“Are you still coming over today?”Simone asks.
“Crap! I totally forgot. I’m um…I’m at Eli’s. We’ve been studying for our exams coming up.”
“Aww, you suck,”she says playfully. “I feel like I never see you anymore.”
Guilt settles over me. I feel like I’ve been so caught up in this new relationship that I’m slacking as a best friend. Simone never did this when she got with Tyler. I don’t want her to feel like I’m neglecting her.
“Let’s plan to all get together this week, okay?”
“Okay girl, but I also need some one-on-one time, pleasseeee.”
I laugh a little. “Okay, that too. Promise.”
“I’ll text you, okay? We need to plan what we’re doing for your birthday too! No more sad and boring birthdays. We’re doing something fun this year!”
“Okay, fine. I’ll let you plan something with me.”
“Talk to you later! Love you!”
“Love you, too,” I tell her, and we hang up.
Eli looks up from his index cards when I get off the phone. “What was that about?”
I walk over and lie down on the bed with him. “I forgot that I was supposed to hang out with her today…and I told her I’d make it up to her. That maybe everyone can get together this week.”
Eli scrunches up his nose.
“What?” I ask.
“It’s just…I mean, Ilike Tyler and Simone…but sometimes it’s a lot being around Katie and Harper. They’re kind of annoying. I don’t even know how someone like you is friends with girls like them.”
I furrow my brows in confusion. “What does that mean?”
“You know how they are…what they’re known for. How they get around a lot at school.”
“They really don’t. I mean, they might flirt with a lot of guys, but it’s not like they’re sleeping with all of them or anything.”
“They basically are, trust me, I know.”
“Well,” I say, shrugging. “It’s not really my business, honestly.”
“But they’re your friends. It kind of makes you look like you do those things too. You don’t want people to thinkyou’relike that.”
I scoff. “I’m obviouslynotlike that. Everyone knows I’m dating you.”
“You just don’t want people getting the wrong idea about you. I don’t want people thinking the girl I’m with is a hoe.”
I look at him a little in shock. “Doyouthink that way about me?”
“No,” he answers quickly. “But I also don’t want them influencing you or anything.”
I shake my head. “You’re the one who said you didn’t care what people thought.”
He pulls me to him and kisses me. “I don’t.”
I wrap my arms around him, but keep a little space between us. “Then why does it matter?”
“I just don’t want you to ever start acting like them.”
