Bad Idea Read Free

Corley. She’d gotten pretty good at
keeping her eyes on Madame Bellamy’s paperwork for seventy-five
minutes straight and twisting her head to the left, away from Riva,
if she did need to look up.
    Emmy’s strained, pissed-off tone made
everyone in the room turn toward her and Riva now. Daisy had never
seen Emmy so angry, but, of course, that wasn’t what drew Daisy’s
eye. Riva looked miserable, on the verge of tears, but her
vulnerability made her even more beautiful to Daisy. Riva seemed so
perfect so much of the time that Daisy couldn’t envision what to do
if she did ever find herself alone with her. What could they talk
about? How could Daisy approach her? Now that Riva’s full, coppery
lips were trembling, Daisy imagined herself swooping in, asking
what was wrong, offering to comfort her. Maybe Riva would want a
ride somewhere—to an ice cream place, a park, whatever—and Daisy
could tell her she’d just bought a car over winter break. Then
Daisy could listen to whatever Riva had to say and also finally be
free to look at her soft, round face while she spoke.
    Emmy stomped out of the classroom, just about
snapping a desk in half in the process, and slammed the door behind
her.
    Jo nudged Daisy. “Wow. I did not know Riva
Corley was gay.”
    “Huh?” Daisy had been so busy fantasizing
that she hadn’t processed anything Emmy and Riva had been saying. Was Riva Corley actually gay? If so, Daisy was going to have
to light a candle the next time she was in church, because the god
of closeted lesbian teenagers had apparently answered her most
fervent prayers.
    “Were you not listening to that?”
    Jo tucked a strand of straight, shiny black
hair behind one delicate ear. Daisy recognized the performance
element of the gesture and figured the display of perfect grooming
was for the benefit of some boy on the other side of the room. Yup.
Jo was looking at a spot just past Daisy’s shoulder.
    Daisy normally smiled indulgently and waited
for Jo’s attention to return to her. Jo was boy-crazy enough for
both of them, and Daisy half-hoped people would read her as
straight by association. This conversation, however, was way too
significant to be put on the back burner so Jo’s crush of the week
could claim a spot up front.
    Daisy waved a hand in front of Jo’s face.
“Stay with me for a second here,” she whispered urgently. “What
makes you think…um, about Riva, how did you…”
    Daisy braved a glance in Riva’s direction.
She had frozen when Emmy stalked off, tears brimming in her eyes.
Daisy wanted to go to her, but now she really didn’t know
what she would say.
    Hey, does being out of the closet suck as
much as being in it does? Because that’s my biggest fear. Want to
go secretly make out?
    Jo rolled her eyes. “Daisy, I swear. You know nothing about lesbians.”
    Jo didn’t know how right she was. Despite
being one, Daisy had no idea whatsoever how to go about her life.
Emmy seemed so certain of herself. Did she sign up for a mailing
list when she came out that hooked her up with all the key
information, or had she been born with special knowledge? Daisy’s
late-night Internet searches and secret viewings of I Can’t
Think Straight had left her with more questions than
answers.
    She sighed. “Enlighten me.”
    “Emmy was mad that Riva wanted to
‘experiment’ with her. It’s obvious, right? ‘Experiment’ is code
for…whatever lesbians do with each other.”
    Jo’s attitude irritated Daisy, but she tried
to remind herself that she couldn’t take it personally since she’d
never told Jo how personal it was. It probably wasn’t a good idea
to shoot back, but Daisy couldn’t resist a small comment.
    “And what do you call whatever you’re
planning to do with that person you’re eyeballing over my
shoulder?”
    Jo batted her eyelashes and grinned, her lip
gloss shimmering. “I am way past the experimental phase.” She put
her hands on her hips and gave a little shimmy. “This