Page 61 of Try Hard

“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.”

“Well, that’s not embarrassing that I remembered and you didn’t.”

She laughed. “Did you remember running past my French class?”

“No. I guess not.”

“So, we’re even.” She chuckled again. “Any reason for the question? Because I could keep going with things I remember, if you’d like?”

“That won’t be necessary,” I replied quickly. “I was just… thinking about one of our science classes. The time that guy was holding bunsen burners hostage.”

“Oh, right. Gary.”

“Thatwas his name. I couldn’t for the life of me remember it.”

“I’m extra flattered you remember so many things about me.”

I hummed noncommittally. We didn’t need to get into just how much I remembered—or why I did.

“You know he fancied you, right?” she asked, her voice expectant.

“What? No, he didn’t.”

She laughed more heartily than I thought that required. “Yes, he did! I told him to stop thinking with his dick around you. What did youthinkthat meant?”

My brain felt like it was buzzing. “That you were… commenting on the patriarchal society in which we live?”

“Adorable.” She sounded far more fond than I deserved.

“Not a word people usually associate me with.”

“Yeah, well, I think you’re adorable. And so did Gary… whatever his last name was.”

I hated that, now she’d said it, I could kind of see the logic. Lots of guys had behaved like that with girls they liked. But there was no way she’d been right on the money with that one. I was not the person everyone at school fancied. I wasn’t popular or pretty like Eve was.

“That’s really blowing your mind, isn’t it?” she asked when I didn’t speak for a moment.

“No.”

“Yes, it is,” she laughed. “Do you want me to tell you who else had a crush on you, or shall we save that for another day?”

“Oh, god. There was nobody else. You’re forgetting who the desirable one was at school.”

“I absolutely am not. But, whenever you’re ready to know, just say the word.”

“Like you have a list of them ready to go?”

“Exactly like that.”

“Archer,” I groaned.

She laughed, sounding like she was on top of the world. “So, if you don’t want that conversation, do you want to talk about what’s bothered you tonight?”

Nothing was bothering me while she was talking to me. Sure, I was embarrassed, a little mortified, but nothing was bad around her, not really. Even what had been bothering me.

Of course, the moment I focused on it, the more it came into relief.

“It’s nothing,” I said, sounding thoroughly unconvinced myself. “Just work stuff.”