Page 19 of Switch!

“Oh, absolutely,” Ashley says. “You’ll have to do better than that.”

It was a bluff anyway. Unless I could park close enough to the screen we’d be watching. “Let’s go for a drive.”

“And?”

“Talk.”

Ashley reappraises me. “A boy who wants to talk? Or is that code for something else?”

“Nope. Final offer. Take it or leave it.” I try my handsome-guy smile again and it works.

“A drive,” Ashley says with a nod. “I think I can handle that.”

I walk with her to the truck and open the passenger-side door so she can climb in. I’m not sure how she reacts to this chivalry, because I’m distracted by two things: how good she smells and the lump under a quilt behind my seat. I should have checked to see if it’s noticeable that someone is breathing under there.

“Where are we going?” Ashley asks as we begin the drive.

“It’s a surprise.”

“I’m not crazy about those,” she says, crinkling her nose.

I pull my attention away and focus on the road. “The journey is the destination.”

“Fair enough. What are we going to talk about?”

She isn’t making this easy for me, but her tone is playful rather than cold. “You,” I say. “What’s it like to be so popular?”

Ashley laughs.

I glance over at her, my expression solemn. “Seriously.”

“You aren’tunpopular,” she says before wincing. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to… I know you’ve had trouble with your friends lately.”

I shrug. “They have a legitimate reason to be angry with me, so if anything, the fault is mine.”

“Legitimate, huh?” Ashley says. “Are you breaking out the big words to impress me?”

“What do you mean?”

“You talk different than you text.”

Crap! I didn’t think of that. I’m supposed to be Caleb right now, and he’s probably gruffer, so I try again. “I got one of those fancy word-of-the-day calendars. Or some shit.”

This makes her laugh. “I’m starting to think there’s more to you than meets the eye.”

She’s got that right. “And I’m starting to think that you’re avoiding the question. What’s it like to be popular?”

“Complicated,” Ashley says after a brief silence. “I have people come up to me all the time who want to be my friend. Not because of who I am, but because of an imaginary status they want a piece of. If I give them a chance, they act fake around me, or are mean to the less popular kids, because that’s what they believe it takes. I think it’s dumb, personally. What’s the point of being popular if you can’t be yourself? All I want is an authentic connection with someone, but from what I can tell, those are rare. For anybody.”

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had that,” I admit. “Besides my mom.”

“That’s… surprisingly sweet!”

“Really? I think it’s sad.”

“You shouldn’t feel that way, but I bet you’re not alone.” Ashley sighs. “Maybe this is all a normal part of high school. My sister is in college. She says it’s better there, as long as you avoid the sororities and fraternities. She told my parents that she wasn’t accepted by any of them, when in truth, she never even tried.”

“I’m not interested in joining those either.”