Take Me There Read Free Page A

wanted and I wouldn’t care.
    I sniffed.
    “I was wondering,” he said, “if . . . we could maybe . . . like, be friends?”
    Was he serious? In what twisted universe would a girl who’s just been dumped still want to be friends with the boy who dumped her?
    “I don’t get this,” I said. “I thought you were happy with me.”
    “I was.”
    “So why are you doing this?”
    Steve got up.
    “Don’t go!” I yelled. I was crying so hard.
    “I’m sorry. . . .”
    “Please don’t go!” I wanted him to sit next to me and hug me and say that he was still mine. That I’m the only girl in the world who could make him happy. That we belong together.
    But Steve just walked away. He walked right out of my house. And then I was completely alone.

    “I want him back,” I reveal to Nicole.
    “Huh?”
    “I’m getting him back.”
    “How?”
    “I was hoping you’d know.”
    Nicole stares.
    “I can’t do this,” I say. “I’m not this strong. I still think about him all the time. It’s driving me insane.”
    “You’ll get through this. And I know it’s impossible to believe right now, but it gets better. Trust me.”
    It’s so weird how Nicole and I always go through the same things at the same time. So of course both of our relationships just ended. Nicole and Danny broke up three weeks ago. And Steve dumped me last week. Or seven days, nine hours, and twenty-three minutes ago. Not that I’m counting.
    Before Danny, she was seeing this guy Jared. And Jared dumped her so hard she wouldn’t get out of bed. So I would go over to her place after school with all her favorite snacks. Butterscotch Krimpets (which you can only get at this one deli nowhere near either of our neighborhoods). Lemonheads (candy section, middle shelf, Rite Aid). Entenmann’s Ultimate Crumb Cake (available everywhere). Chocolate-covered cherries (strictly Godiva, no discount type allowed). Nicole was totally destroyed. And then one day she decided that she was completely over Jared. And she started dating Danny the next day.
    Nicole thinks the same thing will happen to me. That once I start liking someone else, this will all go away. But I’m still in love with Steve. And I’ll never feel this way about anyone else. He just needs me to remind him of what he had.
    Has.
    “Don’t you think I can get him back?” I panic.
    “No, it’s just . . . why would you want to after what he did?”
    “Because I still love him. You can’t just turn love off. You still feel it.”
    “But that’ll go away and—”
    “But I don’t want it to go away,” I interrupt. “I want to be with him.”
    “Hello, sexy ladies,” Sheila says.
    “Hey,” I go.
    Nicole’s like, “Where’s Brad?”
    “He’s coming later. I’m going up to see the pool. Want to come with?”
    “Sure,” I tell her. I assume Nicole will also come, but then I notice her watching Danny. Who’s walking over here. “Let’s go.”
    Sheila’s talking about Brad and this problem they’re having, but I’m not being a good friend. I manage to steer the conversation back to me and Steve by doing one of those sorry-ass moves where you take something the other person just said and go, “Oh, yeah! That’s just like what happened with me when . . .” When, really, the two things aren’t even related. You’re just using it as an excuse to talk about yourself more.
    I want to get Sheila’s advice. So I’m about to tell her about the whole Steve dilemma when I notice Joni. She’s standing really close to our lounge chairs. Too close. All pretending not to listen. When it’s totally obvious that she’s majorly listening.
    The conversation shifts back to Sheila’s stuff. I don’t say anything else about Steve. I don’t really need the whole school knowing my business.

    The first thing I do when I get home is zoom to my room to check my messages and e-mail. Snick-Snick follows me in. I close my door and peek at the answering machine. The red light stares back at