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“It’s not that I don’t like it. I’m just not comfortable here.”
“Why not? The people here seem nice,” she says, noticing a guy smiling at her as he walks by. He’s smiling at her because she’s hot. He didn’t even notice me. “Have you been to any parties?”
“Just one. It was boring so I left.”
“How could a college party be boring?” she says, like she doesn’t believe me.
“Maybe boring is the wrong word. I just felt out of place there. Everyone was looking to hook up, and at the time, I was still with Haley.”
“Yeah, I could see that. But now you’re single. You should go to some parties. Maybe you’ll meet a girl.”
“I don’t know if I want that right now, or if I’m ready.”
Tara’s phone rings. She checks to see who’s calling. “I need to get this.” She walks away from me as she answers the call. “Hey, babe. I thought you were at work.”
It’s Troy. Shit. I hope Tara doesn’t tell him I’m here with her. I tried to convince Troy I’m still getting over Haley, which I am, but he still may not be okay with me spending time with his girlfriend.
“No, I’m out with Jake,” Tara says.
So much for not telling him.
“We just had lunch,” she says, turning back to smile at me. “We’re going to hang out a little longer before he takes me home. What are you doing?” She nods. “Yeah, I could do that. I have three in my fridge. I’ll be there at five.” She ends the call and walks back to me. “You going to show me around?”
“Was that Troy?”
“Yeah, he’s still at work. He was taking a break.”
“He didn’t care that we were hanging out?”
“No, why would he care?”
“I wasn’t sure he’d be okay with it.” I walk down the path that goes through campus with Tara following beside me. “So you’re going over there later?”
“At five, but I’ll have to catch the three-thirty bus to make it there by then.”
“Is that really what you want to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“It just seems like you’re going to a lot of work to bring Troy some pizza.”
“I’m not just bringing him pizza. It’s a date.”
“It’s Sunday. He’s going to be watching football and not even notice you’re there.”
Tara holds onto my arm, stopping me. “I don’t know what your problem is with Troy, but he’s my boyfriend so you really shouldn’t be saying stuff about him.”
I nod. “You’re right. Sorry. I just—never mind.”
We continue walking. A girl from my English class is coming toward us and smiles. “Hi, Jake.”
“Hey,” I say, smiling back at her. I don’t remember her name, but I noticed her on the first day of class. She’s really pretty and way out of my league. She always wears clothes that look really expensive and I saw her getting into a Mercedes. If she knew how I grew up, she probably wouldn’t even be talking to me.
“It’s Maddy,” she says, stopping in front of me. “We’re in English together.”
“Yeah, I remember.”
She glances at Tara. “Are you two going somewhere?”
