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“Can I help you ladies find anything?” a male voice asks from behind us.
We both startle, and as soon as I turn and see it’s Jared, I burst into laughter again. He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind, probably thinking how glad he is that he never called me. That only makes me laugh harder. Lindsey grabs onto my shoulder for strength, dying with laughter too.
Elaine glides over next to Jared and links her arm through his. He looks confused, like he’s not sure whether to laugh or shake his head at our hysterics, and now a black widow is about to sink her teeth into him—or whatever black widows bite with.
“They’re so childish,” Elaine says, disdainfully raising a perfectly arched brow. “Can you help me find a shoe in my size?”
As she drags him away to lure him into her poison web, he looks back over his shoulder at us, but I can’t read his expression.
“Should I expect a text from him now?” I whisper to Lindsey when I get control of myself.
That sets her off again, and that in turn brings my precariously submerged giggles bubbling back to the surface.
A few minutes later Daria comes over with a tower of shoe boxes higher than her head.
“Elaine’s stealing your man,” she says, carefully lowering her stack to the floor. “You better go fight for him.”
“She can have him,” I say, wiping my eyes and flopping down in a chair. “I’m sure he’d never text me after tonight anyway. I pretty much laughed in his face when he said hi to me.”
“Oh, it wasn’t that bad,” Lindsey says, patting my arm. “You didn’t do it in a mean way.”
“I have Todd anyway. Speaking of, how come you got mad at me when I gave Jared my number, but you don’t care if Elaine does? She has a boyfriend too.”
“Yeah, but I don’t know him,” Lindsey says. “I know Todd is a good guy, and he doesn’t deserve that.”
“That’s sweet,” I say, admiring her for being so loyal to her friends.
“I don’t condone what she does,” she adds quickly. “But that’s just Elaine.”
I want to tell her that’s a horrible justification for a double standard, but I know that’s justLindsey. She has her own moral code, and she adheres to it strictly, and usually I agree with her.
I’m not going to talk shit about her best friend. That would just make me look jealous and catty. So would asking if Elaine seducing Chase when he was drunk isjust Elaine, though it is tempting.
A minute later, Elaine comes back with a triumphant smile, smugness practically dripping from the corners of her mouth. “Well, let’s see if he callsme,” she says, looking at me meaningfully.
Oh, this should do wonders for my self-esteem.
I should have known Elaine would make it a competition, one I’d be sure to lose. Although I have to admit I did make it especially easy for her this time.
“Elaine…” Lindsey says, giving her an exasperated look.
“All’s fair in love and war,” Elaine says, smirking with her glossy lips and staring me down.
“No war here,” I say, holding up my hands. “He’s all yours.”
Jared’s cute in a young Adam-Brody kind of way, but nothing worth getting my eyes scratched out over.
When we get back to the food court, George is working the counter at Juice King.
I grab Daria’s arm. “That’s him! Now don’t get me fired. Let’s go get drinks so you can see how creepy he is.”
I manage to keep a straight face as I order from George, even though Daria is poking me in the back the whole time. As soon as we walk away Daria falls all over me with laughter. “Oh my God, Sky, that guy has ‘date rape’ practically tattooed on his forehead! You have got to quit that job.”
We take a seat on a bench as all the tables are occupied.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe that’s the only guy she can get to look at her,” Elaine says. “She probably likes it.”
“What’s your problem with me?” I ask, suddenly too angry to care if I alienate Lindsey.
