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The cup chilled my palm, but I gripped it and took a long sip of my shake, walking through the food court with Maddie. “He asked me how I knew João, and I … I didn’t want to tell him because I—”
Why hadn’t I wanted to tell him again?
“Because you’re a nervous, anxious mess,” Maddie finished. “Now, continue.”
“Anyway, I told him that I’d tell him if he told me how he got his black eye.”
“And?”
“And we argued for a few moments.”
“And?”
“And then he told me that it was because he liked me,” I whispered, the words warm on my tongue. They sounded so laughable now. “It came out of nowhere. Like, how does him saying something like that give him a black eye?! It—”
“Mmhmm …” Maddie hummed.
“What?”
“What were you guys doing before that?”
My cheeks flushed. “Skateboarding.”
She grinned wickedly. “So, you’re telling me thatBlaise Harleenbrought you skateboarding and then told you that he liked you, and then out of nowhere and withoutyoufreaking out about it, he said it was all a joke?”
Worriedly, I rubbed my arm. “Maybe I freaked out a little bit.”
“Of course you did,” Maddie continued, sliding onto a wooden bench. “What’d you say?”
“I asked him if he was kidding.”
Maddie rolled her eyes. “Oh my God, Vera, you’re hopeless sometimes.”
“What?” I exclaimed. “He had to be kidding. Why would he like me when he could choose from literally every other girl at Redwood? He has everything he could ever want, and if he doesn’t have it, then he could get it easily. Why me?”
“Because you’re smart and funny, you have more of a personality compared to all these other bitches in Redwood, you are hot as fuck and hardworking, you can—”
“Stop it,” I hushed her. “Please.”
“No,” Maddie said, sipping on her milkshake. “Because it’s true and you don’t believe it.”
I sat on the bench and stared at the ground, my lips threatening to tremble. My entire body tensed again, and I found myself holding my breath. “You’re right,” I whispered. “I don’t believe it. I’ve never believed it.”
“Well, you’d better start,” Maddie said. “Because I’m about to smack some sense into you if you don’t. Blaise likes you for real, and I know that you like him too. You’ve always liked him, ever since we were in, like, middle school.”
“I have not!”
“Liar.” Maddie smirked. “You’ve wanted his dick, even then.”
“Can you not scream that?!” I whisper-yelled at her, noticing people staring.
“It’s true,” she said. “And I’m going to help you snag him.”
“How are you going to do that?” I asked.
She grabbed my phone. “We’re going to text Blaise.”
ChapterForty
