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Joy cleared her throat, and if my face wasn’t flaming hot before, it was now. It was a happy sort of embarrassment, but later it’d probably morph into something more firmly mortified—because here I was, grinning at Connor like all the other smitten girls at Brentwood High.But he thinksyou’repretty.
“You heading out?” Connor asked, eyeing the key fob in my grip.
“Oh, walk her out to her car, Connor,” Joy ordered sternly, sidestepping his frame and gazing up at the exposed ductwork. “I’ll meander around. Are there any refreshments, dear?”
And then suddenly, my dad was there, stepping up to Connor’s grandma with the world’s warmest expression. He offered his hand down the hallway where the cookies and drinks were, the perfect usher. “We absolutely have refreshments. Champagne and non-alcoholic beverages.”
Joy, pausing in being corralled off in the opposite direction, pointed a finger at Connor. “You’re driving.”
“The last thing she needs is alcohol,” Connor retorted with an exasperated smile, glancing down at me. “Well, I guess I’m walking you to your car.”
“You don’t have to,” I said, taking a step back. “Someone might see.”
Connor slipped a hand into his pocket, and the relaxed way he regarded me caused my insides to flutter. “I meant what I said before, you know. You deserve more than to be a secret friend.”
The shadows on the side street were heavy as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the lampposts slow to flick on. I pressed the key fob so that the lights would blink, and I found Dad’s car a few spaces down from the door, perfectly parallel parked.
Connor noticed it immediately. “Did you figure out the Pythagorean Theorem, then?”
“One day, one day.” I gripped the strap of my purse, glancing up at his profile as we walked down the sidewalk. “So, why aren’t you at the party?”
“I figured a party probably wasn’t the smartest idea for a guy who has a big test tomorrow.”
“Good call.”
We got to the trunk of my car far too soon, and I hesitated by the taillights. It felt like a gift, his sudden appearance at Center Inspire. One last hurrah. “Can I ask you a question?”
He gave a soft nod. “Hit me with it.”
“Do you ever wish you didn’t have to hide things from people? Like, with your house, with the tutoring. Do you wish you didn’t have to keep all that a secret?”
“Before,” he began, slow to pick out his words, “I never wanted that. After I started getting so much attention, it was all I wanted. I would do things just so people would talk about me.”
“Like?”
Connor gave a soft, shallow sigh, thinking. “Throw parties, pick fights with players from Jefferson…date Jade.”
“What do you mean, date Jade?” My jaw dropped open a bit. “You started dating her for a popularity boost?”
“Don’t say it like that.” Connor walked along the side of the car and leaned against it, crossing his ankles slightly in front of him. He tapped his fingers against his thighs, unable to keep them still. “Then it just sounds awful.”
I sputtered for a solid five seconds. “Wait, so you’re saying it wasn’treal?”
“It started off genuine, of course. I mean, we really liked each other at first. But once people picked up on the whole ‘it couple’ thing, the attention got to the both of us. Once Babble started posting about us, it was fun to see what people would say next.” Connor tilted his head to the side to peer at me, and even in the low light, I could see the pinkness in his cheeks. “Somewhere along the way, she and I lost our spark, too.”
I tried to think back if there were any signs of their disintegrating relationship, any dead giveaways, but there hadn’t been. Not any that I’d seen. The only one that was slightly telling could’ve been how quickly Jade had gotten over the equipment closet incident.We talked about this, she’d told him when I’d caught them in the hallway, her voice more annoyed than anything else.We’re good together.
And Connor’s dejected reply.Are we?
My mind went back even further, to the time he drove me home from the Wallflower.No one falls in love in high school.We’d been in the same boat all along and I’d never noticed. For one brief moment, I wondered what Ava would say if she found out thatJannorhad been more or less a Brentwood High publicity stunt.
Jeez, the personal question was going to be fully transparent, but I couldn’t keep myself from asking. “Are you going to rekindle the spark or…end things?”
He gave a short laugh, kicking the toe of his shoe against the back tire. “Things have been over between us for weeks now. Since summer.”
And here I thought I my jaw couldn’t drop further. “What?”
It was clear that my shock amused him, judging by the way he rubbing his fingers across his lips. “I mean, we never said ‘hey, let’s only act like a couple in public’ or anything like that. But we never see each other outside of school or sports. She’ll do things when we’re in public. Like the kiss on the football field. Her arm around my waist. I guess that’s the thing with attention—it gets addictive.”
