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“You’re really not?” I ask Rob as embarrassment heats my face.
He refuses to look at me, just shakes his head and continues to bore a hole in the table with his eyes.
I finally relax and allow our bodies to touch, nudging him a bit with my shoulder. “Hey, don’t listen to them. If you are, it’s totally fine. I would never think less of you. Love is love.”
“I’m not gay,” he mumbles.
Oh, shit. Maybe he needs to keep it quiet because of sports. I can imagine how awkward it might be in the locker room if the guys he spends half of his time naked with think he might be checking them out.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, trying to salvage even a shred of his dignity. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“It’s okay,” he whispers back. “Honest mistake.”
“Please,” Alex laughs. “Please tell me why you think he’s gay.”
Jeremy is still losing his shit at the other end of the table. “Oh, this is priceless.”
“I, um…” I have no response.
I’m so mortified for Rob. The way his friends are treating this whole situation is beyond disrespectful.
Wait a minute…
“You know what?” I lift my chin and stare down the idiots across the table. “You two are just jealous because you’re not half as smart, half as good-looking, or half as talented as Rob. Laugh it up, boneheads. He’s awesome and you’re both…mediocre at best.”
Instead of shutting them up, they start coughing words under their breath.
Are they…are they saying, “Chickenshit?”
What the hell is that supposed to mean?
A spoon flies across the table and makes direct contact with Jeremy’s forehead.
All eyes turn to the quarterback in the booth.
“I hate you both.”
And they just laugh harder.
Even Mike joins in. “You brought this on yourself, man.”
Beside me, Rob sighs and shakes his head. “Yeah, yeah. You’re all so damn funny.”
What is even going on here tonight? My head spins as I try to make sense of this strange group dynamic. I’m admittedly the interloper, but they’re all acting so weird. Are they always like this?
“All right. Change of subject,” Alyssa announces. “So, Evie’s been getting these bouquets from a mystery man after every concert since last Christmas…”
Oh God, no.
“And we can’t figure out who’s leaving them. They’re always on her chair in the band room after the concert, sometimes with a card, sometimes not, but never signed by who they’re from. I think it’s the same guy who left a teddy bear on her locker for her birthday last year. You guys got any ideas? ’Cause Jess and I are coming up empty.”
Every single guy at the table erupts in raucous laughter. Except Rob. He’s probably still pissed about the whole gay thing.
I hide my face in my hands. I can’t look at any of them. They must think I’m so pathetic. My stupid friends or someone in my family is playing a trick on me, and the guys all see it for what it is. I have to be the least desirable girl in our class. At least the focus has been shifted away from Rob. I guess karma is biting me on the ass for having stuck my foot in my mouth earlier. Mortification level ten unlocked.
“Stop,” Rob says firmly. “You’re embarrassing her.”
More coughs of “Chickenshit” ensue.
