Three
Sunday night, laterAs I kick along the well-swum path between the Marlin house and mine, I can’t help feeling like I’ve made a horrible mistake. A horrible, dreadful, lifetime-of-regret mistake.
On the one hand, I get to spend the next week pretending to date Zak, aka the object of my love-from-afar for way-too-long. Shouldn’t I be flipping for joy?
But on the other hand…it’s not real. We’ll be pretending. He didn’t really ask me out or want me to be his girlfriend. He just wants a shield. Protection against his mom’s nagging and probably against the school’s pity.
If I were in his fins, I might do the same thing.
It’s not like he knew about my crush and that he was simultaneously making and breaking my heart. For all he knew, he was just asking a friend for a favor. And what ki
