Sophomoric Read Online Free Page B

retreating back.
    “Don’t worry,” Alec murmured in my ear. “He always does this. Some shit with his brother. Explains why he’s so…” He searched for a word that fit the apologetic smile on his face.
    “Stupid.” Trust Cleo to put the words in his mouth. “Not like Amie didn’t find out all about his and Nicky’s late-night conversations.” She lifted one eyebrow meaningfully.
    I laughed. It was hard to picture Nicky doing anything as unromantic and undignified as phone sex. Then again, it wasn’t exactly something I’d ever been too tempted to think about.
    “Hey, desperate times,” Alec said. “A guy’s gotta do…”
    “Just stop there,” Cleo told him. He and I looped our arms around her waist as we headed for the drive-in hamburger place on the way back to school and Cleo continued. “You guys will take it however you can get it.”
    “Now who’s judging?” Alec teased.
    Cleo scooted into me and squealed as he squeezed her side. “You’re buying me fries,” she informed him. “I’m starving.”
    I watched them and picked at my fries as Cleo devoured fries and a milkshake and half of Alec’s chicken nuggets. They joked about things I hadn’t been there for and people I had never met. Still, I didn’t tell them that the jealousy forcing its way up my throat was the reason I mostly just drew patterns in the ketchup.
    The walk back to school was quiet. Alec left once we were on campus to go find Amie, who had said her event would be over by now, and Cleo and I wandered back to our dorm. Cleo paused at the door to my room. “’M gonna sleep. You wanna get dressed with me later?”
    I smiled back. “Sounds good.”
    She planted a sloppy kiss on my cheek. I would have been surprised except that it became clear very quickly that being surprised by Cleo was a waste of my time.
    I hid a yawn as I opened my door with a push.
    * * *
    Cleo woke me up, standing in my room with wet hair and her plastic bucket of Herbal Essences shampoo and pineapple body wash.
    “Five minutes?” I grabbed a hairbrush and a toothbrush. Two hours of sleep had left me drowsier than before and my mouth tasted fuzzy. After a second, I grabbed a towel and my basket too. Might as well shower now before everyone filled them up.
    My ninety-nine-cent flip-flops slapped against the floor. Things grew on the floors and in the corners of our showers, things I did not want on my feet. Steam already hovered over the six stalls when I walked in. Someone was playing really bad pop music and singing along, which almost made up for the shower shoes and growing things.
    Cleo handed me a diet energy drink as I walked into her room ten minutes later. It tasted like carbonated melted Popsicle, but by the time we were presentable, it had kicked in. Heavy lethargy had faded and the buzz of caffeine and adrenaline was making me bounce on the balls of my feet. The muscles of my calves flexed in the mirror as I moved up and down onto my toes. Cleo bent over her laptop, IMing half the campus. I twisted back and forth in front of her mirror, fixing my hair and dress with minute adjustments.
    “Stop obsessing, you look fine.” Cleo fixed invisible smudges under her eyes. “We’re meeting Dev in front in ten. Boy takes longer to get ready than most girls.” She laughed. “Wonder who he’s trying to impress now.”
    I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. Her dark green shirt draped effortlessly the way I somehow could never make my shirts hang, creating shadows in all of the places you needed MapQuest to find on my body.
    “Sure it’s not you?” I asked. “You guys seem pretty close.” Besides, I couldn’t see any reason for any guy not to want her.
    She shook her head, raising one eyebrow as she looked at me. “We wouldn’t last five minutes. Trust me. I have commitment issues. He’d just get his feelings hurt.” She laughed and reached out for her mascara again. “You’re the one who should be looking out for