Love, Lies and Unfiltered Hearts

What He Said

JOSIE

Becca finds me before third period with that look she gets when something is wrong and she's already decided how to tell me.

"We need to talk," she says. "It's about Max."

My stomach does something unpleasant. "What about him?"

She grabs my arm and pulls me toward the gap between the lockers where the vending machine blocks the line of sight from the main corridor. The hallway noise dims.

"There's a rumor going around," Becca says.

"There are always rumors."

"Not like this." She bites her bottom lip. "They're saying Max made a bet. With his teammates. About you."

The words land wrong. Like they don't quite fit the shape of the last few days. "That's ridiculous."

"Is it?" She's not trying to be cruel. I know her face well enough to tell the difference. "Think about it. He doesn't date. You said it yourself. Everyone knows it. Then all of a sudden he's with you after one kiss at the Callahan house. It's suspicious, Josie."

"He's not using me."

"How do you know?"

"Because I just know," I say, and it comes out sharper than I meant it to.

Becca steps back. Hurt flickers across her face. "I'm trying to help you. I don't want to see you get hurt again."

Again. The word sits in my chest like a stone. Like Drew and three years of nothing are still alive in my ribcage, waiting for evidence that I'm making the same mistake.

I walk away before I say something worse.

I find a quiet corner past the main quad, behind the library where no one goes between classes, and I lean against the brick wall and breathe. My hands are shaking and I hate them for it.

*Perfect. Hiding behind the library like a person who has everything under control.*

I pull out my phone and call Max.

He picks up on the second ring.

"Hey." His voice is easy, warm. Normal, like nothing is on fire.

"Did you make a bet about me?"

Silence.

"What?" His voice flattens out with no warmth.

"People are saying you bet your teammates that you could sleep with me. That this whole thing is a game." My voice is steadier than I expected it to be. "Everyone is talking about it, Max. It's on the inter-school platform. It's everywhere."

"And you believe them."

"I don't know what to believe."

"After everything, Josie? You actually think I made a bet?"

"I don't know you." My voice cracks a little on that one. I hate it. "That's the whole problem. I don't know you. You said you had reasons for wanting this arrangement and you wouldn't tell me what they were, and I'm supposed to just trust that? After everything that's happened to me? After Drew?"

"I'm not Drew."

"I know that. But you're asking me to take a lot on faith from someone I met five days ago."

There's a pause on his end. Long enough that I start wondering if I pushed too hard.

"There is no bet," Max says. His voice is controlled and firm. "There was never a bet. I would never do that to you."

I want to believe him. I do. But wanting to isn't the same as being sure, and I've been wrong about wanting before.

"Then why?" I ask. "Why me? Why this? You could have any girl at Blackbridge. Any girl in the county. Why fake-date the girl that half the school treats like furniture?"

Another pause. Longer this time.

"Because it's complicated," he says finally. "And I'm not ready to talk about it yet. But it has nothing to do with a bet."

"That's not enough."

"I know." He exhales. "I know it's not enough. But I need you to give me a little more time, okay? We have dinner on Saturday. Come. And we'll finish this conversation in person."

I lean my head back against the brick and look at the strip of sky above the library roof.

"I'm scared," I say quietly. "That's the honest answer. I'm scared of being stupid again."

"You're not being stupid," Max says gently. "You're being careful. There's a difference, and I'm not Drew. He made a choice, and it wasn't about your intelligence." He sighs. "What Drew did to you was terrible. He betrayed your trust. Made you question yourself. That's on him, not you."

"I know that. I do." Tears burned behind my eyes. I blinked them back. "I'm sorry. For accusing you. For believing the rumor."

"Don't apologize for being scared."

"But I should have talked to you first. Before jumping to conclusions."

"You're talking to me now. That's what matters." He pauses. "I'm not lying to you, Josie. I promise you that. Can you give me Saturday?"

I think about his face when he walked into the cafeteria. The way he said move and meant it. The way he held my hand all the way out of that gym and didn't let go until he had to.

"Saturday," I say.

I hang up and stay behind the library for a few more minutes. The bell rings and I wait until the next wave of noise fills the corridors before I go back inside.