Love Me Back

4

"You got an 103%?"

"Extra credit," I say. "Like, two short response questions. Not that hard."

"Short response? Emory, you wrote two whole ass essays!" Juliette exclaims.

A test paper is suddenly placed in front of me, a bright red ninety-two in the corner, and I feel someone wrap their arms around my waist from behind. Damon places his head in the crook of my neck. "All because of my little genius."

My little genius. Someone needs to teach him about word choice. Still, I feel my cheeks heat up, and thank God, he can't see me right now. I see Juliette staring at us—well, more at Damon, before shaking her head with a small smile on her face.

"Hey, Em!" I hear a chirpy voice say from behind me. "Is it okay if I invite Killian over tonight? I know he hasn't been in the group for that long, but I want to include him." Ariella pauses, taking a deep breath. She's wearing white platform loafers, and a dark sweater wrapped around her shoulders, her button up slightly wrinkled. "Don'ttellhimitoldyouthisbuthesaidhefeelsleftoutsometimes," she says in one breath.

I blink, once, twice. "What? Why would he feel left out?"

Ella is quick to elaborate. "Well, he said that he thinks you guys don't like him—well, more like he hasn't known you all for as long as we've known each other, and he feels like he's intruding on our friend group, which he isn't, right?"

"No!"

"Of course not."

"Why would he think that?"

Ella shrugs, then looks behind us. "There he is. Act natural."

Juliette seems to be done looking over my test paper, as she hands it back. "I got an eighty-nine on my calculus quiz," she says smugly, a proud smile on her face. "Highest grade in the class."

"Atta girl, Jules," I say, knowing that she hates AP Calc more than anything in the world. Getting a high grade like that means she studied hard, and her father isn't going to congratulate her.

"What's going on here?" Killian asks, his rasp more prominent than the last time I saw him this morning.

"Who were you yelling at?" I ask.

"Just some guy on my team, nothing too serious," he says, stuffing his hands in his pocket. His shirt is untucked on one side, his tie loose. His hair is messy, probably from lacrosse practice. "Dumbass still can't tell his lefts from his rights."

Juliette jumps on his back. "I can't even tell my lefts from my rights sometimes, prick. It's common."

Killan says something back that I can't hear, and Juliette smacks him on the head. Ella tells them to keep their hands to themselves, and before I can even blink, Juliette jumps off his back and Killian throws Ella over his shoulder, and the three of them walking down the road to Ellas place, where the sleepover will be, arguing all the way.

I nearly forget Damon is here until his glasses bump against my jaw. He takes a deep breath, tightening his hold on me. "You okay?" I ask, placing a hand over his.

"Mhm," he hums. "Just tired. You can keep walking, love."

Its pretty hard to do that when you have a one-hundred-and-seventy-pound man on you like a koala, but I manage. When I get to her house, Killian and Jules are on the couch, and guessing by the chaos I hear in the kitchen, Ariella is fixing to bake something. I try to take my shoes off, but that's soon proven to be an impossible task, as I won't be able to unclip my platforms unless Damon gets off, which seems unlikely.

"Damon, I gotta take off my shoes—"

He unwraps himself from me, plopping down on the ground by the shoe rack. Before I can even try, he unclips them both for me. Then he rests his head against the wall, his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose. "Did you know I stood up all night finishing a painting for you? Stupid decision, I know, but I wanted to finish it before your birthday—help me up?"

I reach down and grasp his hand, pulling him up. I don't even know what painting he's talking about, his words slurring together. "Go upstairs and get some rest, I'll call you down when Ellas done."

"But—"

"No. Go to bed."

"Yes ma'am."