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“Um, yeah. Maybe.”
“Speaking of prom, you two are going together, I assume?” she asked, waving between Thorne and me.
“Uh, well—”
“Yeah. Totally,” Thorne chimed in.
Gabby glanced between us and flipped her hair over one shoulder. “Right.”
“Hey, Gabby.” A girl I recognized, a sophomore with a thick curling mane and a mouth full of braces, waved as she walked past. “I like your hair today,” she said, her tone timid.
“Oh, thanks,” Gabby cooed. “I have conditioner flown in from Paris.”
I rolled my eyes, but the moment the girl was out of earshot, Gabby gagged. “Ugh. That girl’s always kissing my ass, and she’s such a loser. You probably get that all the time,” she said to Thorne with a playful touch of the arm. “It’ssohard being popular.”
Seriously, enough with the touching!
“More than you know,” Thorne answered, his tone cool.
“So it’s settled, then. You guys should totally help me with the prom theme this year. Thorne, it’s right down your alley. I’m thinking,A Night With the Stars,”she said in a breathy voice that made me want to barf. “What do you think? Isn’t it clever? We’ll have Hollywood cutouts and a red carpet, and we can have them drape twinkle lights so it looks like stars, and of course, there'll be plenty of opportunities for photo ops.”
“Great,” Thorne said in a dull tone.
“It’ll be at a ballroom, of course. We don’t do the whole gym thing.Gross.”Gabby wrinkled her nose.”
“Actually, I think having it in a gym would be awesome,” Thorne said. “When you spend most of high school learning virtually, the idea of spending time in an actual school setting is pretty cool.”
“Oh my gosh,” Gabby placed a hand on her chest. “You’re so right. It would be totally retro. How fun!”
Oh my gosh.I seriously can’t with her. . .I gritted my teeth and glanced over at Penelope, wide-eyed, nostrils flaring.
But Thorne, who was clearly playing with her, simply grinned and took a bite of the chicken from his lunch.
“Goodness, look at you,” Gabby practically purred. “No wonder you’re so fit. Must be how you got those abs. You know, I follow a lean protein, low-carb diet too.”
“Do you shake, bro?” JT chimed in.
Thorne glanced between them. “Shake?”
“Protein shakes,” JT supplied.
“Oh. They’re really not my thing. I’d rather eat my calories with actual food.”
“I prefer loaded fries,” I said, bumping his thigh with mine, sending him a conspiratorial grin and a reminder of our first date.
“Oh no.” Gabby laughed and waved a hand, dismissing me. “For those of us concerned about our figures, we don’t eat stuff like that. Right, Thorne?”
“Right, I would never.” He winked at me.
“So, what are you two doing after school? We were gonna hang at the pool house. You should totally come,” Gabby said.
“Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to Scarlett about that.” He turned to me and squeezed my hand. “I have a work party with some colleagues tonight, and I’d like it if you went with me. Any chance of that happening?”
I knew what he was asking, whether my parents would allow it. But I loved the fact that he asked in front of Gabby and the others. It somehow made the victory that I was dating someone she would give her right arm for that much sweeter.
“I think we just might be able to make that work,” I said with a smile.
Chapter 22
