That’s Progress
“Hey, cousin,” a chirpy voice says from the door.
I jump and click my phone off as Jasmine breezes into the bedroom. My father’s words disappear from my field of vision, but they’re burned like a cattle brand in my brain.
“Hey,” I greet her.
Jasmine looks bored, carrying her cheerleading duffel, which she throws onto the ground. She sits on the edge of the bed and starts untying her sneakers. “You take any photos today before the downpour?”
“Some. Did cheerleading practice get rained out?”
She shakes her head. “It’s in the gym. We always work on our routines for an hour on Saturday morning, and then we sit and gawk at the boys working out.” She flashes an unapologetic grin. “And speaking of cute boys, Everett asked me to give you a message.”
I falter. “What?”
“Well, he asked Nikki to give me a message. He wants your number. I told her that I’d have to run it past you.” She raises a brow. “So?”
At that, my heart does a little flutter that I wish it wouldn’t. Idon’t need this. This is a complication, and after my run-in with Zed, I’ve already decided that the best thing I can do is keep my head down until I graduate. “So, what?”
She rolls her eyes. “Do you want him to call you, or no? I’m assuming the answer is yes. It’s never no with Everett.”
I should say no. That would fix it. He isn’t used to rejection and probably has a fragile ego. He’ll probably never talk to me again. Yet for some reason, same way I couldn’t keep myself away from my old house, I can’t stop my lips from forming the word “Sure.”
Jasmine grabs her phone and thumbs in a reply, I assume to Nikki. “Done. But if I were you, I’d watch your back.”
My mind automatically goes to the true-crime junkies who relentlessly stalked and confronted the poor girl at the yogurt shop. Watching my back is good advice.
But Jasmine isn’t talking about that, because she has no idea who I am. So I ask her, “What do you mean?”
“Sofia,” she says simply, as if that means something to me.
The only Sofia I know is on varsity cheerleading, the beautiful girl from my government class who’s always traveling on a cloud of sparkles with the other perfect girls, usually orbiting the football team. A couple of times I’ve tried smiling at her, but I think there’s a membrane surrounding them, and normal people can’t penetrate it.
“What about her?”
“She’s Everett’s ex.”
Right. Of course the two most godlike beings at school used to date.
“They’ve been on and off since freshman year. They weresuper hot and heavy for a long time, and everyone thought they’d be together forever. But then right after junior prom last spring, they had this huge fight and broke up.”
“Really? Do you know what it was about?”
She shrugs. “No. No one does. Whatever it was, I think Sofia didn’t think it was such a big deal, so she kept telling everyone they were just taking a break and were going to get back together soon. But if you asked him, he was like, nope. The Sofia boat had sailed. He was done with her.”
Now it makes sense why every time Everett tried to talk to me at school this week, Sofia looked annoyed. And she’sreallygoing to be annoyed if she finds out he’s texting me.
But whatever. I have bigger things on my mind than upsetting the Queen Bee of Crockett High.
When my phone suddenly buzzes, both Jasmine and I jolt in surprise. I peer at the screen and smother a sigh.
She gasps. “Oh my God. Is that him? He literally got your numberfive seconds ago.”
I mask my expression as I read the message.
Unknown:Hey. It’s Everett. Jas gave me your number. Busy tonight?
“What’s it say?” Jasmine snatches my phone from my hands. “Holy shit! He’s asking you out!”
