I clear my throat. “No. No way. He’s my tutor.”
“Oh, okay,” Christie replies. “It just looked like we’d make a cute double date.”
I grimace. “Eww. Really?”
Christie giggles. “Yeah, but I see you’re not a fan of dating.”
Geez. I gotta stop it with these disgusted faces and noises. Everyone assumes I don’t want a boyfriend. I’m literally never gonna get one at this point.
“Are you okay?” Christie asks, examining my frown.
I shrug, clutching my elbows. “Yeah. I just came by for Milo’s help with something. But it can wait until we have our actual tutoring session at Morton’s Cafe.”
“Oh, I’ve been meaning to try that place,” Christie says.
“Really?” I ask with surprise.
“Sure,” she replies. “It looks super cute. I heard they have awesome milkshakes.”
I rub the back of my neck as I grin. “Yeah, we do.”
Christie’s eyes widen. “We? Do you work there?”
“Yeah, it’s my aunt’s cafe. Well, technically, I’m a part-owner, but I don’t like thinking about that level of responsibility. Aunt Maddy agreed to keep me out of it until I’m eighteen.”
“Wait. You’re already a business owner at sixteen? That’s impressive.”
I shrug, smiling at the carpet. “I just inherited it.”
Christie winces. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Why?”
Her eyes widen. “Doesn’t that mean someone died? And you said you co-own it with your aunt? Did your parents...?”
She looks severely freaked. She must have good parents.
I feel the boys’ eyes on me, and I choose to joke, “Well, my dad might be alive.”
Christie’s expression morphs from freaked to horrified.
“I just…” My tongue is seizing up. “I don’t know… I don’t know my dad.”
Her expression cranks back a few notches, although sadness coats her eyes.
“My mom is gone, but it was my gram’s cafe.” Sweat rolls down my brow. “She wasn’t my real grandma, but that’s a long story. Boy, I feel dizzy.”
Christie reaches out and latches onto my arm. “Do you need to sit down?”
At that, the boys leave the desk and move over to us.
“I’m okay,” I blurt. “Don’t crowd me.”
Everyone takes a step back.
A nervous laugh puffs out of me. “I’ve just never told another girl so much stuff about me.”
Christie smiles and I note the confusion crinkling under her eyes. “Really?”
