Page 44 of The Bad Boyfriend Curse
“Yeah, so why can’t the charity go right to me?” Ash says. “Lord knows my life is complete crap and I’m entitled to reparations from these rich bros.”
“It’s for an addiction charity,” Quinn says. “I didn’t come here to donate my things to some random. I want to donate to an organization with the training and experience to help the root cause of the societal problem.”
Ash rolls his eyes. “God, you’re an asshole. You know that? I’m not somerandom. I’m a person. A person who has a crap ton ofsocietal problems.”
“Just give him the sweatshirt,” Kennedy says, her bubbly tone from earlier gone. “What difference would it make to you?”
“Yeah, you can probably afford to give him the shirtandgive a hundred dollars to the charity, right?” Noah says. He looks at me. “What do you think, Meera?”
Honestly, I’m not sure what side I’m on. Ash called Quinn an asshole for no real reason, and Quinn has a point. He didn’t come here to donate a sweatshirt to Ash. He wanted to donate to the charity. And just because he can afford to give the shirt to Ash, that doesn’t mean hehasto do that. But also, Quinn called Ash “some random.” Maybe he doesn’t really care about the people in his actual community as much as he cares about abstractsocietal problems?
What I do know is that taking either of their sides here would be a mistake. I have to spend every day with Noah, Kennedy, and Ash. And Quinn is one of my cousin’s best friends. Plus, I kind of have a date with him tonight. A friend date, but still.
Noah is still looking at me expectantly, and I say nothing.
Quinn finally throws the sweatshirt at Ash. “Fine. I don’t want trouble. Take the damn thing.” He turns to the girl behind the counter. “I’ll donate whatever you would have sold it for.”
“Sick!” Ash says, pulling the sweatshirt on. “I’ve always wanted one of these.”
I’m not surprised that he doesn’t even thank Quinn.
Quinn scowls at everyone after he donates the money using his debit card, then starts to walk out of the shop.
When he’s basically out the door, he calls, “Looking forwardto dinner tonight, Meera. I’ll pick you up at seven.” And he leaves the thrift store.
Crap.
Noah’s expression can only be described as one of… betrayal. He blinks at me, as if waiting for me to defend myself.
But why should I be defending anything? I’mallowedto have dinner with Quinn as a friend. Heck, I’m allowed to have dinner with him not as a friend, if I want to.
But I think Noah was about tokissme before Quinn got here. And it’s not only that I’m going on a date even though I said I wasn’t ever dating—it’swhoI’m going on a date with. Someone from Jason’s world. Someone who can donate a $300 sweatshirt, not someone who can’t even afford a used one.
I want to say that Quinn’s not that bad, and it’s not a real date anyway, but I know it won’t help. After no one says anything for a few moments, Noah turns to Ash and Kennedy. “You know, I think we’ve spent more than enough time in this neighborhood. You done, Meera?” His expression makes me wonder if he also thinks he’s spent more than enough time withme. I nod, not knowing what to say.
Noah quickly pays for his one shirt and goes outside. Ash follows him out, but Kennedy stays with me.
“Boys are annoying,”she says, giving me a sympathetic smile. “You still buying that stuff?”
I glance down at my full cart. I nod and put the clothes on the counter. I have no idea what happened between Noah and me, but I agree with him about these Crash on Jupiter shirts. It feels wrong to have them end up unwanted in a thrift store.
After I give Ash my address, he and Noah talk about somevideo game on the four-minute drive to my house. Kennedy is quiet, but she does smile and say bye when I get out of the car. Ash says nothing. When I say bye to Noah, he gives a curtlater, then asks Ash if they can stop at the corner store on the way home. I feel terrible and almost tell Noah that I’ll call him tonight, but I remember Noah doesn’t have a phone. Also, I have a date tonight.
And I have definitely lost a friend because of that date.
When I get inside, I hide the T-shirts in the back of my closet. I have no idea what I’m going to do with them. I wish I could go back in time and skip the whole thrift store visit.
CHAPTER SIXTEENNoah’s New Phone
I hate that Noah still doesn’t have a phone, so I can’t call him to talk about what happened at the thrift store. Or to tell him that I don’t have a real date with Quinn, that we’re just having dinner together as friends. Or to find out if he’s still going to come to the LeClair picnic on Sunday.
Maybe I should cancel my dinner with Quinn? But… why? I don’t see Quinn as the bad guy in that situation with Ash. Ash isn’t the bad guy either. They are just two people who can’t understand the other’s worldview.
Ugh. I have no idea what to do. I open a video call with Keeley and Adanna. A debrief with my closest friends about this situation is exactly what I need. But to make my life even worse, they’re both in Adanna’s sister’s car on the way to Montreal for that festival that I was supposed to go to. I push my jealousy aside and give them the short version of my dilemma. I don’t tell them about Noah almost kissing me in the thrift store, because honestly? Part of me thinks I might have imagined it.
“Meera, I don’t understand,” Adanna says. “You’ve been in Cherrybridge for what, two weeks? You’re already in a love triangle? What happened to not dating?”
I shake my head. “I’mnotin a love triangle. I’m in a…friendtriangle. With two guys.”
