Chapter 6

There was no polite way to say this: Sabrina was kind of dense. For the next twenty minutes or so, she kept peppering me with questions that seemed to come out of nowhere, questions I thought she’d know the answer to.

Wait, wat do u mean ‘emotional or just sexual’

Which 1 did u expect me to want

An open relaatinship means u still only hav 1 gf, rite?

yea, so u just want us to kiss n stuff, rite?

Haha, ull have to find out what ‘stuff’ means ;)))

yea, I no :)

Well, at least it seemed like a bullet dodged. She and I were on the same page. It took Nicole a long time to come back – long enough for Sabrina and myself to have the full conversation – but at least she came back with food.

“Knock knock!” she called from the hallway, approaching the room. “Are you decent? Reality’s arrived and she brought steamed veggies.”

“Of course I’m decent, you were still here when I got dressed,” I replied, watching her saunter in. “... ‘Decent’ means clothed, right?”

“You only dressed yourself after I left, dude,” she argued back. “And yeah, it does. I dunno, maybe you started sexting with Sab and starting JO’ing. I’m not your boss.”

“You ... literally are,” I countered, taking my plate and starting to eat.

She smiled and took a bite, which led to a few of us eating without saying anything, though she had this serious look on her face as we ate. Once I finished, I finally decided to prod. “Something up?”

She was taken out of her concentration and looked at me. “Mm? Uh...” She mulled something over. “Yeah, actually. Why not? Is now a good time for a serious chat?”

“God dammit,” I bitterly and instinctively replied. “What did I do now?”

She chuckled. “Nothing! You didn’t do anything. I just ... had an idea.”

“Okay...” I replied slowly and cautiously.

“So, I was thinking that I’m, uh ... not going to sleep with other guys for a while. I mean, I’m already not, by, uh, happenstance, but I’m gonna continue that way, at least for a bit.”

“Oh.” It was all I could think to say. I was really worried that Nicole was going to complicate things further or blame me for something. This was a nice surprise. “So, what, you want us to go solo? I can message Sabrina and-”

“Nope, nah. Have fun. Genuinely.” She saw my look and amped up her tone. “No, I mean it. Keep it going. If you cut her off now that’s probably gonna be Mixed Signal City, and you already ride the Drama-bus enough. Besides, it’s cute. I kinda like hearing about what’s going on there.”

“Voyeur.”

“Naaah, it’s more like it’s a neat TV show, and I get to catch up on a rainy day or something.” She put her plate down on the floor and put both feet on the bed, hugging her arms around her legs. “It’s fun.”

I snorted. “‘Oh, don’t worry Adam, I’m not a voyeur, I just see people like playthings, like a sociopath,’” I mocked her.

“Yeah, there we go,” she agreed nonchalantly, and we both laughed.

“But ... isn’t that going to make you uncomfortable? Like, not the Sabrina thing, the ‘not getting to be with other guys’ thing. I don’t even know if I would want to be with other g-”

“You dooo,” she sang. “I mean, if you don’t, then just don’t go for it, but don’t just decide that now, it’s weird.”

I waited. “So...?”

“So...?” she mirrored.

“Wouldn’t being monogamous with me make you uncomf-”

“Right,” she remembered with a nod. “Um, maybe? Maybe a bit. But...” She started playing with her fingers. “But I’ve clearly been hurting you a lot lately. I’ve been skewing shit a lot towards me, and it’s kinda clear that I’m...” She unclasped her arms and spun around, looking at the wall. “ ... Strugglin’. A little. So I think I need time to figure out my feelings, and doing this will just make shit worse.” Her voice was getting quieter. Weaker.

“Hey...” I said supportively, reaching out and supportively rubbing her shoulder.

She turned back with her trademark Nicole one-eyebrow-lowered expression. “Plus,” she added, clearly back to her normal voice with trademark Nicole bitterness, “Turns out I happened to fuck two exes of some overly jealous drama-magnet. One of the dudes I fucked, it was like the day after she broke up with him. So now she’s on some conspiracy theory bullshit, and at some point, you gotta look at men as a whole and just go...” She gestured outwards. “ ... Not worth it.”

“Apart from this one,” I couldn’t help but smugly add.

She turned back to me again and smiled. “Yyyyup. Congrats, squirt, you are once again the only man in my life.” She gave me a quick kiss.

“Who’s the drama magnet?”

“Enh. Some bitch in your grade. She’s becoming real popular this year, but it’s so perfectly clear it’s just her looks. Like, just her looks. Total airhead. Derek ain’t worth the headache.” She stretched, then climbed onto the bed again. “Most girls are just possessive.”

“And you’re not like most girls,” I teased, joining her.

“Bingo,” she agreed with a smile. Once I lay down beside her, she started kissing me slowly, then with more and more passion. I couldn’t even tell if it happened slowly or quickly, but before we knew it, we were tongue-wrestling with our hands roaming up and down each other’s bodies.

Nicole tastefully rubbed her hands up and down my chest and abdomen before finding my cock, still rock-hard and ready at attention. She broke the kiss and smiled at me. “Look at that,” she purred. “Ready again already.”

“Told you,” I teased. “Only girl in the world for me.”

She rolled her eyes, smile still evident on her face, and pulled her shirt over her head. Her big, beautiful breasts emerged, her nipples clearly erect, showing me that I wasn’t the only one ready for round two.

I didn’t need to be told. Not with Nicole. She was always ready for it. With no hesitation, I pulled her in and began to play with her nipples, flicking them with my tongue. She exhaled in happiness and put her hands on the back of my head, savoring the moment.

“I hope you know,” she nearly moaned. “That you might have to ... satisfy me a little more on the regular now,” she said, as if it were a bad thing.

I took my mouth off of her. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“I’m just say-ahh...” she moaned, feeling me lightly bite down on one of her nipples. “I’m just saying ... Who knows? Maybe I’ll tire you out. Maybe I’ll just fuck you to death.”

“It’s the way I wanna go,” I told her, standing up and working my pants off.

She smiled. “Shut the fuck up,” she murmured. She got up off the bed and grabbed me by the waist, smiling in this weirdly wholesome way at me before tenderly kissing me on the lips.

“Hey,” I mumbled, not knowing what else to say. My cock throbbed against her jeans. “What’re you doing?”

“I dunno. I just feel good right now,” she told me, kissing me again, slowly pushing me against the wall. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe being with one guy won’t be so bad.”

I smiled hesitantly. “But if you ever feel trapped or uncomfortable...”

“You’ll be the first to know,” she promised. “I mean, I’m me.” She thrust herself against me. I was still pinned to the wall, so all I could do was feel the tension, particularly between our crotches. “Odds are, I just keep craving change.”

“I’m kind of allergic to change,” I confessed with a chuckle.

She found a lock of my hair and began to twirl it. It used to be shorter last year. I hadn’t noticed. “And yet,” she teased. Her hand traveled down my face, down my neck, my chest, my stomach, and eventually, my hips. She slowly wrapped her hand around my cock and began jacking it off. And even though this angle would have been awkward for most girls ... I mean, she already established it. Nicole wasn’t like most girls.

She slowly began to jack me off, looking right into my eyes and cutely biting her bottom lip. It was kind of weird. She looked so happy, so cute. At that moment, I kind of forgot that she was two years older than me. So many other times, it was like anything I was doing, I was doing with an older girl. But now, it was like, for the first time, we were just ... teens, sneaking away for a quick fuck together. It felt ... weirdly romantic.

“Do you feel it too?” she asked quietly.

“I think so,” I told her. “Is it-”

“Ssssh,” she coaxed me gently, putting a finger to my lip. She was still jacking me off with her other hand. She certainly loved change. One moment, she could be this stone-cold sarcastic bitch, and in the next, a vulnerable shy little girl. I knew she liked her romance moments, but she didn’t get like this often. Hell, we’d only had sex a bit before, and-

She rolled her eyes and kissed my cheek. “You’re thinking too much again. I can see it in your eyes,” she said quietly. She let go of my dick and stepped back, almost looking nervous as she undid the button on her pants and slid them down her legs. “Tell me...” she said, but I didn’t hear the last part of her sentence.

“What?”

“Tell me you lo- you know.”

I caught on. “You first,” I told her.

Her blush deepened. “Fine, tell me ... you’re happy with me.”

I couldn’t help but smile again. “Hey Nicole,” I told her, bringing a finger to her chin and making her look up at me. “I love you.”

She looked into my eyes for a bit, and I could see her well up. She closed the gap between us, and with our height difference being small, I felt the tip of my dick rubbing against her bare pussy.

As she kissed me again, I could feel Nicole trying to maneuver her body so that I could slide into her while we were both standing, but unfortunately, gravity wouldn’t let us. After a few tries and a few groans of frustration from her, I took charge, grabbing her by the shoulders and gently moving her so that she was facing her wall. I got up behind her and pushed against her back with one hand while pulling her legs towards me with the other. She got the idea, moving her feet back slightly and arching her back, keeping her top half still nearly against the wall. Her back was arched, and her pussy was on full display, eager for me.

And I was so eager for her. I lined myself up with her, teasing her by running the tip of my dick up and down her slit.

“Say you want it,” I grunted.

She looked back and arched an eyebrow. “I want it, dummy,” she moan-chuckled. “You don’t have to keep asking.”

“It’s cute,” I justified, slowly pushing myself inside her.

I could hear Nicole’s nails against the wall. “Fuckkkk,” she moaned, then exhaled.

“Still bigger?” I taunted her.

“Well it’s not exactly getting smaller,” she panted.

I laughed, grabbing her by the hips and slowly bottoming out inside her. It was easy; Nicole was already very wet for me.

I had made her wet. Nicole was never wet for anyone like she was wet for me. Tonight she proved that in so many ways. She was mine.

Our bodies moved so desperately, wanting as much from the other as we could get. She made cute little desperate noises as I picked up speed, going faster and rougher with every thrust. She put her palms against the wall and fucked me back as best as we could, and neither of us could help being loud. Neither one of us wanted to contain it.

“Fuck ... yes ... Adam, fuck ... God dammit, Adam ... fuck...” she panted. “I ... could never ... get tired ... of you ... I love you. I love you so fucking much. Fuck...”

I grabbed her by the hair and pushed myself fully inside her, leaning my body in close. “I love you too,” I breathed in her ear cockily.

I could practically feel her melting on me. “Ungh...” she moaned incoherently, struggling to keep her palms on the wall without her arms collapsing. I wasn’t sure if she was cumming or just lost in the moment, but either way, I continued, enjoying the way she felt, the way every muscle of her vagina was made for me. It was like her whole body was giving me a massage. Every nerve was stimulated. It was like we were making a dance out of pure feelings.

And I kept up a breakneck speed. “I might...” I warned her, grunting.

“Yeah,” she encouraged, barely able to talk herself. We both knew that once I could feel it coming, I had seconds, maximum. Sure enough, my palms joined hers on the wall as I leaned forward, giving a final shove and feeling the electric heat between my legs.

It was like my dick grew just a little more to fill up with cum before blasting – no, demolishing Nicole’s insides. I grunted and groaned, feeling myself release and release inside her. Despite going at it so recently, my cannon fired a full shot.

Even Nicole noticed. “Holy shit,” she murmured. “I guess impersonating others isn’t as good as wall sex, huh?”

“It’s because the sex ... was ... with...” I started to wheeze too much. I couldn’t finish the sentence.

Even though she was still moving her body in rhythm with mine, milking my cock a few more times, she turned around and gave me a sarcastic expression. “I swear, if that last word is ‘you,’ you cheeseball...” she warned.

I gave a tired, bashful smile. “Hey,” I offered. “I am who I am...” I still kept breathing heavy.

“What, did you shoot out your spinal fluid?” she laughed, moving more forward so my dick could slide out of her. As it did, she winced and her eyes rolled up slightly. “Fuck me. God damn. I need to start measuring you or something.”

“You’ve had sex with half the school ... come on...” I breathed.

“Yeah, and like no one in your grade is hung like you, it’s weird!” she protested.

I flopped down on the bed. “I bet you don’t think it’s ‘weird’ when it’s inside you,” I teased.

“It can be weird and hot at the same time,” she shot back with a wink, then looked off towards her door. It was still open. “Oh boy. Mommy’s not gonna be happy.”

“Yeah, she might know her slut daughter is having sex,” I joked.

“Hey!” she immediately replied, approaching the bed and smacking my thigh.

I shrugged. “I’m reclaiming the word with you. It’s empowering! Own it!”

Her lips pursed annoyedly. “Yeah, because that’s totally how you meant it, bozo,” she shot back. “Plus, there’s a difference between her knowing I’m a slut and me rubbing it in her face. She’s gonna see this as that.” She sat down on the bed, still naked, putting her face in her hands. “Ugggh.”

“Hey, it’s not that bad.”

“Easy for you to say, you won’t have to deal with her when you leave,” she said into her hands.

“Yeah, well...” I replied, looking around the room for a bit. I started monologuing about her mom and how she needed to give Nicole more space anyway, and it probably was a good few minutes before I realized a few things. One, I had been talking uninterrupted for a few minutes. Two, Nicole had just been frozen there, naked, face in her hands.

I paused, then paused for longer. “Nicole?” I asked.

No response.

I moved my mouth around in thought. Okay, so this was like that ... thing. That Nicole-grabbing-the-steering-wheel thing. I reached forward and tried to stroke her shoulder, but as soon as my hand made contact, she moved away sharply and shook her head, face still in her hands.

I moved back, puzzled. What the hell was I supposed to do? What even was this? I sat back in thought, wondering, then glanced at the door.

Hey, what the hell, right? It wasn’t like I was doing anything. I gently got up, closed the door, then stared at Nicole. She still hadn’t moved. Awkwardly, I got my clothes and put them on, finding hers and placing them neatly next to her. I then looked around her room, looking for something to do that wouldn’t intrude on her, and decided to look at the books on her shelf.

Nicole really couldn’t help rubbing in how smart she was. A Brief History of Time, The Panda’s Thumb, something called “Examen du Prince de Machiavel...” I found out that teasing her about her reading choices was a sore spot not too long ago, so I since dropped it, but I couldn’t help finding it a little funny.

I turned back to see her fully clothed, on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. I thought about calling to her, but she was still just staring, so I didn’t say anything. After a few seconds, she turned to look at me, and closed her eyes. “Thanks for getting my clothes, Adam,” she said softly.

I knew it was my turn to say something. But what would I even say? I didn’t know what was going on with her, and every attempt to either get to know her or assume I knew anything kind of blew up in my face. So, what else could I do? I opened my big fat mouth.

“Y’know, having these moods is one thing, but the thing that really lets me know you’re battling mental illness is when you actually choose to limit yourself to one dick to ride. I mean, for you, that’s boring.”

I wanted to have a joking voice, but to be honest, I was weirdly scared saying it. Nicole’s eyes immediately bugged open, and her eyebrows lowered, and for a second, I was worried, but luckily, she immediately started laughing.

“Holy shit,” she replied incredulously, grabbing a pillow and throwing it playfully at me. “That’s the boldest thing you’ve said to me ever.”

“I was fucking terrified even saying it,” I laughed back. “I’m glad it worked though.”

“Enh, delivery needs work,” she replied, giving me a goofy face. “You didn’t need to tell me you were terrified. You looked like that painting The Scream.”

“You mean the...?” I put my hands on my cheeks and made an ‘o’ face.

“That’s the one!”

“I always called it the ‘Home Alone’ painting, because Kevin kinda does the same-”

Wham. Another pillow. “That’s so dorky!” Nicole laughed. I was so happy to see her like this. It didn’t take away from the bigger message though – Nicole went from this ‘never happening’ to it happening multiple times in front of me. I was out of my depth.

“She just freezes.” I froze in place to showcase what I meant. “Sometimes she’ll hide her face, or she’ll just stare straight forward, like a zombie.”

Sydney looked at Rick, at both ends of the hallway, then back to me. “I think we saw something like that once,” she admitted uneasily.

Rick nodded. “It’s probably pretty common in people overwhelmed with stuff,” he tried to reason. “Like, Nicole has been super stressed lately.”

“Um, and battling depression?” Sydney interjected angrily.

“Yeah, but she’s been battling depression her whole life,” he replied as if it were obvious, with just as much anger. “So I’m saying she’s more stressed lately.”

“Still think she’s too good for a therapist?” I asked Rick. I couldn’t help it.

“Oh stop, I never said that,” he replied sourly. “I just don’t think that’s right for Nicole. She’s a free spirit. Some kinda stiff pencil neck who follows all the rules and expects her to say the right thing ... what’s that going to solve?”

“They’ve trained for years to help these exact people with these exact situations,” I reasoned, remembering what Salvador taught me last year. “How much training do any of us three have? I don’t care if they’re too by-the-book, they wrote the book for a fucking reason.”

“Nicole is a perfect example of the type of person that proves how outdated those books are,” Rick argued back.

Sydney slowly closed her eyes. She probably would have rubbed her eyes to show her distress if she could, but that would mess up her eyeshadow. “Can we drop the dumb metaphors?” she asked. “So she’s seeing the school counselor now, right? Like, she hasn’t stopped?”

“I think so,” I answered. “I think-”

The swift opening of the door to Room 203 stopped us in our tracks. Almost like a cartoon, Nicole’s head poked out the doorway into the hall, clearly annoyed. “Can you three fuckin’ sluts quit making out for two fuckin’ minutes and get to the fuckin’ meeting, please?!”

“Sorry. We’re done here anyway,” Sydney quickly answered.

Nicole’s face instantly changed to a smile. “Perfect. Thanks!” Her head disappeared back inside, and the three of us barely exchanged glances before following her inside. Mr. Scott was sitting down at the back of the meeting, thrilled as ever with Nicole’s colorful use of language but not saying anything. Everyone else was weirdly attentive, more so than usual.

“So, as I was saying,” Nicole authoritatively said, pacing the room, “how do we even tackle something like grief in an assembly? We’re high school students. The two things we do are feel awkward and make inappropriate jokes about stuff. Neither one of those is great, so we need to send the message without making it too much or making it too cringy. That’s hard. We’re too much, and we’re cringy. Accept it.” She wrote a few points down on the whiteboard, something Nicole insisted the Council should buy this semester. “Students have lost parents, siblings, grandparents, loved ones. We don’t want to trigger them, but we want to awaken some sense of empathy in these sociopaths.”

Mr. Scott raised his hand. Nicole’s face went blank. “What, do we call them ‘people of ill will’ now or something?” she asked.

“No, I just want to point out that this is something I want the Council’s whole opinion on,” Mr. Scott replied. “Nicole and I can’t underestimate how important it is that if we do something like this, we want to make sure it’s as respectful as possible to those we’re honoring, and as digestible as possible to those that may not know what this is like. Does everyone get what I mean when I say, ‘digestible?’”

A chorus of weak ‘yes’s filled the room.

“Good. So in that sense, we-”

A knock at the door made him pause. Megan was the closest to the door, so she got up to open it. She was blocking whoever it was at the door.

“Oh, hi Zelda,” she said.

Zelda? What was she doing here? Megan stepped back into the room to show off Zelda – dressed in a smart-looking dark blue blazer today, what a tasteful girl – who bashfully yet confidently waved to us. “Hello,” she awkwardly said. “I was told that Mr. Scott would be in here...”

“Ah yes. Um, this is a Student Council meeting, so I don’t suppose ... is it urgent?” Mr. Scott asked.

“Oh, uh ... nope, not really. I can wait,” Zelda replied. Her eyes scanned the room, fell on Nicole, and I swear I saw something pass her eyes. Fear, maybe. Her mouth moved on its own, but her eyes didn’t move. “I...”

Nicole was unmoved. “You...” she replied, exaggerating the exact tone and way Zelda said it. No one said anything for a few seconds, and Nicole gave that little squint she gave when she was curious about something. “Tell ya what. Chairs.”

“Ch-chairs?” Zelda asked.

“Chairs. The hallway doesn’t have ‘em. This room does. Feel free to sit down. If you wanna give your opinion on something, raise your hand. You can be like our international rep. Our lil’ diplomat.”

Zelda blushed. “O-okay...” she mumbled.

“There’s a seat next to...” Nicole scanned the room with her eyes, before locking onto me and giving a laugh. “ ... who else? Adam. Go sit next to him.”

Zelda moved immediately yet feebly, like she wasn’t in control of her body or something. As soon as she sat down, I whispered, “I thought you said I was supposed to be the diplomat.”

Zelda didn’t reply. I looked over and saw her breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling in her blazer. “Hey, you okay?” I pressed.

“Hmm? Oh, fine. Sorry. Just nervous,” Zelda whispered back. “Nice to see you again.” She looked over at Megan. “I didn’t even know she was on Council.”

“You didn’t? I swear we mentioned it,” I mumbled. In lieu of a reply, Zelda just looked at Nicole as she went back to her speech. Nicole was looking as passionate as ever, and more serious than she’d been in a while. I looked from her, to Zelda, to Megan. Megan was the only person who looked back, and she only shrugged.

Planning an assembly around a serious topic like grief was hard, so we spent most of the rest of the meeting planning it. Afterwards, Mr. Scott elected to stick around for the rest of the meeting, making sure Council ran smoothly. I couldn’t help but notice he was less strict on policing Nicole’s words and behavior during her own meetings than during his events.

Once Nicole dismissed the room, Zelda pretty much immediately got up, wanting to talk to Mr. Scott, but Scott himself was locked in a conversation with Sydney about the Student Council’s budget. So instead, she hung around me, as did Nicole after a bit.

“You were kinda silent today,” she noted, walking up next to me.

“Hm? Oh,” I noted she was talking to me. “Yeah, well, I’ve never really experienced anything like that. I don’t think I’m the right guy to talk to about this kinda stuff.”

Nicole rolled her eyes. “We’re trying to make this assembly work for people like that, dummy,” she replied. “I know what grief is like, you kinda don’t. We’re a perfect team.”

“We’re a perfect team,” I said back with a smile.

“We’re a perfect team,” she said back flatly. “What is this, Meisner?” She looked at Zelda. “You were kinda silent today too, but hey, you’re not Council, so I’ll give you a pass.” She gave her a wink.

Zelda only stared at her, to the point where any smile on Nicole’s face vanished. Eventually, Zelda piped up. “Could I speak to you before I talk to Mr. Scott, please?”

“Uh, sure,” Nicole replied swiftly. “Should we go to the ... ugh, this is why I told Scott I deserve an office. I dunno, I think Room 204 is unlocked. Let’s go.”

Zelda nodded, and before long, off the two went. Most of the other Council members had left by now, with Sydney being the last, leaving shortly after the two girls.

Mr. Scott looked around. “Oh, did Zelda leave already?”

“She’s in Room 204 with Nicole,” I replied promptly. “She wanted to speak with Nicole about something quick before talking to you.”

“Oh, okay,” Mr. Scott replied, happy to sit back down. “Thank you, Adam.”

Megan still hadn’t left yet, and walked up to me. “Hey,” she said, almost quietly. “How are things going?”

I shrugged. She hadn’t seen me at lunch since the first time we brought Zelda. “Things are okay,” I told her simply.

“Only okay?” she asked. “How’s ... Sabrina?”

She didn’t ask that too quietly, and when she did, Jarrod clearly noticed, looking blatantly at us, and doing a terrible job at pretending to look away when I caught him. I sighed. “Jarrod heard that,” I whispered without moving my mouth too much.

She shrugged. “He did see you kiss her, Adam,” she reasoned.

“Yeah, you know what else he saw-”

“All the more reason why he’d stare,” she pointed out.

I stared at her for a few seconds. Eventually, she continued talking. “He’s been less present in our meetings ever since, you know.”

“‘Less present,’” I said, making air quotes. “He’s in grade nine. It’s not even his job to be ‘present.’”

“You’d know.”

“You’d know too!”

Megan turned to Jarrod. “Hey Jarrod, why don’t you join us?” she called out to him. Jarrod hesitated for a bit, then got up to join us. “How are things going?” she asked him supportively.

“Um, things are okay,” he replied weakly. He was like a lost puppy. Everything from his innocent brown eyes to his height screamed “insecure little kid.” I couldn’t have been this pathetic in grade nine, could I?

Megan turned to me, looking at me blankly. I sighed and looked at my shoes. “Hey Jarrod,” I began, hating every second of this. “I know ... a lot has been going on lately, and I was wondering if there was anything you needed to ask me.”

“Um...” He didn’t say anything more.

“If you needed to ask or say anything, now’s the time,” I reasoned. I looked back towards Mr. Scott and Dave, the only two left in the room, and thank goodness, they were locked in a thorough conversation. I looked back towards Jarrod, who was fiddling with his hands.

“D-did ... did I see you kissing that girl you were talking to at the dance?”

“Well, it depends on what girl,” I replied, dodging the question, scratching my neck and looking away.

“Adam,” Megan chided me.

“Oh, that girl,” I replied immediately, a faux lack of emotion in my voice. I hated this. “Yeah, I suppose you did.”

“So you and Nicole musta ... broken up, huh?” He asked.

I hesitated. Was ... was there a glimmer of hope in the kid’s eye? Did Jarrod have a genuine crush? I thought the guy was a bit clingy with Nicole at the party, but ... huh. Well, good for him. The next boy in a long line of boys to have their hearts either broken or played with by Nicole. And hey, been there.

That revelation almost stopped me from realizing I had to explain the intimate details of my love life to get Jarrod off my case. “Um...” Solid opener. “No...”

Jarrod’s face twisted. “No?” he asked, then turned to Megan. Megan’s face was completely blank. “So he’s just ... cheating on her?”

“I’m not cheating on her, no,” I replied immediately. “Nicole and I have an ... arrangement.”

“They both are allowed to have ... to do things with other people while in their relationship,” Megan clarified further.

Jarrod, ever the bad poker face, clued in to one important detail here. “Oh, so Nicole does stuff with other guys too?”