AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I screwed up my face. “The taking? Isn’t that kind of . . . I don’t know, objectifying her as more than a—”
“You know what I mean. Yeesh, come on, Bare. Work with me here.” Scarlett rolled her eyes, and it reminded me so much of Thorne I wanted to laugh. “You want her, don’t you?”
I thought about our conversation in chem class, how smart she was, and how much it seemed we had in common just minutes ago, and something pinched inside my chest. I hadn’t told anyone other than Thorne about my desire to ask Ella out, about my mission to make her mine by the end of the year, and he must’ve kept his allegiance to me because Scarlett had no clue until I spilled the beans. Part of me wished I would’ve left it that way. Still, I suppose it didn’t hurt to have more people in my corner.
I pursed my lips and glanced in Ella’s direction again, only to find her gaze focused on Luca in the dugout. It felt foolish to say it out loud, yet I said it anyway. “Of course I want her.” Even if she was practically Luca’s already.
The thought laid hooks in my heart. But Scarlett mustn't have gotten the memo because her dark eyes hardened on mine, and she said, “Then, you, my friend, are going to make her yours. We just need to find out her weakness.”
“Her weakness?”
Scarlett nodded. “The one thing she can’t resist. The one thing that’ll make her fall.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I pulled it out, more for a reprieve from the situation at hand than anything, but when I glanced at the screen, it was a text from Thorne. He must’ve gotten back to me about my outfit. Too little, too late. But I opened it up and read it anyway.
Bro, please tell me you didn’t wear that . . .
Before returning to school on Monday, Scarlett and Penelope called “an emergency meeting,” which apparently involved coming to my house unannounced and forcing their way into my bedroom.
I had just helped Mom haul a bunch of equipment from a photoshoot onto the dining room table, and the look of shock on her face was almost comical as we skirted by. She’d just taken a drink from a can of Sprite when she saw us and nearly choked, calling out at the last minute, “I’ll be right outside. Let me know if you and your friends need anything!”
Now they sat, entirely too comfortable sitting cross-legged on my bed, while they examined my room. “It’s very masculine,” Scarlett said.
I frowned and glanced around me to see what they saw. Dark blue comforter, blackout shades, and dark furniture. A framed photo of the planets flanked one of the Milky Way. Everything was neat and tidy in a lived-in way. I was no clean freak.
“What did you expect?” I asked.
Penelope pursed her lips. “I don’t know.” Then she nodded toward the window. “Cool telescope.”
I scratched the back of my head, unsure if she was being serious until she hopped off the bed and moved over to it, peering into the eyepiece. “Thanks,” I said, then started to sweat when she fiddled with the finderscope. “So,” I said, hoping to reel her back in and away from my equipment, “what’s up?”
Once she turned away from it, she headed back to the bed, across from where I sat at my desk, and I could breathe again.
“Well, we know Thorne’s been coaching you, but it’s hard with him not here, so we thought we’d help you out,” Scarlett said.
“Okay. With what exactly?”
“What’s one obstacle you have with Ella?” Penelope asked, settling back down on my bed.
My gaze shifted to the ceiling. What obstacle didn’t I have? But if I had to pick just one . . . “Making conversation with girls?”
“That we can help with,” Scarlett said. “Let’s start simple. Say you’re sitting in chem class and she looks over at you and meets your eyes. What kind of compliment can you give her?”
“Pretend I’m her,” Penelope chimed in.
I licked my lips and settled back into my desk chair. “Um, okay. Your hair looks pretty?”
“That’s a start,” Scarlett said. “But be more confident about it, firm. You’re not asking her if her hair is pretty, you’re telling her. What else?”
“I like your shirt.” I glanced down at Penelope's pink t-shirt, and she giggled.
“Just don’t stare at her boobs.”
My cheeks caught fire. “I wasn’t—”
“Okay, Barry.”
Beside her, Scarlett grinned. “Anything else?”
