Page 35 of Cry Baby
My stomach tightened, and Ethan glared at me.
“No. He just came over here. I’m still down to hang out.”
“Oh, I get it. Little Pipsqueak is trying to flirt. How cute. He doesn’t really understand social cues.”
“Hollis, he’s just?—”
“He means well,” Hollis interrupted. “And he makes a mean Shirley Temple.”
Every sentence chipped away another piece of me.
Ethan grew more and more uncomfortable as I grew more and more insulted, and I felt like I was deflating little by little.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
“I…”
Hollis kept going like I hadn’t spoken.
“Sometimes he gets attached to strangers. They don’t let him out of the orphanage much.”
Heat flooded my face, and anger bloomed in my chest.
“I think I’ll…” Ethan stood up and looked between us, the two of us glaring daggers at one another. “Grab another drink.”
He left.
Just…walked away.
The music suddenly sounded too loud again.
The lights were too bright.
The room was too crowded.
I stared after him, and Hollis was talking but I ignored him now.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Count.
Don’t cry.
Don’t.
