My eyes widen. “Love her? I just want her back as my friend.” But even as I say it, I know it’s not true. Maybe it was at first, but I can’t deny my feelings have gotten much more complicated since kissing her.
She lets out the longest sigh I’ve ever heard. “Whatever you say. Now, follow the steps I so graciously laid out for you.”
I sit back, speechless. She makes it seem so simple. But knowing me, I’ll end up saying all the wrong things and making everything worse. I close my eyes and tip my face toward the ceiling. “Can’t you just take over my body and be me so I don’t mess this up?”
“You wish. But this is one problem you’ll have to get out of yourself.” And with that, she heads upstairs to her room.
Chapter 11
Rue
With my phone much too close to my face, I read my Saturday morning Little Birdie post for the third time before posting it.
Dearest Fledglings,
Who would have thought Ezra Davis would be Rue Sullivan’s type? Certainly not I. But then again, perhaps her feelings for the strong, handsome point guard were on the down-low for a reason. Is there a secret simmering behind the scenes of this new drama for our beloved shy girl? If you can count on one fearless flapper to discover this juicy worm of info, it’s me.
Yours truly,
Little Birdie
I almost left out the part about Ezra being handsome, but I couldn’t bear to add any more lies to my day.
He’s handsome. Annoyingly so, and there’s no denying it.
As if he knows I’m thinking about him, his name lights up my phone screen.
Ezra
you better not leave me hanging at Sip of Joy
Me
yeah, yeah. I’m coming.
As I get ready, I try not to think about how I felt when he asked me to meet him there an hour ago to talk about more nitty-gritty details of our arrangement.
“Where are you going?” Mom asks when I’m almost out the door.
“Uh, just Sip of Joy.”
She crosses her arms. Arches an eyebrow. “Don’t make me ask a second question.”
“With Ezra. Ezra Davis,” I say. Admitting the truth is much easier than evading anything when it comes to her. She’ll always find out, and then things will be so much more difficult.
Her mouth falls open. “Ezra Davis? Again?”
“Yeah. He and I are kinda dating now.” I blush.
She regards me like I’m a sad little kitten who just got kicked. “You’re dating the boy who humiliated you?”
I groan. “Mom…it was his friend, not him. That’s so dramatic.”
“Oh, I’ll show you dramatic.”
“Please. I’m supposed to meet him right now.”
She sighs. “Fine. But let me know if I need to make an appearance and teach that boy some common courtesy. I have a meeting here soon but I’ll end it early if you need me.”
