Making Out Read Free

it did on most guys. More like sloppy. Or maybe like he just took a whiz and forgot to tuck in. But she appreciated that he was trying harder to loosen up and change his geek-with-a-pocket-protector image.
    â€œLet’s get a pretzel and share it,” Lisa Marie said, suddenly famished from the shopping marathon.
    Without a word of discussion, Todd went off to buy the smoothies and pretzel while Lisa Marie got the straws and napkins. Then she found a table and sat down to hold their place.
    God, we’re like an old married couple, Lisa Marie thought. Without the sex. She and Todd fooled around plenty, but she wasn’t about to go all the way with someone she didn’t really have strong feelings for. Even their make-out sessions were getting pretty boring these days.
    But on the other hand, he was really nice to her. Always offering to do things, like install firewall software and defragment her hard drive.
    Just what a girl wants.
    It’s the thought that counts, Lisa Marie reminded herself.
    â€œSo guess what?” she said when he had broken the pretzel in half and let her choose the piece she wanted. “I got a job.”
    â€œYou did? How come?”
    Should I tell him about the dress? she wondered. Or was this sort of like a wedding dress? Bad luck for him to know about it in advance? Oh, what the hell. She’d have to explain to him sometime why she wouldn’t be able to hang out as much for the next few weeks.
    â€œWe went shopping for prom dresses, and I found the most amazing—”
    â€œThat’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Todd interrupted.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œProm. I mean, not just prom, but . . .”
    He wasn’t looking at her. He just kept stirring his smoothie around and around.
    Don’t tell me he doesn’t want to go to the prom, Lisa Marie thought. Not that she’d be surprised if he was freaked about the expense. Something she’d read online the other day said that with the tux, corsage, limo, dinner, prom tickets, photographs, and maybe splitting a hotel suite for the after-party, guys regularly spent close to a thousand dollars on prom night.
    So what was it? Maybe he needed to forget the limo?
    â€œJust say it,” Lisa Marie said.
    Todd let go of his straw and met her eyes. “I think I want to try dating other people.”
    Lisa Marie couldn’t quite process that information. Did he mean now ? Before the prom? Take a break from her, and then get back together in time for the prom?
    Or did he mean . . . was he . . . actually . . . breaking up with her?
    It was so out of left field!
    Or as Todd always said when he was spouting high-level math concepts, “We’ve crossed the line into chaos theory.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œI just . . . do.” Mr. Mathematical Mind. He wasn’t going to try to soften it for her. He was too logical for that.
    â€œBut . . .” Lisa Marie felt her face getting hot and her throat closing up. I am not going to cry in the food court, she silently swore to herself. She pressed a finger into the corner of one eye, but it didn’t help. Tears slipped down both cheeks.
    Her head swirled with a million emotions. How could he just dump her like that? And in a public place. That part was unforgivable and totally humiliating. For an instant, she wondered who was watching and glanced around at the clusters of weary shoppers. But the scene was a blur—her eyes were full of tears.
    â€œDon’t cry,” Todd said softly, as if he still cared about her.
    â€œBullshit.” Lisa Marie stood up and pushed away from the table. She wasn’t going to sit there and listen to him try to make her feel better about it. He was dumping her. It hurt.
    She walked away, trying to choke back the feelings of rejection, trying to put this whole thing in perspective. Okay, sure—she was tired of him, and she’d been planning to dump him after graduation. But it still