The Girl Who Dared to Think (The Girl Who Dared #1)

Zoe pushed the button to the door, ignoring her mother’s insistent calls, and stepped out, almost plowing right into Eric. He reached out to steady her, and she froze, tipping her head up toward him. I slid through the space around them and closed the door before her mother could call her again, worried that Eric might wonder what was going on.

The two of them stared at each other for a long moment, and I suppressed a sigh, looking around for a clock. I wanted my friends to finally admit their feelings to each other, but now wasn’t exactly the best time. Grey was waiting, without food and trapped against his will, probably scared and very much alone. Maybe it was insensitive of me, but we needed to speed this along—without getting Eric involved.

“Hey, Eric,” I said, managing to put a teasing note in my voice. “What are you doing at Zoe’s house?”

Eric blinked, the dreamy look on his face evaporating as he realized he and Zoe had a witness, and removed his hands from her shoulders so fast you’d have thought she was toxic. Running a sheepish hand through his hair, he looked over at me and forced a nervous smile on his face.

“Hey, Liana,” he said. “Were you invited to dinner too?”

This time Zoe blinked, and her face filtered through a series of expressions, from confusion to consideration to recollection, and in spite of the gravity of the situation, I found myself smiling. The awkwardness between Zoe and Eric was something I didn’t have time for, but I wasn’t really sure how to put a stop to it.

“Dinner,” she groaned, placing a hand on her forehead. “I forgot.”

There was a flash of hurt on Eric’s face, and I recognized the beginnings of an episode from one of their dramatic lovers-but-not-actually-lovers fights beginning to form. This was the best moment I was ever going to get.

“She forgot to net you that her mother had to cancel,” I slid in smoothly, taking a step closer to them. “And that’s my fault. I showed up unexpectedly.”

“Oh.” Eric ran his hand down his neck. “Do you want to come over to my place for dinner?”

Zoe looked at me and then snapped her gaze back to Eric. “I can’t,” she said. “I want to, but Liana came by to ask me for some help.”

“Oh? With what? Can I tag along?”

My heart pounded, but Zoe didn’t panic. “No,” she said, an apologetic smile on her face, “because I already gave it to her.”

“Oh.” He looked around awkwardly, shuffling his feet. “Then why can’t you come for dinner?”

My heart stopped. It flat-out stopped as Eric picked apart Zoe’s statements, trying to find a way to squeeze in some time with her. It would’ve been sweet, but his timing was just so bad.

“Because helping Liana set me back on my own work,” Zoe explained effortlessly, once again surprising me with the smoothness of her invented alibi. “I’ve got some parts that I need to take apart, clean, and repair before the next shift.”

“Oh, well, I can help you with that!” Eric exclaimed, a broad smile on his face. I couldn’t stop myself; I grabbed hold of the first plausible idea I could to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

“She’s lying,” I said, and Zoe gave me a wide-eyed look of warning that told me she’d be giving me a piece of her mind shortly, depending on what I said. I ignored her, focusing on Eric’s surprised face. “Sort of. I came over to talk to her about a boy.”

I let the statement lie flat, and waited for Eric’s reaction.

“A boy?” he asked, clearly confused.

“Liana isn’t sure if he likes her, or likes her likes her, y’know?” Zoe said, and I nodded, thinking of Grey and borrowing some of the emotions that were there to bring a blush to my cheeks.

“I came over to ask Zoe to, um... watch us interact and give me her opinion.”

This time the blush was genuine. I couldn’t help it. The idea that I would ever ask anyone to watch me interact with Grey, or any boy I liked, was mortifying. The last thing I needed was my faux pas recited back to me.

“Oh, now this I’ve got to see.” My head snapped up to look into Eric’s amused face. Anticipation was already gleaming in his eyes, and I froze, my mind fumbling for some sort of explanation.

“Are you kidding me?” Zoe asked loudly, placing a hand on her hip. “How obtuse are you?”

Eric blinked, his wide smile faltering and then disappearing as he looked at both of us. “I... What do you mean?”

“Whatever Liana has with this guy is fragile! The last thing she needs is to show up with another guy around! It would send the wrong message.”

“Oh. Yeah. I hadn’t thought of that.”

We fell silent, and out of nowhere I thought of the perfect way of getting rid of him. “Yeah, imagine how you’d feel if you liked Zoe and then saw her standing around with some other handsome guy.”

Zoe shot me a look that promised me a fiery death was in my near future, but I kept my focus on Eric’s horrified face. His eyes darted to Zoe, who managed to screw her features into a mildly neutral expression, and then back to me, his gaze filled with questioning reproach. I felt bad; I’d never insinuated anything about their feelings for each other in front of them both, but right now it was the only way.

“I mean, if I liked Zoe... I guess I could see... Yeah... I never really thought... I mean, it’s not really my business who Zoe hangs out with, even if I did like her, so...”

I smiled at Eric’s stammering, and then nodded. “I’m sorry if this disrupts your evening, but I’m sure Zoe will reschedule. Won’t you, Zo?”

“Sure,” Zoe mumbled, looking at the toes of her shoes. “I’ll net you later?”

“Sounds good,” Eric said, managing to collect himself. “Good luck, Liana. See you later.”

I raised my hand in farewell, but I doubted Eric noticed it; he left so fast I would’ve thought his pants were on fire. I watched him go, then turned back to Zoe, surprised to find her standing right by my side, barely an inch separating us.

“How could you do that?” she exclaimed, her voice loud. “How could you call me out like that?”

Call her out? I blinked, trying to remember what exactly I had said to get rid of Eric.

“How did I—”

“You told him I was lying. Now anytime he looks at me, he’s just going to think, Oh, there is Zoe the Liar, with a capital L!”

“I’m sorry,” I said, somewhat defensively. “I panicked. He was being pushy about trying to hang out, and in case you don’t remember, a man’s life is on the line. I’m really sorry if I embarrassed you, but if your dad said something along the lines of lives come first, then I think this falls under that.”

Zoe gave me an affronted look and then sighed, her shoulders rounding out. “You’re right,” she said. “And you were right to get rid of him. I don’t want him getting hurt because of me.”

“Neither do I,” I said, thinking of her five. We both fell into silence. I couldn’t tell you what Zoe thought about, but for me, it was a moment in which I prayed that we could pull this off without getting caught. “Where are we headed?”