Dating Sarah Cooper Read Online Free Page B

He grinned. “They left him alone after that.”
    “Well, not every gay child can just take up a violent sport to avoid getting bullied every day,” Mom countered, clearly upset.
    “I know. I’m just saying that if this kid avoided meeting you because he was worried you’d get his parents involved, he clearly wants to handle it himself. Besides, he obviously has someone he can count on now in our daughter.” He smiled over at me, and Mom looked to me abruptly, almost like she’d forgotten I was even here.
    “Oh, of course. Well, I’m just glad to be proven we raised you correctly,” she said. “Good for you and Sarah.”
    “He invited us to join a club he’s in,” I told them. “He seems nice.”
    “Well, you could always use more friends,” Dad said, and received a glare from Mom at that.
    “What’s that supposed to mean? The friends she has are just fine.”
    “I just mean it’d be nice to see some more friendly faces around!” Dad insisted. “Of course we love Sarah, but it was nice meeting Austin, too. I’d be happy to finally get to say hello to all of these kids you’re hanging out with on a daily basis.”
    “It’s not like that,” I explained. “There’s a different between friendship and having acquaintances. I have a lot of acquaintances. You know, the people that invite you to parties because you kind of have mutual friends but that you’ll only actually talk to once a week or so?”
    “All I got out of that is that you’re going to parties,” Dad replied. “What kind of parties?”
    “Really crazy keggers,” I told him, straight-faced. “I drank an entire bottle of vodka all by myself at the last one.”
    “Five out of ten for that one,” he rated. “You’d have died if it were true.”
    “Aw, shucks,” I sighed out. Mom watched the two of us, a smile on her lips.
    “So how do you feel about joining this club?” she eventually asked. “It’s a commitment.”
    “I mean, I guess it’d be fine if it doesn’t have a meeting, like, every day or something,” I decided. Then I shrugged. “I guess I’ll hear more about it tomorrow.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
     
     
    I slammed my locker door shut the next morning and immediately jumped when I felt something hard press into my shoulder. It turned out to be Sarah’s forehead, and she stood up straight as I turned around to face her, a pout on her lips.
    “I’m tired,” she said.
    “Were you up all night texting Sam?”
    “Thinking of what to say,” she corrected. “Him actually talking to me was the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”
    “That was a quick change of heart,” I said as we turned to walk down the hallway together. A girl – Annie – that I used to talk to in my Trig class last year passed by us, and I raised a hand to wave at her. She smiled and waved back.
    “It’s not a change of heart,” Sarah told me. “I just wish this was easier. Why is it so hard getting a boyfriend?”
    I laughed at that. “It’s not… at least not for you. Your problem is keeping one.”
    “Well, why is it so hard getting the one I’d actually want to keep?”
    “Because life sucks,” I told her as we entered our next class.
    A boy named Colton who sat in the front row heard me, and quipped as we walked by, “That’s a very cynical way of thinking about things, you know.”
    “She’s a very cynical person, Colton,” Sarah sighed out. “You should know this by now.”
    He grinned at us as we took our seats near the back. Once we had our notebooks out and were waiting for class to start, I let out a sigh and turned to face Sarah, reaching out to grip her hand with my own. She mirrored my actions dismally. “Look. I’ll be completely honest with you. I don’t think it’s gonna work out.”
    “You sound like you’re breaking up with me,” she mumbled.
    “Then just picture Sam saying those same words,” I suggested, “because you are going to get your heart broken. This guy