Page 22

“I changed my mind!”

Asher groaned, then rolled down the window. “Fine. Back seat. I need to take Wren to her car anyway.”

“You didn’t tell him?” Kamala practically yelled at me as we sat on my bed that night.

“I was going to, but he told me this sad story about losing all his confidence. And his brother was making fun of him, and Dale wants him to commit social suicide.”

“Are you talking about Dale’s birthday party humiliation he wants to inflict on Asher?” she asked, obviously remembering the conversation from the café as well.

“Yes. If Dale digs around and finds out that not only was hecatfished originally but now I seem to be catfishing him…in a very different and nice way…he’ll never let him live it down.”

Kamala’s brows shot down. “Different and nice way?”

“I mean, he’s met me and seen me and I’m trying my hardest not to lie to him.”

“That’s all you’re doing!” she said. “Lying to him.”

“No, I’m not. He knows where I work. He’s met Bean! I told him about my dad’s stupid job and my mom. So see! I’m not lying.”

“You told him about your mom?” she asked, surprised. I didn’t tell anyone anything about my mom unless they already knew she’d left us. I hardly even talked to Kamala about the situation. WhyhadI told him?

She stood suddenly and began pacing the room, her hands twisting around each other. Her bed was lined with stuffed animals that she held or fidgeted with when she was nervous or thinking. My bedroom didn’t contain a single stuffed animal—I hated clutter—so I held a pillow in her direction.

She waved it away. “Don’t make fun of me. You’re the weird one. Who doesn’t have something soft to hug?”

“People who don’t need hugs,” I said.

“Says the girl who found the perfect hugger.” She let out a frustrated sigh. “He seems like a really nice guy, Wren.”

“He is. And I’m going to tell him. I am. Maybe after I get Dale off the suspicion trail. Then Asher can just say we weren’t right for each other or something, not that he was fooled.”

“And if he falls for you in the meantime?” she asked, as if guys fell for me on the regular.

“Oh please. He won’t. We’re so not right for each other.” He’d already broken six of my rules and I’d barely known him for aweek.

“Do you like him?” Kamala asked. “Is that why you’re doingthis?”

“No! I just want to help him.”

Her worried expression turned into a disappointed one. “So you feel sorry for him? That’s even worse.”

“It’s not worse. That’s what good people with big hearts do.”

She pointed to me. “Was that a description of you?”

“I may keep it in a cage, but I have the biggest heart in this town.”

Kamala, in all her best-friend sincerity, said, “I know you do,” which made me laugh because I had been kidding. My heart was pretty shriveled. “It’s your brain I have a problem with. You can’t control everything, you know.”

“I know,” I said. But I could controlmostthings.

“I’m just worried this is all going to blow up in your face and he’s going to get hurt.”

“I won’t hurt him. It’s Dale who wants to make a fool of him, with his recordings and plans for over-the-top humiliation. It’s hard to recover from that in high school. Do we really want people to always remember Asher as the guy who was catfished and had to run around some rich guy’s yard naked?”

She shook her head. “And what about Chad?”

“Weirdly, I think Chad’s more interested now that I’m sort of taken.” This really could be a mutually beneficial arrangement. “He was asking Asher lots of questions about me.”