Page 57 - The Life of A Teenage Girl (Stories About Finding Your Way)

THAT WASN’T THE PLAN

That quickly made me turn back to Chris and tell him everything—
how Jayson had a crush on me, how he was super angry, and how all

of it made me feel humiliated and uneasy. I didn’t even want to think

about having a love partner anymore.
“What—you mean you don’t want to date me anymore?” he asked,

frowning with a pitiful look that made me feel bad.
But this wasn’t funny; what he said felt like a joke. We never even

went on an actual date, did we?
“No? We never dated, though—we just hung out on a Saturday

night.” I held onto my backpack strap.

“Well, I thought of it as a date. Like, you know, the start of our
romance?” He looked down. “But I guess not. You don’t realize it

because you don’t think of it as that.”
I took his hand, rubbing it against mine. “No! I mean, I do have a

crush on you. But with Jayson making our friendship seem worse, and
it’s on my mind all the time, it makes me forget about… our starting

relationship.”

“Just say it.” He shook his head.
I squeezed his hand—unintentionally. “What?”

“Just say you don’t like me. Since Jayson confessed that he has

feelings for you, you’ve been obsessed—thinking that because he’s
your best friend, and that he just separated from you, now you want

him back, and—”
“Chris! That’s my problem, not yours.”

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