Free Crash Test Love by Ted Michael

Garret : col ege guys. They’re the ones who are boyfriend material.” I avoid her gaze.
    “I could have a boyfriend if I wanted one,” Jyl ian says to no one in particular. She has a thick scarf wrapped around her neck even though it’s not cold at al . “Mil ions of them. I don’t want one, of course. I like being single. I need my freedom.”
    “Sure you do,” says Jessica.
    “If I had a boyfriend,” Jyl ian says, “I couldn’t have hooked up with that guy last weekend. And it was amazing, ladies. He sang to me. Like, his ri ng was out of control. So lavish. And he said he could probably get me a part in the next HSM movie.” She averts her eyes, staring into the window of J.Crew. “Not that I even want a part in the next movie. God.”
    “Any Ben updates?” London asks. I like London the most of the three because she’s bitchy and fun and knows how to keep a conversation going.
    She does ask a lot of questions, though.
    “I haven’t cal ed him in a while,” I say, at empting to be casual about the whole thing. After al , “Love Is a Losing Game” (Amy Winehouse, 2007). “I guess it’s real y over.”
    “Good. Don’t cal him,” London says, “and don’t text him. De nitely don’t e-mail him. And if he does contact you, don’t respond. With these kinds of things, no communication is the only way to go. Cold turkey. That’s how you’l get over him.”
    “I stopped going to his Facebook page,” I say, “which has been a total blessing. Not seeing his status updates or his pictures has made me much less upset.”
    “That’s a major step in the right direction,” Jessica says.
    “‘Ignorance is bliss,’” Jyl ian says, air-quoting with her ngers. “Whoever said that was a genius.” We al get Diet Cokes at McDonald’s and sit down at one of the food court’s many plastic tables.
    “Enough about Ben,” Jessica says once we’re set led. “Tel us al about Henry.”
    “Everything,” London echoes. “Every lit le detail.”
    “Wel ,” I say, thinking how to spin this so that my pursuit of Henry sounds interesting. “He’s training me at the Huntington Cinemas, and—”
    “That place is gross, by the way,” Jyl ian says, playing with her straw. “I went there once to see some random movie and sat on a piece of gum.
    It ruined this vintage skirt I loved. So rusty.”
    I’m slightly o ended that Jyl ian cal ed the cinema gross, but I let it slide.
    “What’s it like working with him?” London asks. “Does he irt with you?”
    No. I think he hates me, but I also think maybe he likes me, and I can’t concentrate on anything or anyone else when he’s near me. “A lit le,” I say.Jessica giggles. “Does he lurve you yet?”
    “Not yet,” I admit.
    “Why not?” London asks. Her eyebrows are perfectly arched, and her expression makes her cheekbones appear even more angular than they

    “Why not?” London asks. Her eyebrows are perfectly arched, and her expression makes her cheekbones appear even more angular than they actual y are.
    “I mean, I’m get ing there,” I say. “I just don’t want to come on too strong, you know? It’s al in the timing.”
    “True,” London says, “but you don’t have much time. Destiny’s Sweet Sixteen is barely a month away.”
    “He invited me out,” I say quickly, before I can think of a di erent, lesser lie. I don’t want the J Squad to think I’m failing. I don’t want them to cut me loose.
    “On a date?”
    “Yep,” I say.
    London looks skeptical. “Where to?”
    “OMG,” Jyl ian squeals, “is he hiring a limo service to take you into the city to one of those hole-in-the-wal restaurants in Lit le Italy and then to see Mamma Mia?”
    “Um, no,” I tel her.
    “Oh. Too bad.”
    “He asked me over to … his house. To watch a movie.”
    Al three of them look shocked. Intrigued. De nitely impressed.
    “No shit,” Jessica says. “When?”
    I shrug as if it’s No Big Deal. “Next weekend. After