Chapters (39)
- Cover
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next onyour reading list?
“I’m going to find him,” I say, and turn on my heel, leaving them to deal with the oven.
Jason Ryder and Susie Palmer are pressed up against the wall in the back hallway, practically eating each other. I step around them to walk the rest of the way down the hall and then I’m at a screen door, the one that leads out to the porch. The night air is warm, the hum of crickets loud even over the music from the party.
I start to go outside, but then I freeze when I see Andrew. Because he isn’t alone.
He’s with Cecilia.
I close the screen, hiding myself behind the wall so I can watch them. She’s sitting on the porch railing and Andrew is in front of her, standing so their faces are level. I think at first that they might kiss, but then I realize they’re speaking, their voices soft. I have to strain to hear them.
“So you’re just gonna pretend it didn’t happen?” Cecilia sets her beer down on the railing next to her and flicks the metal tab on the top of it back and forth. “You’ve barely even looked at me all night.”
He steps away and reaches a hand up to rub his neck. “I’m sorry. Danielle and I . . .”
“Yeah, I know,” she snaps. “You’re going to prom with her. So you’re just done with me forever?”
“I thought it didn’t mean anything,” he says. “You said that. I wouldn’t have—”
“I said that because I knew it’s what you wanted me to say. God, Andrew, you just don’t get it.”
“Why would you lie about that? I didn’t think it was—”
“I lied because I had to!” Her voice is raised now, sharp and strained. She runs a hand through her mass of blond curls, big and unruly from the humidity. “I knew you didn’t like me. I knew you just wanted to get with me because you could, and I wanted to date you, but that’s desperate, right? Feelings are such a turn-off.” She lets out a harsh laugh. “So I took the parts of you I could get. You never would have gone for me if you’d known I liked you. That ruins it. Everyone knows you’re a player.”
“I’m not a player,” Andrew says, and I want to shake him. She’s telling him what I’ve been trying to tell him all along. He raises his beer to take a sip, but then shakes his head and sets it down on the railing, running his hand over his face.