I woke up the following morning with a headache and went to the bathroom, dragging myself with this heavy feeling. Then I felt a lot worse when I looked at myself in the mirror. My brown hair was too flat and my skin wasn't as peachy as it had been before I started having boy problems. My plump lips weren't as pink, and my hazel eyes no longer sparkled like my mom used to always tell me. I looked as awful as I felt.
Geo kept calling me last night and a few times from five this morning. I didn't answer. Not once. I wanted him to think that I was mad at him still, though my heart demanded that I shouldn't be because I needed him. I needed Geo so I could move on to sophomore year.
And I needed him so I could get Matt back.
Yeah. I wanted Mattheus Estevez back into my life. So whatever might come of this little inescapable nightmare, I just knew I had to – how did Jazz say it again? – suck everything up.
I took in a sharp breath and took a shower.
What got me thinking the whole night were Geo's words. I couldn't be mistaken; I heard him say he was doing this for Matt. He was accompanying me for Matt's benefit. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Matt still wanted me. But that, of course, needed evidence.
I had to get to the bottom of this.
* * * *
Every girl at the Reagan cafeteria glared at me when Geo escorted me out. I was having coffee and a clubhouse sandwich with Justine when he marched right in and grabbed my arm. I shoved his hand at first and complained, but then I softened as I realized the risk he was taking just to pick me up. Berkeley boys weren't allowed in our cafeteria.
"Hi Geo," Jazz greeted him cheerily.
"What are you doing here?" I, on the other hand, demanded an answer. It was early in the morning, and he just laughed at how grumpy I was, pulled me off my chair, and held the small of my back, as he and I walked out.
Jazz didn't do anything to stop him. She even waved at us and giggled, like this was some sort of a dating faux pas. That girl was gonna get it from me one of these days.
"I won't talk to you. Ever."
He snorted. "Like I would believe that."
I knew he caught how insincere I was with how I was talking. My mouth was filled with sandwich, thanks to whatever slice of it I had grabbed, and my voice faltered, giving me away to disbelief. I put the last big piece of my breakfast into my mouth and chewed.
Geo let out that sexy laugh everyone loved hearing. Contrary to what I had been telling Jazz, I wasn't immune to Geo's charms like she was. I was under his spell like everyone else. Sometimes. Yet, what had made it so easy for me to push him aside was the fact that the guy, whom I very much missed, looked exactly like him. Minus the beard. Plus the glasses and the proper uniform.
He still had the small of my back on the tip of his fingers and he led me to World Park, under the tree where he always read a book from.
"You weren't answering my calls." Geo maintained his smile, offering it to me, even as I glared at him. I wasn't sure if he found my anger amusing, but I found his nonchalance to everything to be amusing.
"Why should I? You're selling me out." I still believed this, though, even when the ends of it proved to be too beneficial to me.
"I am not selling you out." He chuckled, actually enjoying this.
"Oh, yeah?" I turned to him straight and raised my chin. Being six inches smaller than him didn't bother me. "Explain to me then how this buddy thing is for him."
Geo placed his hands on his hips and shook his head, pressing his lips together. He looked around at first, seemingly searching for possible eavesdroppers, and then said, "I only said that so my brother wouldn't make a scene."
"Why in the world would he make a scene? I swallowed hard, fighting any urge to laugh. It seemed I was right about Matt.
He still wanted me, and that came to an even stronger ground when Geo said, "I realized how much he's still into you."
I could swear he was waiting for my reaction, judging by the way he stared at me. But I knew what I felt wasn't too hard to recognize, so I didn't have to answer that.
Calm down. "Meaning?" I raised my chin.
"You're not stupid, Zoey. Stop asking stupid questions." He groaned. "I thought about everything I know of your short relationship. And I came to conclude that you didn't hit if off because you liked each other so much that you dived right into the deep without getting to know each other first."
"Who gave you the right to draw conclusions?"
"My brother did." He took a step toward me, his eyes almost burning. "So I told him I'll help you two on a second round."