Awkwardly Ever After Read Free Page B

smile.
    â€œYou’re doing it again.”
    I forced myself to concentrate on Isobel.
    â€œLook, Dylan isn’t . . . we’re just—I’m not . . .” I stumbled incoherently.
    If anything, Izzie’s grin only widened. “Uh-huh, that clears everything right up.”
    â€œNothing can happen between us, okay! Not without jeopardizing my friendship with Mackenzie. So . . . drop it.”
    She instantly sobered, met my gaze squarely, and nodded. “Consider it dropped. But if you ever need to talk, well, I’m here.”
    The last part usually went without saying. O f course Izzie would be there for me. That’s how it works when you’ve been best friends since the first day of middle school. I mean, if you can make it through that without hating each other, you’ve got a pretty firm foundation for friendship. Although the real test had come in seventh grade when she dropped by my house unexpectedly and saw my dad passed out in a drunken heap on the couch. I had been mortified; frozen in place by an overwhelming rush of shame. And I had desperately hoped that somehow she wouldn’t notice him—or the noxious smell of stale beer that filled the room. I had braced myself for the inevitable; I waited for her to turn on the pity eyes and start making excuses to bolt.
    I forgot, there’s . . . somewhere else I need to be. Right now. Sorry, Mel. See you tomorrow. Or . . . whenever.
    I couldn’t even imagine an alternative. Nobody in their right mind would want to deal with the rank reality of my home life—not if they caught one good whiff of it. There were days when I thought I could wash my clothes a thousand times and never completely remove that smell. Days when I checked the recycling bin outside so I would know what to expect when I opened the front door. Nights I spent hovering over my dad, listening for the next quiet intake of air just to make sure he was still breathing.
    Then I’d leave a large glass of water and an aspirin on the nearby coffee table for him.
    If there had been a way out, I would have taken it a long time ago.
    So even as I had braced myself for Izzie’s knee-jerk reaction to flee, I didn’t resent her for it. I accepted it as the way things worked.
    Except instead of splitting, Izzie had tentatively placed one hand on my shoulder and said, “What do you need me to do?”
    That’s why I didn’t care if everyone at Smith High School thought it was weird that I chose to spend my time with a girl they’d already dismissed as a chubby nerd when I could be hanging out with the most popular kids at school. All I had to do was ditch Izzie and every lunch from then on I could be eating at the most prominent table in the cafeteria with the rest of the Notables.
    Never going to happen.
    Because if I had to pick between joining the Notable clique or staying Isobel Peters’s best friend, it wasn’t even a contest.
    â€œThanks, Izzie.”
    â€œSo you were saying something about Spencer King.” Izzie’s lips curved up into a half-smile. “Hypothetically . . .”
    I laughed. “Mackenzie made a big deal out of inviting us both to watch a movie at Logan’s house tonight . . . and I don’t know how to get out of it. Which is why I need you to give me some of that genius-level advice of yours.”
    Izzie rolled her eyes. “I’ve got fantastic advice all right, if you want to get a jump on prepping for the PSATs. Guys like Spencer King—ones who are good looking and rich and could get away with murder—yeah, not my area of expertise.”
    â€œCome on, Izzie! Pretend I’m asking for an anthropological study of the . . . Homo, um, make that Hockey erectus clan. How can I turn him down without pissing him off?”
    Izzie’s expression turned thoughtful. “He’s proud, right? Probably used to getting his own way and equipped with a competitive streak a