Chapter 3

He’s got me there. Charlene’s a terror. She’s

still the type of girl who’d walk up to me and kick me in the leg

for no real reason, even though we just graduated from high school

a few months back and we’re supposed to be adults here. Once she

reads that letter of Riley’s, I’m going to have to lay low for a

few days. I know she’ll be out for my blood because somehow the

break-up will be all my fault. Everything she hates about Riley,

she blames on me.

His toes wiggle against my thigh, I want to

slap them away and grasp them tight in my hand at the same time.

“You know,” Riley starts, and I want to break in and say, You

know, I don’t want to talk about her anymore,but I don’t. He

sighs and lowers his voice, all laughter gone now. “I never wanted

to get with her in the first place, really. It was just that I

didn’t have a prom date yet and she caught me after practice—what

was I supposed to say with the team standing there listening to us?

No? I ain’t crazy.”