I was closer to Till Page than I was to anyone else in the world, but he was still a guy, and I was a seventeen-year-old girl who was still a virgin. This conversation was awkward.
“Ya know . . . You and Bennett. It’s none of my business.” Thankfully, he seemed just as uncomfortable. “I mean, you guys were together for, like, a year. Everyone kinda figured you were, anyway.”
“They figured we were what?” My embarrassment slipped as my blood began to boil. Unfortunately for me, I cried when I was angry and Till’s next words ripped open the floodgates.
“I mean, he . . . uh, told everyone that you guys were doing it.” He paused as my eyes grew wide. “Like, on the regular.”
“What!” I gasped even though I wasn’t really shocked. That was what teenage boys did right? They lied about sex. The only problem was that this lie was about me. Tears dripped down my face as I managed to croak out, “We never . . .”
“Fuck,” Till cussed, immediately stepping forward, dragging me into his chest. I could feel his heart pounding and his muscles tense as I unnecessarily ran my hands up his sides. “I’ll fix it,” he soothed.
“You planning to turn back time? Because I’m pretty sure there is no fixing this.”
Right then and there, I vowed to castrate Daniel Bennett. I’d originally intended for it to be a thought, but when I felt Till’s chest begin shaking, I realized I had issued my threat out loud.
“You’ll lie to the cops for me when I follow through with that, right? I’ll need an alibi.” I lifted my head to catch his gaze.
He barked out a laugh. “No, I don’t want to be the alibi. I’ll be happy to hold him down for you though.” He smiled, rubbing his hand up and down my back.
Till and I weren’t exactly touchy-feely, but we didn’t shy away from affection, either. When my mother had shredded the sketchbook she’d found in my backpack during our freshman year, Till had held me for hours as I’d cried. It was the first time I’d realized how much I had come to not only rely on him, but trust him as well. He knew my life and didn’t judge me because of it. We were two of a kind. We might not have been the only poor kids with screwed-up parents, but sometimes, it really felt that way.
“Oh, God. I’m going to look like such an idiot at school on Monday. Not only was I supposedly having monkey sex with Daniel, but it wasn’t even good enough to keep him from sleeping with my best friend,” I whined, stomping my foot for good measure.
“Monkey sex?” Till asked with humor filling his voice.
“Shut up. You know what I mean.”
He hadn’t yet released me, so I buried my head back into his chest. If he was offering, I was taking.
“You want me to kick his ass?” He made it sound like a joke, but I knew he was very serious.
“No,” I mumbled. My answer had far less to do with worrying about Daniel’s safety and everything to do with not wanting Till to get in trouble for doing it.
“Want me to spread some shit about Crystal?” He dropped his arms around my waist and rested his chin on the top of my head.
“No. What I want you to do is find a way to bottle chlamydia so we can give it to both of them.”
“Right. I’ll begin researching that tomorrow. I know a few girls who could probably supply us with a sample.”
“Ew. That’s disgusting. Please tell me Helen isn’t one of them?” I took a step out of arms, and his eyes danced with humor.
“Oh, I wouldn’t know about Helen.”
“Liar,” I accused, and his smile grew.
“Hey, you know what I bet would make you feel better?”
“Switching high schools?” I snarked over my shoulder as I walked back to the cushions on the floor.
“Nope. Scratching my head.”
“Why does your head itch? You got lice?”
“What? No!” he yelled defensively. “That’s like some little kid shit, isn’t it?”
“Mostly, but anyone can get it. Besides, how old are Flint and Quarry now anyway? They could have brought it home from school.”
“Six and eleven, but we don’t share a room or anything anymore.” He was blinking a lot and I could tell he was starting to worry.
“Till, just ’cause you sleep on the couch doesn’t mean they couldn’t have left it there for you. Come on. Sit down and I’ll check. Crystal had lice when we were in fifth grade. She was miserable.” I paused as an idea hit me. “Hey! If you really have lice, can you give it to Daniel and Crystal before getting rid of it?”
“Sure. I’d be happy to! How do I give it to them?” he asked, so genuinely interested that I couldn’t help but smile.
“Just rub your head on them or something. Maybe lend Bennett one of your beanies,” I joked, but Till stood there for a minute studying me.
“Sorry,” was all he said before diving at me.
He caught me completely off guard, and I toppled over backwards. Before I even had a chance to react, he had my arms pinned and was straddling my hips.