embarrass yourself at this party.â
Ryan glanced down at himself and frowned at me. âThen youâve got a lot of work to do, donât you?â
And I had plenty of incentive. A lot of people were talking about the video and watching it before morning classes, between morning classes . . . even in the bathroom. Unfortunately, the tile walls made the acoustics of the song even better.
Every snicker and joke about the video chipped away at me, so that by the time lunchrolled around, I felt about half my size. And I guess I looked it.
âAre you shrinking?â Brooke asked in the lunch line. Then her eyes lit up. âOr did I finally get my growth spurt?â She jumped and tried to touch the ceiling, but her fingertips missed by a mile. âNope,â she said with a sigh. âNope, I didnât.â
âYouâd probably grow a little faster if you ate something besides pizza,â I said.
âPizza has cheese,â she pointed out. âCheese has calcium. I should be a frigginâ giant by now.â
âCalcium doesnât make your bones grow longer. It makes them grow stronger,â I said.
She eyed me. âThen you must not be getting enough calcium, old man. But nice rhyme.â
I pulled myself to my full height, and she nodded. âThatâs better. Now, I know whatâs bugging you, but sulking about it isnât going to change things.â
âAnd what do you suggest I do instead?â
âIgnore it,â she said.
âIgnore a problem and hope it goes away?â I shook my head. âThat does not sound like the Brooke Jacobs philosophy.â
âI didnât say ignore the problem,â she corrected me, handing the lunch lady her meal card. âIâm saying ignore the reactions. By all means confront the problem.â She pocketed her meal card and waited for me to pay. âHave you figured out who sent that mass email yet? I could deal with the whole thing for you.â
There it was again. My friends to the rescue against someone I shouldâve been able to handle on my own. I knew Brooke could probably destroy Ryan, but I also knew how much respect Iâd lose from the guys if she did.
âNo,â I lied. âLooks like whoever it was just wanted a laugh from the school.â
Brooke narrowed her eyes. âNobody does something like that and chooses to stay anonymous. At some point, whoever posted that video is going to want recognition.â
âWould you please let it go?â I asked, picking up my lunch tray. âI donât want to talk about it.â
âYou never want to talk about your private life,â she said, following me to our usual table, where Vanessa and Heather were already eating.
âBecause itâs private!â I shot back. âCan we talk about something else? Iâve already gotten some requests for gift advice.â I hesitated. âWell . . . sort of.â
âLet me guess,â spoke up V. âPeople thought youâd buy the gifts for them?â
I lifted my eyebrows. âYeah, howâd you know?â
Heather and Vanessa laughed, and Brookecovered her face with one hand while she dropped folded scraps of paper onto the table with the other.
âWe found these in Locker 411,â explained Heather. âAt least five people got the same idea.â
Brooke grinned sheepishly. âYeah, I shouldâve been more specific on the flyer. Iâll make a new one, and tomorrow will go much better.â
I picked up one of the notes that had a dollar stapled to it. ââBuy my brother something,ââ I read and smirked. âSo much love in that family.â
Brooke elbowed Vanessa. âWatch it be from Gabby.â
At that moment a belch echoed across the cafeteria.
I closed my eyes and sighed. I didnât even have to look to know who it was.
âRyan is such a pig,â Brooke said, making a disgusted
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