Garrett was looking in my direction and I stared back, daring him to approach. Come on Guitar Boy, make my day.
God, someone rip out my inner Dirty Harry and beat the shit out of him please.
Garrett turned and went inside the building without so much as a wave. Okay then…
“Riley, what happened?” Gracie exclaimed, taking in my soaked pants.
I jerked my thumb in Damien’s direction. “Ask Mr. Scared Me Shitless over here,” I said with more than a little rancor.
“Well, let’s hit the bathroom before heading upstairs and get you cleaned up,” Gracie said, looping her arm with mine and pulling me toward the Bakersville Times building. Damien followed closely behind us.
This was the friendliest Gracie had been towards me in weeks and it made me instantly suspicious.
“I’ll get you another coffee,” Damien said eagerly as Gracie and I headed to the restroom in the reception area.
“Don’t bother,” I told him grumpily. I was annoyed. Annoyed that I had ruined my favorite pair of dress pants. Annoyed that Maysie dropped her moving out bomb on me first thing this morning. Annoyed that I had caught Gracie yucking it up with Garrett like they were BFFs.
And most of all annoyed that Garrett hadn’t acknowledged me. Not a wave or a nod of his head. Just big fat nothin’, like I didn’t exist.
It hurt.
It shouldn’t hurt.
I had made myself pretty freaking clear on how I felt about him. But still…
Great, I had morphed into one of those girls. The wishy-washy kind. I hated those girls. I think I needed a time out. Either that or a swift kick up the butt.
Gracie pulled out a grip full of paper towels from the dispenser and handed them to me. I dabbed my pants but figured I’d just have to deal with smelling like stale coffee for the rest of the day.
I tossed the towels into the trash and was about to head out of the bathroom when Gracie touched my hand. “Can we talk for a minute before going up?” she asked me.
Gracie looked like a vulnerable little girl but she was one of the fiercest bitches I knew. I knew she could be maliciously cruel or have your back in a cage fight. It was hard to tell which Gracie I’d have the pleasure of conversing with.
“Sure, what’s up?” I asked, figuring feigning ignorance my best solution at this point.
“First thing, how are you holding up? You know with your dad and all that?” Gracie asked and I relaxed a bit. Maybe we wouldn’t be having a chick fight in the bathroom.
“Eh, I have my days. Thanks for asking,” I said sincerely. I hoped this was a sign that our weirdness was at an end.
“I know things have been weird between us,” Gracie stated, reading my mind.
I laughed uncomfortably. “Weird like wearing different color of socks or weird like hanging out with your grandma at prom?” I asked.
“Uh, definitely grandma weird,” Gracie giggled and I felt myself relax a little bit more. This was good. We were being almost normal. Maybe our relationship wasn’t completely messed up.
Gracie’s eyes twinkled strangely and she had me off balance again. This was not the friend I was used to. This girl reminded me of the person I loathed before we had formed a friendship. The evil sorority girl that I wanted to eradicate from the planet Godzilla style.
“But it shouldn’t be, Riley. Garrett explained everything. He said it was a mistake. That the two of you would never be together. That he didn’t even like you enough to be friends,” she giggled even as she ripped me a new one.
“So that’s the plan? For you and I to snark out over a dude? Really? Because I’m not in the mood,” I said tiredly.