Cody looked at Ashlyn, his eyebrows pulling together even more. She couldn’t quite place the strange expression on his face. It was similar to the one he made when memorizing confusing football plays. “You were at Kendall’s party,” he said to Ashlyn. “And you and Summer have been hanging out a lot lately.”
“What can I say? She can’t get enough of me,” Ashlyn said. “I make sure she knows how awesome she is, too, so she won’t settle for someone who’s not good enough for her.” She gave him a tight smile. “Just in case you were wondering.” She motioned to the bar. “Let’s get our Cokes before the show starts again.”
Summer waved to Cody and followed Ashlyn to the bar.
Ashlyn finally got a hold of a bartender and ordered three Diet Cokes.
“I didn’t feel anything,” Summer said as they waited for their drinks. “Well, I mean the holy-crap-this-is-awkward feeling—he was acting a little strange. But I’m completely over Cody.”
“Right on, because I can’t step in and save you from him forever.” Ashlyn grinned at Summer, and Summer tried to smile back. Too many supposed-to-be-funny comments were just not funny knowing what she knew.
Chapter Twenty
The next morning Summer dug through her drawers and found the old clothes she used to love—the stuff she wore before it seemed so important to fit in with the in crowd. Not only was it nice to not care if the other girls would approve, but her old clothes were also comfy.
Steeling herself for another day in the trenches, she walked through the double doors of the school and headed for her locker. Kendall and several of the other girls from the dance team stood in a circle in the hall. Kendall narrowed her eyes on Summer as she approached. “Did you get dressed in the dark?”
The girls around Kendall all wore the same we’re-so-much-better-than-you expression Kendall had on.
“Uh-huh.” Summer found if she didn’t give them anything more, these conversations—more like attacks—went better. As long as she acted unfazed by their verbal jabs, they’d eventually get bored and give up.
“I can tell,” Kendall said. “You’ve really gone downhill without my influence.”
Summer grabbed her books out of her locker and turned to walk away. Cody stood there, blocking her path. Thanks to the verbal jabs being thrown at her already, her patience was wearing thin. “What do you want?”
“I figured out something last night.” Cody tilted his head as he studied her. “Why you and me didn’t work, and why you were always pushing me away. You’re into chicks. You and that Ashlyn girl are dating.”
Summer stared at him, thinking he was going to say he was only kidding. Instead, he stood there, brow furrowed, waiting for her response. “Um, no we’re not,” she said. “We were just hanging out. We’re friends.”
“You were holding hands.”
“No wonder you always stared in the girls’ locker room,” Kendall said from behind Summer. “You were checking us all out. All those times I changed in front of you.” She threw a hand to her chest. “I feel so violated.”
Summer rolled her eyes and looked back to Cody. “Did it ever occur to you that I just have high standards?”
“Hey, I don’t mind that you’re a lesbian. I’m cool with it.” Cody cocked an eyebrow. “In fact, I’d like to watch you two make-out sometime. I think you owe me that much after stringing me along for so long.”
Summer felt an arm around her waist and turned to see it was Troy. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. She automatically gripped his shoulder as he pulled her tighter to him, his hand spread on the small of her back, and parted her mouth with his. Heat wound through her body, and the rest of the world faded away. She forgot how to breathe, or why she needed oxygen anyway.
Then he pulled back, leaving her stomach with that just-stepped-off-a-roller-coaster feeling. He grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers. “Come on, Sunshine. I’ll walk you to class.” He led her away from the shocked faces lining the hall. It was a good thing he was holding her hand, because she was shocked, too. So much so, she could hardly walk.
They rounded the corner, and Troy turned to face her, their bodies so close she could feel the warmth coming off of him. “You okay?”
Words didn’t come, so Summer simply nodded.
“I hope I didn’t just unwittingly put you back in the closet. I wanted to prove you rejected him because he’s a loser. Plus, just yesterday you were talking about the drummer being cute, so I assumed…”
“You assumed right,” she said. “I think Cody just can’t believe that any girl could resist his charms. So I guess when he saw me with Ashlyn last night—”
“Last night?”
“Cody was at the Crusifictorius show with his brother. I said hi, then Ashlyn and I took off. I guess he decided that meant I was with her. Like with her, with her.” Summer shook her head. “Oh well, I don’t really care what they think anymore. I guess as far as rumors go, that one’s not that bad. I suppose it won’t land me many dates, but that’s not something I’m too concerned about right now.” She realized she was still holding Troy’s hand, and that she didn’t want to let go of it. “Thanks for getting me away from them.”
“No problem.” He glanced around. “I’ve got to jet, but I’ll see you later?”
She nodded. “Later.”
Butterflies swirled through her stomach as she watched him walk away. Nope, she definitely wasn’t into girls. All she could think about was that kiss and how much she wanted to kiss him again.
The day went from horrible to awesome, back to horrible. At practice, Lexi called her a backstabbing whore because she’d obviously stolen Troy. Yeah, it was real classy. Then Kendall joined in with the insults. She and Summer had exchanged insults, and Kendall demanded her things back, which apparently included items she’d given Summer as gifts.
Instead of lingering on that, she decided to rewind back to this morning, when Troy had kissed her. Thinking about it made her pulse quicken and her heart flutter. She was definitely grinning like an idiot, too. But she told herself not to read too much into it. They’d been friends for so long. Yes, she had liked him in the beginning, before she found out about his girlfriend and things had gotten messy. But he was flirty by nature and had even said he was trying to help her out.
I feel like things have been shifting lately, though. She wanted to believe there was more to that kiss, but he certainly didn’t act like it meant anything to him. And I was so shocked I just kinda stood there. Great. He probably thinks I’m a crappy kisser now.
Summer unlocked the front door and tossed her keys off to the side. “Dad? Are you home?”
No answer.
She moved into the kitchen and saw a chocolate cheesecake on the counter, a couple of slices missing. There were also dirty dishes in the sink—it looked like Dad and Tiffany had come and gone. Summer grabbed a fork and dug into the dessert. Something about eating it right out of the pan made her feel happy and desperate at the same time.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she pulled it out. Ashlyn’s name lit up the display, so she swallowed the giant bite of food in her mouth. “Hey,” she choked out. Man, that cheesecake was rich.
Sobs greeted her first. “I…” Ashlyn sniffed. “Can you come over?”
Summer froze, hand wrapped around the glass she was pulling out of the cupboard. “Are you okay?”
“I just need a friend.”
“I’ll be there as fast as I can.” Summer grabbed a cold Dr. Pepper out of the fridge instead of bothering with a glass. On her way out the door, she texted Dad. As long as he knew where she was, he was pretty understanding. She noticed he was even more understanding since she was no longer spending time with Cody.