if I joined book club.”
“No, he wouldn’t,” Owen says. “But you do.”
“Objection…” I start to say, but I can’t finish the sentence.
“What?” Owen prompts. “See, you can’t even think of anything, because it’s true.”
I let out a deep sigh. I don’t have time for this right now, but apparently Owen has all the time in the world because he doesn’t let up.
“You don’t want to commit to something that interferes with his band schedule. You want to be available for him at all times.”
I scoff. “That’s so not true.”
“It’s totally true. It’s why you dropped out of being a camp counselor with me this summer. It’s why you didn’t watch Assumed Guilty with me last night. Sometimes it seems like everything you do, you do for him.”
“Owen,” I say, exasperated, holding my hand up and turning around. He smacks right into my palm. I’m actually surprised when I feel lines of definition under his shirt.
Owen has pecs?
Where did those come from?
He certainly didn’t have those at the beginning of the summer when I last saw him in swim trunks.
The unexpected discovery makes me lose my train of thought for a moment. I look down to see my hand is still on his chest. He looks down, too, then back up at me as if to say, “Now what do we do?”
I quickly remove my hand.
“What?” he asks.
“I’ll have you know,” I chide him, “that I passed up an opportunity to do something for him just today because it would interfere with my schedule.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Owen crosses his arms over his chest and I find my gaze drifting down to his biceps, which are also bulkier than I remember.
What did he do all day at camp? Lift weights?
“Um,” I say, regaining my focus. “I found out the band that was supposed to play at the carnival tonight canceled and I could ditch school to go and get Whack-a-Mole the gig, but I’m not going to because I have other things to do.”
And because I follow the Girl Commandments, I add silently in my head, worried that if I say it aloud, I’ll just sound like a brainwashed cult member.
Owen rolls his eyes. “Oh, big deal.”
I let out a loud huff and open my mouth to argue with him, but then quickly change my mind. “You know what? I can’t deal with this right now. I’m really worried about my speech. I need to concentrate and you’re stressing me out.”
He drops his gaze to the floor. “Okay, sorry.” But he doesn’t sound sorry. It’s just a lifeless word on his lips.
“I’m sorry”—I try—“but this election is really important to me and—”
“Is it?” he interrupts. “Is it important to you?”
“Yes! Why would I do it if it wasn’t?”
Owen shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess I’d just like to see you live one day for yourself.”
I’m so taken aback by his comment, I actually stumble backward. “What does that even mean?”
“It means—” But he never finishes the thought. “You know what? Never mind. Good luck on your speech.”
He steps around me and I watch in stunned disbelief as he takes off down the hall without me.
There! I’ve Said It Again
1:15 p.m.
Well, perfect. Now I’m in a bad mood. Thanks a lot, Owen. He had to do that right before my speech? He couldn’t wait to bring up my life’s choices until, I don’t know, maybe after I had to stand in front of the entire student body and read the most boring election speech in the history of high school elections?
I dig my earbuds out of my bag and jam them into my ears. I flip through the playlists on my phone until I find the new one I created this morning—“Brand-New World Order”—tap Shuffle and crank up the volume. Then I continue my march down the hall to the sound of “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies blasting in my ears. I need to get back to my confident Creature of Mystery state.
The state that Owen so rudely crapped on with his sudden need to play psychiatrist.
“There you are!” Rhiannon grabs my arm. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” She drags me into the center of the gym. I pull my earbuds out and stick them back into my bag.
“Did you practice your speech?”
I pull the note cards out of my pocket. “Yeah, about that. I was thinking—”
I can see the disapproving look on Rhiannon’s face as we position ourselves next to the other candidates.
“I really like it,” I’m quick to start