Free Pieces of Me by Ann Garner Page B

a little overwhelmed,
that's all.”
    “Cole
said he had to rescue you from some guy named Mark. No, wait, I believe Coles
exact words were ‘a douche bag named Mark, who's only interested in one thing
from girls.’ Now, I think I should get some sort of award for not laughing at
him, since as far as I know, that's all Cole is interested in from girls.”
    She's
twisted around on my bed now so she's sitting cross legged and staring right at
me. “So what’d you do to my brother?”
    “Nothing!"
I cry indignantly.
    “Oh,
don't get your panties in a twist, Del. I only meant that he's never acted like
that over a girl. Hell, I don't think he's ever acted like that over me, and
I’m his sister. He never once had a problem when Grant and I got together. Not
like Holden did. So obviously I've missed something.”
    I
shrug my shoulders. “Not really. He, ah, kinda sorta asked me out a few weeks
ago...”
    She
perks up in interest. “Seriously? Cole asked you out on a date? Like on actual
date? That's amazing! When are you guys....oh. Oh,” she says again, drawing out
the word a little. “You said no.”
    I
nod my head. “I know this is totally outside the realm of possibility in your
world, but I'm not interested in dating, like, at all.”
    “You're
right, I think you’re crazy.” She's chewing on her thumbnail while watching me.
“Does this have to do with this phobia thing you have? Because, seriously,
there must be some kind of drug for that.”
    “It’s
not that.” Mainly, I think, because the phobia she's talking about doesn't
exist, at least not in the way she thinks it does.
    “My
priorities are just different than yours. Not,” I add hastily before she can
get offended. “that there's anything wrong with your priorities. They just
aren't mine.”
    “Ok.
So he asked you out weeks ago and you said no. What does that have to do with
the frat party and you avoiding him? Because I'm totally lost still.”
    Her
cell phone chimes from her book bag, the tone indicating that she has a new
text message. She leans over and drags the bag up off the floor as it chimes
three more times in rapid succession. She pulls it out of a side pocket on her
bag just as it stops chiming and starts actually ringing.
    Coles
face lights up the screen. I know my eyes are wide when she looks up at me. She
hesitates for just a second before she accepts the call.
    “Hey,
Cole.” She watches me the entire time she's talking to him. I can hear his
voice from where I'm sitting, but I can't quite make out what he's saying.
    “No,
she's okay,” he says something else that I can't understand and then Grace
inserts. “She's on her period and she's having horrible cramps.”
    “Grace!”
I cry. “Don't tell him that!”
    She
covers the bottom of the phone with one hand. “Would you rather I tell him the
truth?” She hisses. “Which is that you're a chicken, by the way.”
    “Hey!”
    “What,
Cole?” She drops her hand and then sticks out her tongue at me as I glare at
her. “No, she should be better by tonight. Okay. Yup.” She's nodding her head
to whatever he’s telling her.
     
    “Okay,
we'll see you then.”
    “Who
will see who when?” I ask when she drops the phone on my bed. I'm afraid I
already know the answer.
    “We're
going to their place for dinner tonight.”
    “What?
No! I can't go to his place for dinner tonight. Are you crazy?”
    “No,
but you are. Now, tell me the rest, because I know there's more.”
    “It’s
not important.” She just stares at me, to the point that I start to fidget
under her gaze.
    “Okay,
so, I maybe, sorta, almost kissed him after the Mark thing.”
    She
gasps, and I know she's over exaggerating her reaction. “What about your
priorities? You slut.”
    “Don't
mock me. It would have been a big moment for me.” I couldn't explain exactly
how big of a moment, not even to myself. I sigh heavily, picking at the string
on my bedspread again. “I thought he was still interested in