Side Note: I Think I Love You (Side Notes Book 1)

Chapter 9 - Attie

I'm definitely saying no.

I spent the last two hours of school contemplating whether or not I should take it upon myself to say yes to what Ian had suggested. Not like what I had expected him to say. At all.

Can you even believe it?

One of the most honest people I have ever met... suggested lying to everyone.

I pinched myself at least once in the past two hours every time the thought crossed my mind.

I can't lie to that extent! Sure, I've lied in the past but they've only been tiny, white lies. Like telling Jason about his summer girlfriend, Lily Schwartz, and how I liked her. That was completely wrong and I thought it didn't matter because Jason usually does his own thing. Meaning they were no longer a thing by July.

"Attie?" Amy's ring-clad hand is waving up and down in front of my face. "You haven't sung along to a single Taylor Swift song this entire drive! Something is definitely up."

Damnit. Thanks to Ian and the whole fake relationship proposal thing, my mind is as scrambled and confused as an entire episode of Clone High. This is messing with my mind too much.

Amy and I are heading over to my house. Jason's staying late and heading to tonight's game with Derek and two more of their friends, so I have the Jeep to myself. We haven't had a sleepover since before high school and I'm glad that her dad allowed us with the condition that we study for the PSATs coming up in late October while she's over.

"Come on, At-bat," my best friend says. "What's on your mind? Or who?" She wiggles her eyebrows.

When the light turns red, I turn up the volume of the car speakers. My phone is connected to the speakers so the only thing that's playing is Taylor Swift. If there's one person I can't keep a secret from, it's Amy. She knows me better than anyone except Jason, and I can keep a secret from him—I have. I've only managed to keep one secret from her in the past eleven years and I still hold onto that.

I allow myself to take a deep breath and let it out. "Ian."

Her eyes light up. "Oh my God! I was going to ask you about it! Jason kept pestering me in English class about you two and I didn't exactly know what he was talking about at the time."

"What did you tell my brother?"

"I told him to ask you," she answers while looking into the mirror to reapply her lip gloss. "Again, I was confused. I thought you were in love with Derek. And then he says you're dating Ian. What is going on, Attie?"

"Well—" A car horn is blasted from behind and I keep my focus back on the road. "I'll tell you everything when we get back to my place."

"Promise?"

I scoff. "Well, duh."

The rest of the drive home is mostly peaceful. Amy drops her stuff off at my room and we sit down on my bed as I change out of the tank top I wore all day to a more comfortable shirt that already has paint splattered onto it and tell her everything. And I mean everything. From the wrong letter accident of last week to Rue interrogating me like Phineas and Ferb looking for that little button-eyed doll, and even Ian suggesting that we pretend to date.

"I can't believe you kept this from me," Amy says once I've finished. We're laying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling where I've painted a shit ton of stars in the past two years. Mom and Dad gave me and Jason permission to fully personalize our new rooms the way we want to once he moved out of what is now my bedroom. While he has posters of his favorite classic rock bands and movies, I took it upon myself to fill every inch of this room with any reference to my favorite animated cartoon shows and other masterpieces.