keep up.
“Are we racing?” I asked.
“Sorry.” Noah slowed down. “Not used to walking with anyone as short as you.”
“I’m not short. I’m above average height for a female.” For some reason, Noah’s lack of experience walking around with shorter people was kind of pleasant. It fit in with his earlier confession that he hadn’t dated any one seriously since high school. Or maybe it just meant he dated really tall women.
We walked into the library, and a girl I didn’t know too well was manning the desk. I thought her name was Molly or Marie or Maria or something.
“Hi, Grace,” she said. I winced inwardly, feeling like a tool for not knowing her name when she knew mine. Faces, I could remember. Names, not so much.
“Hi. Is Mike around today?”
“Actually, yeah, he just came in and was going down toward Periodicals.”
“Great,” I said. I was batting negative one thousand today.
I walked slowly down the stairs but didn’t dawdle at the door. I knew I should’ve introduced Noah, but since I didn’t remember her name, I left one embarrassment to head to another.
“Not going to introduce me?” Noah whispered.
“I don’t remember her name,” I admitted.
“Ouch,” he laughed.
“Next time I pause, introduce yourself,” I instructed.
“Yes ma’am,” he said, trying to sound obedient but failing. I could practically hear his smile through the words.
We walked downstairs, turning left toward Periodicals, and sure enough Mike was there, leaning on the desk, flirting with some girl wearing a sorority T-shirt. Her Greek letters were appliquéd in white on the back of her pink tee.
“That’s Mike,” I pointed out.
Noah stopped and turned toward me. Then looked back at Mike, disbelieving. Mike tossed his hair out of his eyes. Once and then again. “Mike.” It was a disbelieving sound.
“What’s wrong with Mike?” I asked, faking my indignation. Mike was decent-looking, but he had long bangs and was constantly flipping them out of his face. You couldn’t talk with him for more than five minutes without a head toss.
He was on the thin side, which was another negative strike against him. You never date a guy who can wear skinnier jeans than you. I glanced furtively at Noah’s thighs. While Noah wasn’t heavy, he was big enough that I knew he wouldn’t be wearing my pants, ever.
Noah just shook his head at me and walked forward toward the pair. “Hey, Mike Walsh, right? Didn’t you come to my house out at the Woodlands before school started?” Mike turned toward Noah and stuck out his hand.
“Dude, yes, it was awesome. You’re Noah Jackson right? You fight?” Mike made a little move, like he was ducking and avoiding a fake punch.
“Right. I hear you work with my friend, Grace.”
Mike peered around Noah, and I gave him a limp wave and a weak smile.
“So I was thinking about going to the movies tonight. You want to come?” Noah was saying.
“Um, yeah, that would be awesome.” Mike looked suitably surprised, as any normal human being would be when some total stranger came up and asked them to see a movie.
“Great. Grace here is going to come, and I’m bringing a friend,” Noah emphasized the friend with a wink at Mike. He winked back uncertainly, his eyelid lowering slowly as if he wasn’t sure what he was winking about. I wasn’t sure either. Noah was bringing a friend? We were doubling?
Then my heart sank to my feet when I saw that Sarah was working the periodical desk and had heard this entire exchange. Her expression accused me of violating the girlfriend code.
I wanted to jump back there and assure her that I didn’t have designs on her boy, and that despite the fact that she and Mike were not dating, I considered him off-limits. But I couldn’t do that and keep up my stupid fiction with Noah. I’d have to explain myself later, if she let me.
I extricated myself from the situation moments later by saying I had an appointment at noon. I left Noah standing there chatting with Mike about some kind of fighting stance.
Noah
Grace’s abrupt departure, while her man of interest was throwing a head fake, was more encouraging than anything she had said all morning. When Grace brought up Mike during breakfast, her tone made me instantly suspicious. She drew out the name slowly, like she had to make one up. My first thought was that she was faking. When the name was attached to a real person, someone she worked with at the library, I admit that I may