Focus.
“Slowly. It was bad enough when Tanner wouldn’t talk to me about it. But with Caden only being there half the time, we don’t get as much done as I’d like.” I take a sip of my coffee. “We’re behind, but catching up.”
“I just wish she’d be more open to switching partners.” Penny makes a pouty face. She was the first to ask Ms. Sullivan to switch because she got partnered with William Frank.
“Will seems like a nice guy,” I offer.
“He had a crush on Penny in eighth grade.” Izzy stirs her drink. “He made this valentine for her. It was so cheesy and Penny had a huge crush on Zach.”
My eyes widen and my heart races. “You liked Zach Gray?”
Penny’s brown eyes go equally wide. “Ew, no. Zach Murphy. Not Zach Gray.”
My breath releases. I would have had to tell the guys about Zach Gray. Penny could be compromised easily if she used to have a crush on him.
“Anyway, Zach Murphy laughed at Will and so did the rest of the class. So we did too.” Izzy shrugs. “Herd mentality. It’s hard to go against your peers at that age.”
Unless like me, you don’t have any friends to disappoint. The table falls quiet. I really don’t know what to talk about and my guess is they really want to talk about the horsemen. But I really don’t want to talk about my complicated feelings for all of them. Or trade sex stories.
That’s not really who I am, but that’s what I’d do with Kenz. So maybe I’m a little like that, but not with these girls. We still don’t really understand their motive for seeking me out.
I take another sip. “So, has anyone been watchingZ High?”
Kenz chuckles. “I will never understand you and your mom’s fascination with zombie shows and movies.”
I flash her a smile.
“I love that show.” Vicky leans in closer. “Are you caught up?”
“Almost.” I smile. “We’ve been working through season two.”
“OMG! I love season two. So much better thanThe Walking Deadfarm season.” Vicky makes a face.
“I know. All those close-ups where you feel the tension of a zombie attack and then... nothing.” I blow out a breath.
“Right?” Vicky grins.
“I think we’ve lost her.” Kenz rolls her eyes. “I love a good zombie movie as much as the next person, but I’d prefera suspense horror instead. Maybe with a little supernatural thrown in.”
“NowSupernaturalis a show I could get behind.” Nat wiggles her eyebrows.
“We could do a movie night.” Penny glances at all of us before her gaze lands on me. “I know you’re pretty busy with the guys, but you should have some evening or afternoon free eventually, right?”
I shrug. “They do take up a lot of my time.”
I don’t mind that the guys take all my time. A movie night with no stress, no guys might actually be fun. It might be nice to be a normal teen girl.
“You have to be careful to maintain friendships when you get into a relationship.” Nat picks off a piece of her croissant and eats it. “We almost didn’t have anyone when we came out of our relationships. It’s so easy to just put off your friends, expecting them to be there when you get dumped.”
I glance at Kenz and she gives me a look that tells me we’re good. But I need to reach out to her more.
“Yeah, and when they cheat on you, it makes it even worse.” Izzy sighs. Jack told me Izzy dated Zach’s older brother until he went away to college. “At least my asshole boyfriend was cheating on me in college. So, once we split, I didn’t have to see him anymore.”
“Just his asshole brother.” Vicky rolls her eyes.
Nat takes Izzy’s hand on the table and squeezes it. “Yeah, not all of us had a fairytale relationship.”
Her gaze falls on Vicky. Vicky shrugs.
