Page 20 of Then Came the Fall
“C’mon. Let’s dance,” Matt suggested.
“Okay,” I agreed, feeling an unexpected lump rising in my throat. My adrenaline was pumping through my body and it was hard to calm down enough for a slow dance given all that had just happened. But he asked me, and I didn’t want to squander the chance to show Lisa that Matt wasnothers to kiss.
We stood face to face, unsure of where to put our hands. After a moment that felt like an eternity, Matt placed his fingers on the small of my back, arms outstretched, creating space between us. He looked kind of like a zombie with his arms out like that. I rested my hands on his shoulders. We swayed awkwardly.
I looked at Matt, trying to slow my rabbit-thumping heartbeat.
“So, what happened back there?” I began.
“I should ask you the same thing,” he countered.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know where to begin. Did you just get into afight? Is that what I saw?” His lips turned up into a smirk.
I shrugged. “I guess.”
“Over what?”
“Shekissedyou! I mean, right? Isn’t that what happened?”
“Yeah, it was weird. We were playing that stupid game with the orange and I had to take it from her with my neck, you know? And all of a sudden, she must have dropped the orange out from under her chin and just leaned in and kissed me. It was… pretty gross, to be honest.” He laughed.
Disgusted, I shook my head. “She’s such a...” My voice trailed off.Slut? Hoochie? Skank?
“I thought she was your friend.”
“Shewas. I don’t know if I’d say that anymore.”
“Why’d you beat her up?”
I grinned, appreciating the fact that Matt assumed I won the fight. “I don’t know. I mean, you’remyfriend. She had no business doing that.”
“Yeah, well, while you were over there kicking her ass, guess what happened?”
“What?”
“Corn Chip asked me if you were single.”
“What?!”
“He thinks you’re cute.”
“Corn Chip? Matt, that’s gross!”
“He’s not so bad. He’s funny,” Matt offered.
“Why did he ask you, anyway?”
“I don’t know.” Matt shrugged. “I guess maybe he thought you and me were…”
“You and me?” I parroted.
“I guess.”
“Well, what’d you tell him?”
“You mean after I threw up?” He grinned.
