Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
It wasn’t the first time Gage had sex—he’d lost his virginity when we were fifteen—but other than Katie, girls didn’t start spending time with us. I was pretty sure even Romeo and Mouse could tell something was up. Mouse didn’t like her at all. They were way too different, and she was used to being the only girl with us, but she was also a feminist and a believer in girl power, so she pushed that stuff aside.
But now…now it was the homecoming dance, and Gage took her as his date. He’d never taken anyone to a dance before. We either didn’t go, or it was the four of us, and now it was the four of us plus her. I wasn’t as good as Mouse at letting bygones be bygones. I wanted Katie gone altogether, even if that made me an asshole.
“Are you two here together?” Katie motioned between Romeo and Mouse. I noticed she didn’t ask if Mouse was there with me, though Mouse was seated next to me.
“Ew. No,” Mouse said. “I don’t do the whole boy-asks-girl-to-a-dance thing. I take myself.”
“She’s gonna dance with me, though,” Romeo added.
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m not.”
“Aw, come on. Just one dance?”
The two of them went back and forth, with me in the middle as always. Gage caught my gaze and rolled his eyes, but I looked away. It was stupid and childish, but I couldn’t help it. Even though I had no right to feel it, betrayal sat heavy in my gut. This was our last homecoming. Not that I really cared about dances, but I wished it’d been only the four of us.
“Hey, Jojo,” he said to get my attention. Of course I looked. Stupid, annoying boy. I couldn’t keep my stare off him. And I also knew I loved him. I figured it out in middle school, but if I thought about it, I probably fell in love with Gage that first day of school, and it hadn’t gone away since. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I lied. How could I tell him I was jealous? That I loved him and wanted to be there with him? That I wished we could dance together, and hold hands, and that he could want me the way I wanted him.
“How come you never date, Jojo?” Katie asked, making my spine go straight.
“Don’t call him that,” Gage rushed out, his voice slightly hoarse.
“Oh.” Katie’s jaw set. “Sor-ry. I was just trying to connect with your friends.” She crossed her arms.
“I didn’t mean to snap. It’s just…our thing.” He nudged her, but she kept pouting. He did it again. “Come on…dance with me.”
That made her smile.
“We’ll be back,” Gage said, walked over, kissed the top of my head, and disappeared.
My heart ached. I was heavy, weighed down.
“Hey, Romeo. Will you get us a drink?” Mouse asked.
“No.” He frowned.
“Ugh. Fine. I’ll dance with you if you do.”
“Deal!” He hurried off, and she watched him, the right side of her mouth curling up slightly.
“You like him.” It was painfully obvious.
“Girls like me don’t end up with nice boys like him. I’m the town slut’s daughter. Eventually I’ll just be the town slut—already am, if you ask some people. He’s going somewhere.”
“That’s not true and you know it. He loves you. You’re smart as hell. You’re an incredible artist. Romeo isn’t any better than you. Plus, we’re leaving together, remember? All of us.”
Mouse watched him for a moment, then shook her head. “Whatever. I don’t want to talk about me. I want to talk about you. He cares about you, ya know? More than anything in this world. More than life. Katie is a phase, which is hard for me to say since I believe in women sticking together. He might like her some, but she’s not you. No one will ever be you for Hero.”
My heart began going crazy, beating harder, faster, louder than the bass bumping through the speakers. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask her if she really thought so, if Gage had ever said anything to her. God, I wanted her to be right, but what I said was, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’re best friends. Of course Katie will never be his best friend.”
She cocked a brow at me. “We’re playing it like that, are we?”
Mouse bringing this up both surprised me and didn’t. She paid attention to detail, so she had to realize I loved him, but we’d never talked about it. She didn’t know I liked boys in general, not just Gage. Well, he was the one I loved, but the others…yeah, boys did it for me. Anytime I jacked off, it was to thoughts of Gage or a male celebrity.
I turned then, looked over at Gage while he danced with Katie. He looked so hot. He was wearing slacks and a white button-up with a bow tie. He hadn’t been sure his dad would come through, but he had. Sometimes his father was okay; other times he disappeared for days, or passed out from being too drunk, or left white powder on a mirror. He never asked Gage about school or went to his baseball games.