Page 12 of The Do-Over
ROB
The fact that she had given him more time to think through what he wanted to say, and to articulate it, was generous. Rob knew she’d been under no obligation to do that.
But for God’s sake, why was he having so much trouble talking to her? Thea was pretty, but he talked to pretty girls every day. He’d never struggled like this before.
He felt ridiculous.
He was just going to have to get over it. He was Rob Honeycutt, after all. He knew how admired, how well liked, he was. If Thea didn’t feel that way about him, that was fine, wasn’t it? That was her business.
Do I like this girl?
Rob went on dates all the time, but he hadn’t had a serious girlfriend since starting high school. He hadn’t wanted to be pinned down that way, and he’d made no secret of that fact. Everything he did with girls had always been superficial, and the girls had always known that.
Maybe the anxiety Thea was causing had nothing to do with a fear that he wouldn’t be able to handle rejection. Maybe he didn’t want to be rejected by her.
“So are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Thea asked him. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were looking for a tutor, but you’re already on the honor roll. You’re on the dean’s list, actually. You don’t need my help with anything school-related.”
“How did you know I was on the dean’s list?”
She flushed slightly. “I looked for your name when I was dropping something off at the office,” she admitted. “Earlier today.”
“Really?”
“Well, I never knew you were in advanced-placement classes before,” she said. “I was interested.”
“So you think I’m interesting too,” he surmised.
“You are interesting,” she countered. “You’re the star of the basketball team. And you’re Rob Honeycutt.”
He laughed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, you’re…I don’t know. It’s like you’re famous,” she said. “Everyone in school knows who you are. All the guys look up to you, and the girls want to date you…”
“What about you?” he asked.
She frowned. “What about me?”
“Would you date me?”
Now the words were out there. There was no taking them back. Rob braced himself and waited for her response.
Thea snorted. “What is this?” she asked. “Some kind of…”
“Of what?”
“Is this what you do to boost your ego? Ask random girls if they’d date you?”
“I’m not trying to boost my ego,” he said. “And you’re not random.”
“No?”
“You’re the one who came and found me while I was shooting free throws,” he said. “You’re the reason we’re friends in the first place.”
“Is that what we are?” she asked. “Friends?”
“I’d like us to be.” Did he want something more? He wasn’t sure. He was more intrigued by her than he’d ever been by another girl. Was that just because she was new to him? Or should he be paying more attention to these feelings?
Friendship would do for a start. He wanted there to be something between them. He wanted to know that he would see her again. He wanted them to see one another deliberately, instead of waiting to run into one another. And he certainly didn’t want to keep stalking her, asking her friends where she might be and sneaking up on her in the library.
