warning bells were sounding in earnest.
âYeah, well, I mean⦠they know that Jake can be a real flirt and that guys can be totally dense, so it was good to just get it off my chest, get some girlie input, you know?â
âYeah, totally. Iâm all for girlie input, Gaia. But those girlsâ¦â She sighed, arranging her thoughts inher mind before she spoke. âLook, Gaia, theyâre obviously your friends and theyâre my friends, too, but Iâm not sure theyâve always got the most, uh,
unbiased
advice to offer, thatâs all Iâm saying. Donât put too much stock in what they have to say. They donât do too much original thinking.â She hoped she didnât sound melodramatic, but she wasnât sure.
Gaia laughed. She understood what Liz was getting at, and though she wasnât about to shrug off the FOHsâ friendship, however tenuous it was, it was nice to know that someone else was looking out for her. Someone who understood the murky social waters she was sailing.
âIâm serious,â Liz pressed. âI donât want to go all high drama on you, but girls like that⦠well, they usually have an agenda. Just take their advice with a grain of salt,â she emphasized.
Gaiaâs look of bemused appreciation shifted to one of mild panic. What exactly was Liz saying? Were the FOHs out to
get
her or something? Did Liz know something concrete?
Gaiaâs spirits sagged. The warm sense of belonging sheâd had only moments agoâthe acute sensation that the FOHs accepted her and that Liz cared for herâwas replaced suddenly by cold dread. Jake was a flirt who had no intention of staying with her. Heâd probably already asked someone else to the prom. Her âfriendsâ were at some Starbucks downtown, plottingher social demise over nonfat lattes. Her mood, shaky as it was, deflated like a popped balloon.
âHey,â Liz broke into her thoughts softly, reading her panicked expression. âNo oneâs conspiring against you or anything like that. Itâs not, you know, so dire. Iâm just looking out for you because you seem a little fragile lately.â
Gaia laughed shortly. Fragile. That was what she had become. If Liz only knew.
âLiz!â A booming male voice cut into their conversation. âYou ready or what?â
Gaia and Liz turned simultaneously to see Skyler Rodke loping easily toward them. âHey,â he said, once he was standing before them.
âI thought Chris was meeting me.â Liz sounded confused. âWe were going to go pick something up for Mom uptown. Something big and heavyâ she said pointedly. âItâs a classic Skyler must-miss scenario.â
Skyler grinned. âChris wasnât man enough for the task. I told Mom Iâd help you.â
âWell, thatâs awfully kind of you, Your Highness, to come all the way downtown to help your poor, downtrodden sister. Iâm sure the fact that thereâs a beautiful blond along for the ride had nothing to do with it,â Liz said sarcastically.
âThatâs sisterly trust for you.â Skyler laughed, flashing his even white teeth at Gaia. She suddenly felt flushed. Skyler was hot, no doubt about it, but itwas more than that. It wasnât even that he was checking her out, because in spite of what Liz had said, Gaia didnât see it. But something about him did make her nervous.
Letâs face it, just about everything makes me nervous these days
, she admitted to herself. But this was a different nervous. Yet as unsettling as the feeling was, she couldnât turn away from him. She was mesmerized. She loved the fact that he was teasing her, loved the fact that he lumped her into the same group that he lumped his little sister. The vibe between Gaia and him felt familial. It was like he was the anti-Jakeâunconcerned with the new bizarro Gaiaâs constant anxiety. Willing