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“Sure you do. You know you didn’t have to stay over here with Bryan and Gav, you could have joined us.”
“I didn’t… I mean… I wasn’t…”
God, she was so nervous.
“I get it. It’s a lot.”
“Yeah.” She nodded, tucking a strand of her mousey-brown hair behind her ear.
“Come on,” I said, motioning toward my friends. “Come talk to us.”
Bryan looked up then, frowning. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“Well, since you’re both doing a stellar job of ignoring Carrie-Anne, I’m rescuing her.” Lacing my arm through hers, I pulled her away, but Bryan wasn’t done.
“We need to talk,” he said, and I flinched, inhaling a sharp breath.
Carrie-Anne noticed, her brows furrowing.
“Not here,” I replied thinly.
Bryan reached for me, grabbing my arm. “Peyton, we need to—”
“I said not here.” I shrugged him off and guided Carrie-Anne away, but she stopped me before we reached my friends.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“What’s going on with you and Bryan?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on, Peyton. I’m not stupid. He’s into you. Everyone can see that.”
“Carrie-Anne, that’s not—”
“It’s okay, I get it. You don’t like him like that so you thought you’d try and push him toward… someone else.”
“I just thought… I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “It is what it is. Deep down, I knew a guy like Bryan would never be into a girl like me.”
“It was a dick move,” I said. “But I’ve watched the two of you in class. There’s something there.”
“Yeah, it’s called he thinks I’m a pretentious nerd and I think he’s a conceited jock.”
“Why did you agree to come then?”
“Because for one night, I wanted to know what it was like to be seen.”
“Carrie-Anne… people see you.”
She gave me a weak smile. “We’ve been in the same class since ninth grade and this semester is the first time you’ve ever talked to me.”
“I’m sorry.” Shame burned through me.
“It’s never really bothered me before.”
“What changed?”
