The Backup Girlfriend (Grove Valley High #2) - Emma Doherty Page 0,80
I join him just as his phone beeps with a bunch of messages.
He pulls his phone out and reads them before tapping out a reply, a smile on his face.
“Livy?” Aaron asks.
“No. It’s Ethan,” Chase replies, naming his good friend from Texas whose dad is richer than God and who might just be the only guy I’ve thought comes close to rivaling Chase in the looks department.
“Oh yeah, how’s he doing?”
“He’s good. Feeling a lot better and ready for college I think.”
“Are he and his sister still at each other’s throats?” I ask. I remember right at the start of the year Chase told me Ethan’s sister had moved in with them, having to relocate from the UK after their mom died. From what Chase told me, it was not an easy move and they were fighting constantly.
“Nah, I think his accident made her realize all that was stupid.” His face lights up. “I finally saw a picture of her.”
Aaron looks more interested in this than I am. “No way, show me.” Aaron turns to me as Chase starts tapping away on his phone again. “Logan said she’s stupid hot.”
I roll my eyes as Chase chuckles. “Don’t let Finn hear you say that,” he says, naming another guy from Ethan’s friend group. They all came to visit last year so I know them all.
Chase hands the phone over to Aaron, who lets out a low whistle at whatever he sees on the screen, and despite myself, I reach for the phone. My jaw nearly drops when I see the supermodel-esque girl in the picture.
Damn.
Beautiful girls everywhere. No wonder my self-esteem is always at rock bottom. Like I could ever compare to someone like this, or Livy or Sophie.
It’s like Chase can read my mind. “Stop it, Abs. Do not let one picture of Ethan’s sister send you on one of your crazy diets.”
“Shut up,” I mutter back, because I really don’t need to be lectured right now. That’s the thing when you have low self-esteem—it doesn’t matter what anyone else tells you. You think what you think until that changes.
At least I’ve been told it changes. I haven’t quite gotten there yet.
“Do not let Brendon see this picture,” says Aaron, who’s grabbed the phone back from me. “He’d be on the next flight to Texas.”
Chase chuckles, taking his phone back and stretching his arms out over his head, revealing just the slightest trace of his abs as his t-shirt rises, and I look away. I don’t need to be drooling over Chase’s abs. “So what are you doing here so early?”
I shrug. “Just woke up early.”
“Oh.” Aaron waves a hand at me. “I’m booking our limo this week—how many spots do you want?”
“Our limo?”
“For prom.”
“You’re getting a limo?”
“Yeah, we’re going old-school, remember? Jennifer, Jackson, and Jenna are getting one too if you’d rather go with one of them, but I figured you’d be with us.”
If the thought of prom didn’t make my stomach turn, I’d actually think it was sweet that he’s including me without me even having to think about it, but prom is the last thing on my mind.
“Who’re you going with?” Aaron asks.
I shrug. I haven’t even thought about it. I’m definitely not going if I don’t pass. It would be too humiliating to attend prom with my friends and not graduate with them a week later.
“Why don’t you take Brett?” Chase asks.
My eyes snap to him. “Why?” My eyes flit between them both. “Did Sophie say something? Did Sasha?”
Chase’s eyes widen. “No one said anything.”
Aaron smirks. “Why? Is there something to tell?”
I roll my eyes. “No, idiot.”
Chase holds his hands up like he’s holding off an attack. “I only meant that you guys have been spending so much time together, and since you’re not dating Dan Summers anymore, you should take Brett as your friend.”
He hesitates.
“That’s true, isn’t it? You’re not with Summers anymore?”
It is just too weird to be sitting here discussing my love life with Chase. I turn to Aaron. “Who’re you taking?”
I raise my eyebrows in surprise. Aaron could definitely get someone to go as his date-date rather than taking Sasha as just a friend, but maybe that’s not the vibe he’s looking for. “You just want to take a friend and have fun, huh?”
He doesn’t answer me, but I catch Chase sending him a look that tells me there’s something else going on there. I let out a long sigh as