“But how do you know he doesn’t like you?” Emma asked.
“I told you, I just know.”
“Did he outright say he’s not interested?” she continued.
“No, but he called me one of the guys,” I blurted out.
Too loudly.
I heard a hiss of a wince coming from the peanut gallery. There was no doubt about it.
Will was listening.
And he was feeling sorry for me.
Wonderful. Just when I thought this day couldn’t get worse.
Time to end this. Preferably ten minutes ago, but since I couldn’t turn back time, I’d have to settle for a change of topic.
And venue.
“I’m heading to the diner for the post-meet celebration,” I said. “Are you guys coming?”
“Um, I think so.” Emma leaned forward to look past Lulu to Will. “Do you mind going to the diner first?”
I stared at her until she turned back to face me.
“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Emma asked as she slid out of the row. “Will is our ride.”
2
Will
Did Hazel want me tagging along to the diner?
No.
Did I care?
Also no.
To be honest, having her wary gaze following me as I walked into the diner beside her was really kind of funny.
What did she think I was going to do, exactly? Pants her in front of her teammates?
I gave her my best cocky smile as I held the door open for her. I’d heard her asking Lulu in the backseat why I was giving them a ride. And Lulu had given her this big long explanation. Basically, her sister was using her car and Emma’s was in the shop, so they asked me to drive since I was going anyway to take photos.
It had taken everything in me not to turn around and look at Hazel’s expression as I drove, but my attention had been too filled with Emma’s nonstop chatter.
I liked Emma. From day one at this preppy, uptight school, she’d always been friendly to me. She was easy to be around, and it made sense that she was best friends with Hazel. They seemed to even each other out.
Emma was like me. Never too serious about anything. Always ready to crack a joke or laugh. Always ready to laugh at ourselves.
Unlike Hazel. She reminded me of my best friend Ian back home, actually. All serious and focused. I still talked to him every week, and nothing had changed. He was still giving himself an ulcer with his quest to get into the best school where he could then work himself to the bone to get into the best med school and follow in his father’s footsteps to be the best surgeon.
The guy was a ticking time bomb of stress.
People like Ian and Hazel took themselves and everything around them way too seriously. And that was exactly why they were so much fun to tease.
“Don’t take it personally,” Emma said now as she caught me watching Hazel walk toward the table of swimmers in the back.
“Me? Never,” I scoffed.
Emma, Lulu, and I slid into a booth and studied our menus as Hazel made the rounds among the tables in the back filled with swimmers.
“She’s like a celebrity back there,” Lulu said with awe.
I’d been glancing back too and...the pretty redhead wasn’t wrong. Hazel was being greeted like some conquering hero. Come to think of it...it was an apt analogy. With her stick-straight posture and her permanent look of serious determination, she looked like a warrior on a battlefield, not a high school girl greeting her teammates.
I looked over to see a table full of girls beaming up at her like they were so very honored to have Hazel stop by and say hello.
When I turned back, I saw her friends watching, too, with matching affectionate grins.
“It’s so cool to see her like this,” Lulu said.
“Like what?” I asked.
“Having fun,” Emma said.
I snuck another peek at the still-serious-looking Hazel and saw that Emma was right. She might not have been laughing, or even smiling, but some of her earlier tension had been replaced with a...well, with a glow. Cheesy as that might sound, she looked like someone had turned on a light inside her as she did her thing.
It was hard to look away, actually.
When she rejoined us at our table, Lulu passed her a menu, and we all placed our orders a few minutes later. It didn’t take long before Emma and Lulu steered the conversation back to Hazel and her mysterious crush.
More specifically, the conversation turned to how Hazel should make a play for this faceless, nameless guy.
“It couldn’t hurt to try, right?” Emma said. “I mean, you of all people know that you have to work hard to get what you want, so if you actually want this guy…”
Hazel scowled as Lulu and I exchanged amused looks. It was clear to all of us what Emma was doing. The girl was definitely not subtle in her passive-aggressive ways, but it worked.
“I don’t get what you even want me to do,” Hazel said.
“Try to make him see you as a girl,” Emma said.
Hazel stopped eating long enough to give her friend a look that was hilariously unimpressed. “What do you want me to do, have a makeover or something? This isn’t some teen romcom, Em, and I am not living in some montage sequence.”
Lulu snickered, and I grinned at Hazel as I took another bite. Oh, this was good. More fun than sitting at home and watching TV, that was for sure. Hazel was kind of hilarious when she was riled up…
“Would it really hurt to put on a little lipstick?” Emma said, waving a hand in the general direction of Hazel’s bare face. “Maybe take your hair out of that unattractive ponytail one day?”
Hazel frowned as she reached for her ponytail as if the clump of hair had felt the verbal blow.
“It’s no use, Em,” she said.
Hazel had half turned to face her friend, and for the first time all evening, it seemed like she’d forgotten I was here long enough to drop her guard. “A little lipstick isn’t going to change my personality.”
Emma’s expression turned fierce. “He doesn’t like your personality? Who is this creep?”
My thoughts exactly.
But I managed to keep my disgust to myself as Lulu leaned forward to offer support. “Why wouldn’t he like your personality? You have a great personality.”
Hazel blushed slightly, and I fought a grin. I loved her blush. She was so strong and stoic, so when a hint of pink started creeping up her neck and into her cheeks—well, it was like watching a tiger play with a bunny in one of those YouTube videos. Fierce and adorable all at once.
“It’s not that he doesn’t like my personality,” she said. “It’s just...I’m not his type, that’s all.”
“What’s his type?” Lulu asked.
She shrugged. “Someone who’s...fun.” She sort of sneered when she said that word, her nose wrinkled up in a cute little expression that fell somewhere between confusion and disdain.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. More of a chuckle, really, and it was under my breath, but it had her snapping her head in my direction with a wary glare.
I held my hands up in innocence. “What? It’s just...how dare he like girls who are fun?”
I saw Emma bite her lip as she tried not to laugh as Lulu nudged me with her elbow to tell me to cut it out.