson shoved his books on the floor and then lay down next to me. “We didn’t get to work on our experiment at all today. I’m sorry we wasted the whole day on me.”
“That was not a waste, and it’s okay. We don’t really have anything else to work on right now. We haven’t done any kind of test for a while, and we’re still stuck in guilt.”
Grayson chuckled. “Should have let us take on the debate team today. The geek squad was ready. Would have been an awesome field test.”
I sighed. “It goes against my nature to want to hurt him, Grayson. I have no idea how we’re going to reach anger.”
“Well, I don’t understand how you aren’t angry. He was totally wrong, and he hurt you so much. I think you’re afraid of hurting him the way he hurt you, so you’re suppressing your anger. I think it’s there, and if you don’t deal with it eventually, one day you’ll just explode.”
I had no idea what to say. He was probably right. He’d been right about everything so far. “So what do you suggest I do, oh wise, unbiased decision maker of the Avery Shaw Experiment?”
Grayson leaned up on his side, propping himself up on his elbow, and looked down at me with a serious expression. “Honestly?”
“Yes. Be honest. You’re right about guilt being the worst stage so far. I hate feeling so bad all the time. If you have any ideas, I’ll do whatever you think I need.”
“Okay.” Grayson’s eyes locked on mine. “I think you should kiss me.”
My heart stopped. “Um . . .”
You would think that after dancing together and almost kissing him then I would be able to control my blushing and anxiety, but as I lay there on his bed with him gazing intently down at me, my breathing became really shallow. I had to look away