Free Saven Deception by Siobhan Davis

he likes me more, do you think
he’s still going to have sex with her?” Neve asks.
    I spit my coffee all over the table,
making a huge spectacle of myself. Not that Neve cares. She’s staring into
space as she idly hands me another paper towel.
    “Neve!” I shriek, when I’ve regained my
composure.
    She looks at me with a puzzled frown.
“What? I’m just wondering if it’s worth my while pursuing him.”
    Perhaps if we traded half my reticence for
half Neve’s bluntness, then we’d both end up more rounded. I disguise my laugh
as a cough.
    Leaning forward on her elbows, Neve stares
into my eyes. “Do you want to be my friend?”
    It’s as if we’ve regressed in time and I’m
five years old again. Except, back then, no one wanted to be friends with the
geeky girl with the silvery hair and unnerving pale gray eyes. A surge of
pent-up emotion threatens to unravel me, and I work hard to force the bitter
memory from my mind.
    As I look at Neve’s sweet pleading face,
my heart melts and I nod.
    Although I think I need to have words with
Jenna. I’m far from the “quirkiest” person here.
    ***
    Odie and Jenna spend most of dinnertime sharing googly eyes.
Neve watches them curiously, but I don’t detect any malice or jealousy. When
Jenna leans in and molds her lips to Odie’s, a spark of envy streaks through
me. A picture of the hottie springs to mind, and suddenly I’m imagining our
faces in place of Odie’s and Jenna’s faces, and I’m growing all hot and
bothered in my seat.
    “Hey,” I say, twisting to face Neve, “do
you want to get out of here?” All of a sudden, I’ve an urgent need to remove
myself from the rampant hormones tempering the air.
    Odie and Jenna are still lip-locked and it
doesn’t look like they’ll be coming up for air anytime soon.
    Neve follows me out to the library room,
and we settle down to read. The next few hours pass in companionable silence.
    A loud yawn escapes me as my lack of sleep
catches up to me. Words blur in front of my eyes, and I know that’s my cue to
call it a night. “I can’t keep my eyes open. I need my bed.”
    “You do look wrecked. I think I’ll stay
and read some more. Goodnight, Sadie. I hope you sleep well.” Hopping up, she
pulls me into a hug and I stiffen, unaccustomed to the casual gesture.
    When I walk into the dorm, Jenna is lying
in her bed with a dreamy look on her face. She barely registers my arrival.
Fanning my hand in front of her face, I snap my fingers twice. “Earth to Jenna.
You in there?”
    She sighs contentedly. “Damn you, Sadie. I
was having the best daydream.” Propping up on one elbow, she faces me.
    “Let me guess,” I tease. “Did Odie feature
in this daydream of yours?”
    “In all his gorgeous nakedness.”
    “Jesus!” I shriek in her ear. “TMI, Jenna.”
    “What?” She sits upright. “I was only imagining ,
Sadie. It’s not like I’ve already seen him naked or anything. I’m not a slut.”
Her lips thin narrowly. Unwittingly, I’ve offended her.
    “I didn’t mean that, Jen. But you did say
the other day that you were all about the fun and I didn’t miss the way you two
were going at it earlier.”
    “You little minx,” she teases. “I think
someone’s jealous.”
    “Damn right,” I admit. “I’ve never been
kissed like that before.”
    “I bet the hottie would kiss like that and
some.” She winks at me.
    I suspect she’s right. If he can transform
my brain and body to mush just by looking at me—through thirty feet of water, I
might add—I can only imagine what his touch would do.
    Ah, crap. I’ve tried hard to ditch him
from my mind today, and now he is all I can think about. I suppose I should
tell Jenna what transpired between us last night, but I don’t want to admit to
anything because in all honesty it was pretty pathetic and more than a little
weird. So, I do the usual. I say nothing and keep a firm lid on my thoughts and
emotions.
    I fall asleep the second my head hits