“Okay.” I analyzed his expression, the same determination from our kiss evident in the set of his jaw and glint in his eye.
I’d been waiting for him to make us official, for him to ask me to be his girlfriend. Maybe this was finally it!
Before he could continue, I felt something loosen around my ankle and peered down at my feet. I was wearing brand new leather lace-up sandals, and one of the straps had come loose.
“Oh, hold on a second,” I told Gage and then bent down to tie my shoes again.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
I frowned up at him. “No. I thought they needed to be retied, but the strap broke.” I stood up. “Let me run to the restroom real quick to fix them. Then we’ll talk, okay?”
He wet his lips. “Sure. Hurry back, okay? I really want to talk to you before the ceremony starts.”
I reached up and patted his cheek before giving him a peck on the lips. “We’ve got time. I’ll be right back.”
I shuffled to the ladies’ room to keep my sandal from falling off. The bathroom in this part of the stadium was actually a locker room, so I found a bench to sit on while I relaced the sandal straps, so they’d tie properly again.
Behind me, near the toilet stalls, an incredulous voice rang out clear as a bell. “Are they really a thing? Gage and Delaney?”
I froze. Whoever was talking obviously didn’t know I was here. I should say something to alert them of my presence, but I had a morbid desire to hear what they were going to say.
A toilet flushed as another girl laughed. “I know, right?” That sounded like Kristin Shell, one of the girls I usually ate lunch and socialized with at school. One of my “friends.”
Kristin continued, “Gage is in, like, the top five of our class, and Delaney is lucky to even be graduating.”
The other girl giggled, and the sound of running water echoed through the room. “I heard she had to go to summer school last year to repeat Spanish or else she would have failed out.” I recognized the voice now as belonging to Jasmine Miles, another of my school “friends.”
That was not even true!I did need a tutor to get through the two credits of foreign language required to graduate, but I was never really in danger of failing. I worked hard to make sure I didn’t. I picked up speaking in Spanish quickly enough using an app that focused on audio lessons, but I also needed to learn to write in Spanish, which felt even more confusing than writing in English.I passed both credits with a C, thank you very much.
“Yeah and Gage makes, like, straight As. He’s so smart.”
Gagewassmart. It was one of the things I loved most about him. He didn’t know yet what kind of career he wanted, but I was sure it would be something where he used his brain to help other people.
“Maybe he’s looking for a trophy wife!” They both burst into laughter. “I’d volunteer. I’m as pretty as Delaney but at least twice as smart.”
I pressed my fingers to my cheeks to cool them down. My nose stung as I tried my best to hold back the tears.
If Kristin and Jasmine recognized the imbalance between Gage and me, would other people see it, too? If Gage was my boyfriend, would everyone always look at us and wonder what he saw in me? Wonder what we could possibly have in common?
I was so used to hanging out with people smarter than me—my sisters, Annie, and of course Gage—that I never stopped to consider what it might be like for Gage to be with someone as dumb as me. Would I be a liability? Hold him back?
I never wanted to do that.
The water stopped, and the hand dryer kicked on, drowning out any further conversation. They would probably be coming this way soon to go back outside to their spots in line. I jumped up and ducked behind a row of lockers. The only thing more embarrassing than overhearing that conversation would be Kristin and Jasmine knowing I overheard that conversation.
I peeked around the corner as they walked past and pushed open the door, still laughing, probably at my expense.
I straightened and bumped the back of my head softly against the side of the locker, closing my eyes.
The idea of Gage being happy with me … it was ridiculous, wasn’t it? He needed an equal partner, not an obligation.
I blinked back the tears that were still trying to fall. When I cried, my eyes turned red, and there was no way to hide that I was upset. I didn’t want that to happen. Gage would notice in a second. I fanned my hand in front of my eyes to dry them out.
I walked back around the corner and checked my reflection in a mirror. My eyes looked a little glassy, but not so much that it would raise any red flags. I took a deep breath and went back outside.
Gage waited outside the door, leaning against the wall with one foot propped behind him. The blue graduation gown made the color of his eyes pop. His sandy blond hair was slicked to the side, the ends curling around his ears and along the back of his neck.
He looked so good. Hewasso good. Kristin and Jasmine were right. He deserved to be with someone who could match his energy and his intelligence.
