"Everything okay?" Mom asks with a slight frown. "Is there something the three of you need to tell us?"
"Nothing," I say, keeping my tone casual. "Gray is just being annoying. Just ignore him. I usually do."
It's my brother's turn to glare at me. "Really? You want to go there?"
"Oh, get over yourself. You're making a big deal over nothing." Seriously, he's the only one making the whole thing hard for all of us.
"Because you're being stupid!"
"And you're an idiot!"
"That's enough," Dad snaps in an authoritative voice. "We're having dinner and the two of you are being disrespectful. You can talk about whatever issue you have with each other later. And no yelling. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Dad," Gray and I mutter at the same time as Mom huffs out a frustrated breath.
Beside me, Duane is squirming in his seat, clearly feeling uncomfortable.
Great. I promised that dinner would be uneventful, yet I was the one who broke that promise. I just couldn't help myself and had to run my mouth. And here I thought I could use the opportunity to make Gray and Duane reconcile. Instead, I made things worse.
Damn Gray for being such a jerk. He's making it easy for me to be pissed at him. I thought he'd be over it by now, but he's still acting like a big baby. Like Duane hurt him or something. It wasn't as if his best friend went behind his back. Duane gave him a heads-up, didn't he?
"So, dinner was going to be uneventful, huh?" Duane gently bumps his shoulder against mine.
The tense-filled dinner is over, and now we're sitting outside on my front steps.
I wince. "Sorry about that. It was totally my fault. I couldn't shut my mouth fast enough."
"Nah. Gray didn't have to antagonize you like that." He falls silent for a moment. "The two of you are fighting. Heather is going after you. And it's all because of me. Nothing is worth all this trouble. Shit, I feel like a selfish prick." He blows out a breath and stares out into the empty street. "Are you sure you don't want to drop our arrangement?"
"Didn't we already have this conversation?"
He groans. "Allie, I'm serious."
"And who says I'm not?" I give him a stern look. "Listen, you need to stop this blame game you've been playing with yourself. I told you I'd help you and that's what I'm doing right now. So enough with the self-guilt, okay?"
He said nothing is worth all this trouble? But what he doesn't know is that he is.
"But what will happen when we 'break up?' People will talk." He scowls. "I don't want anyone talking shit about you."
When we "break up?" Translation: when he and Heather are finally back together.
I huff out a fake laugh. "Don't worry about me. I can salvage my reputation by getting a new boyfriend. You know, to let everyone know that our 'breakup' doesn't affect me. They won't think I'm a pathetic loser then."
Duane doesn't seem to share my humor though. He remains quiet for a long moment before turning to me with an unreadable expression on his face. "Why? Do you already have someone in mind?"
"Justin," I murmur without thinking.
With a frown, he probes. "Justin? Justin who?"
"Just a boy I met. I didn't even know why I said his name." Crazy, I wasn't even thinking about Justin Samuels.
"So where did you meet this Justin?"
"At Indie's Dad's bookstore." I shake my head, waving a hand dismissively. "Forget I mentioned him. Just...let me handle it when the time comes."
And I really hope it won't come to that.
CHAPTER 8
"Sounds like an interesting dinner to me," Indie comments as we settle down on a grassy area of the quad. "I wish I was there to witness it."
"I really wish you were there," I gripe as I chew the food in my mouth, watching the two boys a few feet from us goof around with each other.
It's lunch break, and instead of having lunch in the cafeteria like we usually do, we simply grabbed some food there and headed outside. Gray looked like he wanted to join us, but our argument over dinner last night had stopped him from tagging along.
Honestly, I was tempted to invite him.
"I needed someone to stop me from going off on Gray. Ugh, Indie, it was a complete disaster. I was supposed to act as a bridge between them, not worsen the situation."
"Oh, come on, Allie. Give yourself a break. It's not your fault that your brother is being stubborn right now."
I pull my bottom lip between my teeth. I don't want to rope my best friend into this, but... "Think you can use your girlfriend tricks and convince Gray to talk to Duane?"
She lifts an eyebrow, barking out a laugh. "Girlfriend tricks?"
"You know what I mean," I huff.
"Believe me, I already tried doing that—and without using any girlfriend tricks—but he still wouldn't budge. I told you, he's stubborn as a mule."
"What am I going to do then?"
"Nothing. Just let it blow over."
"What?"
Why is she saying that? She knows how near-desperate I am to fix the problem.
"Hon, you need to stop stressing yourself over it. It's their issue, let them handle it." Sipping on her soda, she tips her face up to the sun as if to soak its rays up, the ends of her long auburn hair almost touching the grass.
I exhale a breath. "It's just...I'm trying to help Duane, yes—but it's not only that. I'm doing it for myself more. Gray is icing me out, too. So I figured if I could make him talk to Duane, I could make him talk to me, too. I know I find him annoying most of the time, but he's my brother and I miss him."
"Oh, All." She gives me a sympathetic look. Then her face brightens a beat later. "Wait, I think I have an idea."
My ears perk up. "Spill."
“Brad is having a party at his house tomorrow night.”
"Um, and? What does Brad's party have to do with my problem?"
"We should go. He gave me the invite this morning."
Funny how they're sort of friends now. There's no bad blood anymore between them. Indie has moved on with Gray. And surprisingly, Brad is still in a happy relationship with Daphne Lynch, who happens to be Heather's best friend and another Four Blondes.
"Again, and?" I probe.
"We're going to make them hang out with each other there, duh."
I scoff. "While among a hundred other students Gray can see as better choices? Yeah, good luck with that."
"Oh, have a little faith, my dear," she says airily, making me chuckle.
"Well, unless…"
"Unless, what?"
I waggle my brows at her. "We'll lure them into an empty room then trap them there. And we won't let them out until they talk. What do you think?"
Indie blinks at me. "I think you're getting good at this scheming thing. It hasn't even been long since you devised the plan to egg Brad's car. Should I be scared?"
I grin at her. "I know, right? Good times."