‘Yes,’ chorus Faye and Kira.
‘And I’m not going to like it.’
‘Yes,’ they say again.
‘And I won’t know what he’s going to say.’
‘Yes,’ they say back.
‘You know, Selena, I think deep down you know what you have to do even before you call us over here,’ says Kira.
I throw a pillow at her. ‘Therapy is over now. I will talk to him. I need to think about what I want to say.’
‘And what do you want to say?’ says Faye.
I look out of the window. ‘I need to tell him why he’s important to me. That this means something more to me. That no boy has made me feel so seen or heard before. That when I’m around him, it’s not just that I’m attracted to him, but I appreciate him. We can’t just be friends.’
‘But first you need to hear Ty’s side too,’ says Faye.
‘Yes, I do, and I don’t have a good feeling about it.’
‘Selena?’ says Kira.
‘Yes?’
‘Can you try and be a romantic for once?’
***
I still have no idea what to write my essay on, the guy I like is avoiding me, and it feels like I’m running out of time on all accounts.
So before work the next day, I turn up at his house. It feels a safer bet than having my texts ignored.
He opens the door and sighs. Not a good sign.
‘It’s eight a.m.,’ he says.
‘We need to talk,’ I say. ‘Can I come in?’
He nods and leads me to the living room and flops onto a sofa.
‘I wanted to come talk to you,’ he says, ‘but every time I thought about it, I . . .’
‘Chickened out?’ I say, sitting in the armchair opposite him.
‘Well, you’re not easy to understand. I was trying to gather my thoughts,’ he says.
‘I’mnot easy to understand? You’re the one who kissed me and ran away!’
Ty shakes his head, leans back in his seat. ‘The difference is I know why I do things and how I feel.’
‘And I don’t?’
‘Not historically, no. Based on the whole Ollie thing.’ He looks at me sadly. ‘How do I know you’re not confused about me in the same way you were about Ollie?’
I chew my lip. ‘Okay, I understand why you think that. But you have to believe my feelings for you are different. And I know I’ve not been the most . . . straightforward.’
‘Selena, I think you might be the most confusing thing that’s ever happened to me. And I sat through AP Algebra.’
