were getting a limo together , and we were going to all drive down to
Hammond’ s house on LBI after. It was going to be sick. I couldn’ t miss it.
Ally couldn’ t expect me to miss it. And if I couldn’ t go with her, I didn’t
really care who I went with.
“All right, fine,” I said. “I’ll ask her .”
“Yes!” the Idiot Twins cheered, chest-bumping each other. They turned
toward me, thrusting their chests out again, but I shook my head.
“No. I’m good.”
“Thanks, man,” Trevor said, slapping me on the back. “You won’t regret
it.”
The bell rang, and I turned to walk into my English class, feeling tense
and nervous and sick. I told myself it was just because I was about to fail
my English test, but I knew that wasn’t it. Even though what I’d just
promised to do made perfect sense, I had a feeling that Trevor was wrong.
Somehow , I was going to regret it.
I pulled my Je ep into the parking lot at the elementary school and took a
spot at the back. There were a few other cars in the lot and at least twenty
people playing touch football in the sun out on the Little League baseball
field. I spotted Ally right away. She was laughing as she tried to tag Chad
Lancaster , but he dodged her outstretched fingers and scored, spiking the
ball near the backstop. All his friends gathered around him, cheering.
What the hell was I doing here? These guys weren’ t gonna want me here.
I glanced at Ally again. She hadn’t seen me yet. I could just bail. Say
something came up. Tell her I was having a psychotic break when I’d texted
yes after she’d asked me if I wanted to come.
What if my friends drove by and saw my car here?
I gripped the steering wheel tightly, then got out of the Je
Ep I was not
going to let my friends dictate what I could and couldn’ t do. Just being here
didn’t automatic ally mean that me and Ally were a thing. I could have
driven by, seen the game, and asked to join. Besides, Shannen hadn’t