Her

14

PHOENIX

Tuesday. My bedroom.

"Can you turn that off?"

"Sure, princess."

I watch Aza, putting her phone on silent. We're in my room, sitting on the floor, working on the project. We have finally finished the movie - there was, disappointingly, no holding hands - and are right now working on the comparison with the book.

"Who's even texting you? Not that I care."

"It's just that one guy, I can't remember his name. The one who sits in front of us during psychology?"

Sean Herrington. Blond, tall and good-looking. Pretty much every girl in our school has at some point crushed on him. And he has pretty much flirted with all of them. He asked me out more than once, and I turned him down more than once.

"His name is Sean." I frown. "Shouldn't that be his contact name in your phone?"

"Maybe it should be." She shrugs. "I saved him as 'Blond Psycho' - psycho because we have psychology together."

I wonder what she saved me as. I guess it must be 'Princess'.

"So what does he want? Not that I care."

"I don't know. And I don't know why I gave him my number, he keeps texting me. I think he wants us to hang out or something."

"And do you want to do that? Not that I care."

"Are you sure you don't care?" A grin. "He's not really my type."

"Well, what is your type?"

"Oh, you know..." Aza looks at me. Her eyes are like magnets, attracting me. "What's your type?" she says. "I guess princes, right?"

"Not exactly."

"Well, then what are you into?"

You. I swallow. "I don't have a type. I'm not that superficial."

"Huh. Well, I guess I am."

"You are?"

"Yeah, well, I think dark hair is very pretty." My heart skips a beat. "And... I always had a weakness for green eyes." Another beat. "Also, freckles are extremely cute." Thump thump. "And... I like it when they're taller than me." Thump thump. Though I'm not much taller than Aza, I am taller than her. There are maybe a few inches separating our height. And also our distance right now. Maybe it's my imagination, but it feels like Aza has moved a little closer while talking.

"So, um, Ky's your type then?"

She lets out a little laugh. "You're funny, Phoenix," she says. "He hasn't got any freckles. And even if he had - no, he's not." She looks at me, serious but also playful. Flirty. She's flirting with me. I think I might have a heart attack.

"Oh... Um..."

"Um...?"

"I..." I get up. "I'm thirsty." I internally slap myself for that choice of words. "I want to drink something. Do you want to drink something? I want to drink something."

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

"Okay. I'll get us something. What do you want?"

"Surprise me," she says, a smile on her face that makes my heart do a little marathon inside my chest.

I leave the room and head to the kitchen. I rip open the refrigerator door. I want to get Aza the perfect drink - but I have no idea what she likes. My eyes travel over the drinks inside the fridge. Water, milk, coffee, energy shots, juice, smoothies. Sweet, sour, or something else? Sweet, I think. She drinks her coffee with milk and tons of sugar, so definitely sweet. Hot or cold? Cold, I think. It's too hot right now to drink something hot. Okay, that doesn't really help me. So which ones can I rule out for sure? Milk and energy shots. So what's left then? Coffee, smoothie, water, and juice. Can I rule out coffee too? She works in a coffeeshop, so she must be tired of coffee, right? Or does it mean she loves coffee? Wait, I saw her drinking coffee at lunch, so she must like coffee. So should I go for coffee?