Don't Hurt Me

Chapter 17

Sasha Kenny is there when I enter the school bathroom one afternoon. She's alone, touching up her lipstick.

She glances at me as I walk in, then looks away again. I wash my hands and straighten my hair, gazing at myself in the mirror. What a contrast the two of us are. Me, this pale, blond drip, and her, a dark-haired, breathtaking beauty.

Sasha finishes her makeup, proceeding to keep her things in a little blue bag. By accident, she drops her lipstick, and the silver tube rolls on the floor, stopping at my feet. I pick it up, handing it over.

"Thanks," she says, smiling.

"No problem."

She pauses for a second, her eyes flicking over my face. "Clare, right?"

I nod. She nods too. She keeps the lipstick, and suddenly I get this insane idea. Go for it, Clare, for your brother's sake.

"Sasha?" I call her name just as she's about to walk out.

She looks back. "Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Uh, OK."

"This might sound crazy, but my brother sort of has a crush on you."

Her eyes light up. "Sam Conroy?"

"No. My twin brother, Rob."

Her face falls - just a little, but enough for me to notice. "Oh."

"I mean, he wants to ask you out but he's just so shy and ... "

Sasha smiles, shrugging her shoulders. "Well, that's really sweet. But to be honest, I'm not really looking for a relationship right now."

I fall silent. Not looking for a relationship, huh? Would she still have said that if I'd been talking about Sam?

"Thanks though. Tell him I'm flattered, OK?"

"Sure," I say, watching as she leaves.

Poor Robbie. I guess he and I are in the same boat - doomed to pine for someone who doesn't like us back. I don't know why we even bother.

That day, Mona comes home with us in the car. It's the first time a non-Conroy is riding home with us from school. It's weird, but at least she's someone I like.

" ... and your stupid computer that keeps crashing - "

"At least I have a computer," Rob responds to Mona's complaints.

"I would too if not for my brother's stupidity." She turns to me. "He was playing fetch with the dogs in the house. What do you think happened?"

"Your brother ... or you?" Rob cocks a thumb at her, speaking to me. "You should have seen the way she cursed at my Mac the other day. She looked like she was gonna hurl it out the window."

"It crashed in the middle of my work! I lost everything and had to do it all over again."

"I told you to save!" Rob laughs, and Mona rolls her eyes.

They're so cute, I think to myself. They sound like a married couple already. I imagine them having broody, dark-haired, cat-loving babies.

Mona hangs at our house all week, working on her project with Rob. She has to notice our father loafing about the house, day in, day out. It's mortifying, but she never says anything about it. Never asks.

"She's weird," Sam remarks one night, while my brothers and I are eating sandwiches I made.

"I like her," I put forward. "She's nice. "