Canterwood Crest by Jessica Burkhart

Author:Jessica Burkhart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin Mix
Published: 2009-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

20

AWKWARD

LATER THAT AFTERNOON PAIGE AND I WENT to the Sweet Shoppe together to meet Eric. We walked inside and looked for an empty table. At a booth near the back, Callie and Jacob had their heads bent together over an ice cream sundae. Callie, seeing us, waved. Jacob glanced up and nodded once before focusing back on the ice cream.

Why couldn’t he just stop being awkward around me?!

Paige and I sat at a table near the window.

“He can’t even look at you,” Paige whispered.

“I know. One second, he acts like we have a shot at being friends again and the next, he won’t even talk to me. I don’t get it.”

Paige played with her menu. “Maybe he just doesn’t know how to be friends. He—”

I shot Paige the zip-it! eyes when Eric walked in. I didn’t want him to hear us talking about Jacob. That would only result in more awkwardness.

“Hey,” he said sitting across from me. “You look a lot cleaner.”

“Ha, ha,” I said. “I told Paige what you did.”

Paige shook her head, teasingly. “Not cool, Eric.”

“But did Sasha tell you what she did to me?” Eric asked.

Paige peered at me. “Sasha?”

I tried not to look guilty. “I might have put a tiny bit of mud on Eric’s face.”

Eric’s brown eyes focused on me. “Tell the truth, Sash.”

“Oh, fine! I swiped an entire handful of mud on his face.”

Paige giggled. “You conveniently left that part out.”

I shrugged and we all cracked up.

“Let’s order,” Eric said, after we’d calmed down. “What do you guys want?”

I didn’t have to think about my order. “I’ll have chocolate pudding and a Coke,” I said.

“Sticking with the theme of the day, huh?” Eric asked.

I nodded. “Yep. The pudding will remind me of how I got you.”

He mock-rolled his eyes. “Paige?”

“Oooh, mint chocolate pudding for me, and a Coke too, please,” Paige said.

We handed Eric our student ID cards to charge the food to our accounts.

Callie and Jacob got up from their table and walked by. “See you, guys,” Callie said to Paige and me.

“Bye,” we said.

Eric, waiting for our orders at the counter, turned and saw Callie and Jacob. He gave Callie a quick smile and eyed Jacob. Jacob glared back and almost stopped walking until Callie shot him a look. Eric watched Jacob until the door shut behind them. When he put our snacks and drinks on the table, he was still frowning.

I wanted to tell him that he didn’t have to get annoyed every time he saw Jacob, but I didn’t say anything.

“Probably one of our last afternoons of fun before we have to start crazy studying,” Paige said.

“I’m starting tonight,” I said. “Good-bye, TV and movies.”

Eric sipped his soda. “I’m getting the impression that finals are tough here.”

Paige nodded. “They’re hard, but you just have to study. A lot. Oh, and don’t sleep. Just… study. Constantly.”

Eric lowered his spoon into his bowl of chocolate ice cream. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Not really,” Paige said, hanging her head. “You’ll see.”

We joked about finals and chatted till we’d all finished our snacks.

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