If We Ever Meet Again - Ana Huang Page 0,19
her friends about her excursion with Blake. It wasn’t like they went on a date. It wasn’t worth bringing up.
Her discomfort didn’t go unnoticed.
Olivia narrowed her eyes. “What are you hiding?”
“Nothing.” Farrah swiped her sketchbook from her desk. “Hey, wanna look at my designs and tell me what you think?”
“Yes, after you tell me what you’re hiding. Oh my god, did you meet someone last weekend?” Olivia clutched Farrah’s arm, her eyes wide with excitement. “Are you having a secret affair?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m with you guys all the time. The logistics wouldn’t work.”
“You weren’t with us Sunday.”
Farrah sighed. Once Olivia got an idea in her head, she was like a pit bull with a bone. “Fine. If you must know, I ran into Blake on my way out and, on the spur of the moment—meaning it wasn’t planned—I asked him to join me. We went to a few galleries and came back. The end.”
Olivia’s grip tightened. “You’re having a secret affair with Blake Ryan!”
“I am not!” Farrah wrenched her arm away and shook it out. “Jesus, you cut off my circulation.”
“Don’t change the subject. You spent an entire day with Blake and didn’t tell us about it. Why?” Olivia wiggled her eyebrows. “What naughty things did you get up to?”
“None. You read too many erotica novels.”
For someone so status-driven, Olivia was surprisingly open about her less-than-highbrow reading habits.
“They’re great inspiration. Sammy has no complaints.”
Farrah wrinkled her nose. “Ew. TMI.”
Waaaay too much information.
As she’d expected, Olivia caved and hooked up with Sammy at 808 earlier that week. They’d gone on their first date the next night and were fast becoming one of FEA’s most nauseatingly cute couples.
Farrah was thrilled (the 100 kuai she received for winning the group’s bet on when Olivia and Sammy would get together was a bonus), but their relationship also reminded her of the utter lack of romance in her own life.
“Once again, changing the subject. I know he’s not your ‘type’—” Olivia placed the word in air quotes. “But maybe that’s a good thing. Leo’s your type, but he’s taken. Are you still into him?”
“Who, Blake?”
“Leo!”
“Uh.” Farrah pictured Leo’s curly dark hair and easy smile. As usual, her stomach fluttered at the mental image, though the sensation was more muted than usual. “I’m getting over it.”
“That means you’re not over it, which means you need to get over it, because we have a whole school year ahead of us. You’re young, hot, and single in Shanghai. You can have any guy you want except, you know, Leo. As your friend, I’m obligated to make sure you don’t spend your time here moping over unrequited love.”
“Come on. I have other things going on in my life.”
“Yeah, but you still think about him all the time. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Farrah fiddled with the binder rings on her sketchbook.
“That’s what I thought. Now, you know what they say. The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else. In this case, that ‘someone else’ is a Greek god lookalike whose name rhymes with Jake Bryan.”
“Not going to happen.”
Olivia let out an exasperated huff. “I don’t understand why you’re being so stubborn. The boy is HOT. Capital H, capital O, capital T. Have you seen his abs?”
“No.” Farrah raised her eyebrows. “Have you?”
Olivia’s cheeks colored. “I may have snuck a tiny peek when I saw him coming out of the shower on my way to Sammy’s room.”
Farrah’s eyebrows arched higher.
“Stop. I went to return Sammy’s pen. Anyway, that’s not the point. The point is, Blake is the perfect person to help you get over Leo.”
“He’s cute, but he’s so—" Farrah searched for the right word. “Cocky.”
“Mmm. I bet he is.”
“Olivia!” It was Farrah’s turn to flush red.
Olivia laughed. “Look, you said you’re not waiting for The One to lose your virginity to. It’s probably better that way. Less pressure. And since we’re in Shanghai, what better way to lose your virginity and get over Leo than by hooking up with a hot guy who knows what he’s doing? Because trust me, Blake looks like he knows what he’s doing.”
On paper, it made sense. Farrah was physically attracted to Blake. She even enjoyed hanging out with him (most of the time).
But Blake thought romance was a con, which was the most blasphemous thing Farrah could think of.
Then again, it didn’t matter what he thought of love if it was going to be a hookup, right?
Ugh. Her head hurt.
Olivia placed her hand on Farrah’s arm. “Remember, we’re studying