“I know,” she said, patting my back and leading me into the restaurant.
“Because in the end, it will turn out he liked me best before I got the makeover, anyway, so it’s really a waste of time.”
She shook her head, smiling. “You’re lucky you’re so attractive already, because you are a freaking weirdo.”
CHAPTER TWO
IT WAS AN awful, bright kind of cold out today, only made worse by the sea of red and pink that I had been swimming in. I know it tends to be mostly bitter people who say they don’t care about Valentine’s Day, but I...really don’t. It’s dumb. I’ll take burgers and fireworks over heart-shaped candies and roses any day.
I sat on a table outside of school at the end of the day, wearing no color that came close to pink, and checked the time on my phone. Fifteen minutes since the bell rang. I’d known I would be waiting, so I already had headphones in and was listening to my fifties doo-wop playlist. I sighed and sipped from the aluminum water bottle I had filled up.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and nearly spat the water out.
I turned to see Aiden Macmillan, Brooke’s long-term, for-serious, if-they-get-married-they’ll-be-the-definition-of-high-school-sweethearts boyfriend. The one with whom she considered herself to be in a “stale” relationship.
I took out my earbuds and scooted over. “Aiden, hi, sorry.”
“It’s all good. What are you listening to?”
“Um, the Fleetwoods right now.”
“Ah, your doo-wop playlist.”
“That’s the one.”
“That kinda day, I guess.”
“Yes, the doo-wop in the temperature put me in the mood.” I nudged him with my elbow.
“Oh, man,” he said. “That was bad even for you.”
“Shut up!”
“Just kidding. No Valentine’s roses today?”
“My heart is breaking over it. Please.”
“Right, right, I know you hate it...but I kinda got you a little valentine.”
At first I couldn’t tell if he was kidding. “What?”
“Yeah, really, I did.” He handed me an envelope. It said, Happy Pal-entine’s Day.
“Hah! And I’ve got corny jokes.”
I opened it, and out fell a package of what looked like some kind of seasoning.
“My mom swears by it.” He shrugged. “I dunno, it’s probably dumb. I know you like to cook and thought you would like it. I was going to give you a package of it randomly, but decided to give it to you on a holiday you hate instead.”
“That’s so nice of you. And...and weird.”
“I know, I kinda see that now.”
He messed up his hair and looked out into the parking lot, where people and cars were all weaving around one another to leave. “So to change the subject...did you see it’s supposed to blizzard this weekend?”
“No...is it really?”
“Yeah, it’s supposed to be a couple of feet.”
“Wow. Time to get out the snowshoes, I guess.”
“And the toboggan.”
“Toboggan! Oh, my God, seriously, though, I love sledding. Why is that a thing reserved for kids?”
“Me, too. And in fact, it’s pretty dangerous, as far as sports and leisure activities are concerned. So really it shouldn’t be for kids at all.”
“You probably didn’t do a lot of sledding in Texas as a child, anyway.”
“Nope, only when I visited my aunt up here for Christmas and we got lucky enough for it to not just be gray and cold.”
“So almost never, then. That’s probably my least favorite thing about our winters. Not only do they drag on for weeks longer than you want them to, but most days it’s just ugly out.”
“I completely agree. If I’m going to live somewhere with four seasons, I want four real seasons.”
“Exactly,” I said. “My cousins live up in Michigan, and as awful as Michigan can be—”
Brooke appeared behind Aiden, and I stopped talking.
Always dressed impeccably, she had also not lowered herself to wear anything in theme today. She was in black velvet leggings, a navy blazer and a sheer black tank top. The only thing arguably holiday-related was the Tiffany’s filagree heart necklace she was wearing on a long chain. She clicked toward us in her heeled ankle-boots, rolling her eyes dramatically.
“Ugh! I am so sorry, you guys, Mr. Andrews was nagging me for, like, ten minutes about how, for this essay, I need to ‘arrange my thoughts’ and ‘write an outline.’ Ugh. Okay, let’s get out of this soul-sucking hellhole.”
We climbed into Aiden’s Jeep. We rode with him whenever Brooke woke up early enough.
Brooke buckled her seat belt and turned to me. “Oh, did he give you that seasoning stuff?”
“Yeah, just now.” Okay, so she had known about it. That was less weird, then.
“I don’t know what it is, but every time his mom cooks, the food is amazing and it’s because of that stuff. So now you can cook me food whenever I want it and I don’t have to wait for his mom to let me come over.” She gave me a cheesy grin. “Oh, okay, so here’s our new mission, Aiden. We have to find Natalie a boyfriend.”
I leaned back against the headrest. “Brooke...”
“Oh, shush, I know better than you. I’m thinking she needs a hipster-type guy.”
“I told you, I don’t want some weird poser who wears nonprescription Ray-Bans. It’s really not my thing.”
“That shouldn’t be anybody’s thing,” said Aiden.
“Agreed.”
“No, guys,” Brooke said, “not the annoying kind of hipster who’s just catching on to the mainstream hipster thing, more someone who is a little off-kilter, but not to an annoying extent.”
“I already think he sounds lame.”
“Nat, be real, I’m not saying he needs to be exactly anything. I mean someone who is into the same things as you. You’re not going to date, like, a football player.” She gestured at Aiden. “I don’t see that being something you’re into. Or maybe you need someone who is your total opposite. I don’t know! It’s going to be fun to shop you around. Which is why—” she pulled out her phone and opened up Facebook “—we are going to this tomorrow night.”
I took the phone and looked at it. “Stupid Cupid Rager?”
“Yes. It’s at Alexa’s place, have you been there? Well, it’s huge and has a pool table and a movie theater, and is the best. We’re hoping to get snowed in there. It’s even better in summer because of the pool in the back, but whatever. It’ll be fun, anyway. She has a hot tub!”
“Snowed in?” I groaned. “That seems like it could be kind of a nightmare.”
“Yeah,” Aiden agreed. “There are more than a few people I would rather not be locked in a house with.”
“God, Mom and Dad, chill out. It’s going to be fun goddammit.”
Aiden’s eyes shifted to mine in the rearview. I stifled