The Improbability of Forever (Kismet #2) ✓

15. Stuck in the Middle

Fifteen

Stuck in the Middle

By the time French class was over, I figured I would explode if I had to be around Cody or Maybelline for another minute. Neither of them seemed particularly enthused to be around me, either, and we all gratefully packed up without a word when Mrs. Sonatra dismissed us.

My last two classes of the day went no better. During history I had a break because I didn't have either of them in my class, but I spent Geometry wishing Cody and I hadn't chosen to sit next to each other at the beginning of the year. It was too hard to look anywhere but him knowing he kept looking at me.

However, my bad mood was offset by the exciting fact that I was going on a bike ride with Andrew, and that said bike ride was growing closer with every catastrophic class I attended. It took everything in me not to push the speed limit too much as I drove home to change, already feeling a little better now that I was off Providence Prep's campus.

Surprisingly, Vanessa was already home, and she followed me up to my room where I began rummaging through my leggings and t-shirts.

"You're going on a date with Andrew Summers?" she asked, wrinkling her nose. "Don't you remember how much of a disaster that was last time?"

I pulled out a graphic tee Julia had given me and shrugged into it. "It wasn't a disaster," I defended. "The timing just wasn't right."

"You think the timing's any better this time? You just broke up with Cody. Andrew is a rebound for you at best."

I hated when she was right. As she continued to watch me with that know-it-all expression on her perfect face, I yanked on leggings—nearly tripping as I did so—and grabbed tennis shoes.

"Tell Mom I'll be back for dinner," I said. "And no, Andrew isn't a rebound."

Even though my back was to Vanessa, I just knew she was rolling her eyes. Without glancing at her, I headed out of my room and towards the garage.

Andrew is not a rebound, I repeated to myself as I pulled my bike into the driveway hopped on. He and I were friends, and now we were trying out a relationship just because we wanted to. Not because either of us were hurt or because external circumstances had pushed us together.

The wheels of my bike whirred underneath me as I started to the park. No matter how much I tried to convince myself, it was fruitless.

As I pedaled to the park, I focused on cheering myself up. It was absolutely gorgeous weather outside, and the smell of spring opened up my nostrils as I took a turn onto the main street of my neighborhood. It seemed so peaceful outside, unlike the fiery pit that was known as Providence Prep.

Still, as much as I hated what was going on in school right now, I was distraught at the thought of moving away in less than a month.

I wheeled into the park and stopped my bike near the entrance to the trails, where Andrew and I had met up before our first date. He wasn't here yet, so I dismounted and pulled out my phone instead. Maybelline's Snapchat story featured Cody with her in the hallway after school, and I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek so I didn't start seething. Over and over again, I reminded myself that Cody was in my past: I'd moved on, as was evidenced by the fact that I was standing in a park about to go on a date with another guy.

"Hey, Quinn!"

I turned around and saw Andrew gliding towards me on his BMX, the wind ruffling the top of my hair.  Easily, he slowed to a stop in front of me, grinning.  "Ready to go?"