I Know What Sin Is

Chapter 10

"I know that look," Sarah said. I was lying on my stomach in her bed, pretending to read her psychology textbook. It may as well have been written in Greek.

"What look?" I asked as innocently as possible.

"That look," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes. "You're thinking about someone. C'mon, who is it? Spill."

I took a deep breath and pulled out the best acting I had in me. "I'm really not, I promise. Just, you know, stressed. About... uh, school."

She snorted and squinted at herself in her mirror to apply more mascara. "Oh, come on. I've known you since you were eight years old. You like someone. Just tell me already," she whined. "I'd tell you."

I chewed on my inner cheek. Unfortunately, she was right. She did know me too well.

I had to think of something fast.

"Fine," I said breathlessly. "It's this girl. She gave me her number on the first day of classes. God, she's so hot. She's got this huge pair of-"

"Okay!" Sarah interrupted me. "Got it, got it."

I studied her face. She seemed convinced. "What about you, how's the emo boy hunt going?"

"Wellll... I'm going to this thing tonight. Like a date, but not a date because there's a bunch of people going. I'm going with Brad and Maria's going with Jason and Amy's going with Carter. I got an outfit. Wanna see?"

"Sure," I said. "I'll probably just stay in tonight. You know, I haven't been sleeping the best here. I'm still getting used to it."

"I would tell you to come but..." She trailed off, digging through her pile of newly purchased clothes, tags still attached. "I don't know. They're not really your crowd, Ben. You probably wouldn't have fun."

Something about the way she said it felt like an insult.

"Anyway," she giggled. "Let me go show you my dress." I didn't see why she wanted to dress up so badly. It was just a couple of college boys she would never see again after jumping into bed with. She was probably overcompensating for never doing this stuff in high school. "Oo-kay," she sang, swinging around a short orange and pink strapless.

"The dress is nice," I said.

"I hope Carter likes it. I like Brad and all, but Carter is so much hotter and I swear he was flirting with me every second Amy walks away. But I could never, like, make a move or anything because if Amy hated me I'm done. Kaboom. Ended. Jason and Maria are, like... obsessed with each other. What if they come back here and start, like, doing stuff? What do I do?"

I thought about Maria and Alicia, and doubted Maria was as obsessed with Jason as Sarah thought. "Tell them to get a room."

"This is her room," she groaned. She rubbed her lips together. "Having a roommate sucks sometimes."

"You know I know."

Sarah grinned. "Oh, right. How is your freak roommate anyway?"

"Yesterday he bought a bouquet of roses for his girlfriend to try to win her back after he cheated, and guess what..." I said. She dropped her jaw and leaned forward excitedly. "She threw them everywhere," I told her. "I walked in and there's just... roses... all over the ground."

"That's insane," she giggled. "I love it." Then her phone rang and she rushed over to look. "Oh my god, Ben, it's Carter. I told you he likes me."

I let out a sigh. Having a conversation was so hard sometimes. "Answer it," I shrugged.

"Should I? Of course I should. Oh my god." She tapped her screen. "Heyyy!" she cooed. I watched her facial expression drop from excited to sad as she listened to whatever he was saying. "Wait, why not? Oh. Well, maybe I could see you some other time then. Oh, okay, well, see you, I guess." She dropped her phone into her lap.