The next day at school was completely and utterly nerve-wracking. When I arrived at school, everyone stopped and stared at me. They'd all probably heard about Jared and me and they were trying to figure out what Jared saw in me. In their shoes, I'd be contemplating the same. At least that was the only reasonable scenario that I could think of. Unsure of how to deal with all the unwanted attention, I tried to ignore everyone and continue as normal.

Kennedy had wanted more details about Jared and me. Under her curious gaze I lied as well as I could, hoping she, along with Stacy—who was standing beside her with a similar look on her face—would believe me.

"Did it give you butterflies?" Stacy asked with a dreamy expression.

Everything about him except that smug mouth of his gave me the butterflies.

I nodded and she said, "That's so romantic."

And I wanted to roll my eyes. Even though I was pretty sure I was developing a crush on him, it didn't mean I was going to fall at his feet like some lovesick puppy. I remembered how he'd almost kissed me, and that had been anything but romantic. There was no reason to add to the lie that was Jared and me. In a few days everyone would forget about it and move on to something else.

I made my way with Kennedy and Stacy to our first class of the day, which was English. I was nervous as Jared would also be there, and I was still unsure of how to act around him. I decided to ignore him and act like nothing had ever happened. Kennedy and Stacy took their usual seats on either side of me while I nervously tapped my pencil against the desk and tried not to focus on the classroom door. I didn't even have to see him—I wasn't sure how it was possible, but I could feel him as he entered the classroom.

He strolled in casually and walked past me, sitting down behind me. I fidgeted anxiously, feeling the heat of his gaze on the back of my head. I just sat there, unsure as to whether I should greet him or just ignore him. It felt like the easier option was to keep my eyes fixed in front of me. It also didn't help that Stacy and Kennedy kept looking back at him during the lesson. I was about to walk out with my friends as the bell sounded when I felt a hand wrap around my wrist. I paused, gulping at the feel of familiar fingers on my skin, and turned to see Jared holding my wrist.

"Hi," he said, looking intently at me and smiling. His smile made my knees go weak.

Stupid girl, I thought aggressively in my head. Don't let him affect you so much!

But it was like one smile from him turned my insides to mush.

"Hi," I greeted back, almost nervously, and wet my lips with my tongue.

My friends looked at us and then decided to make themselves scarce. They would be drilling me about this later. All the other students had left the classroom already so that left us completely alone. His smile disappeared and he released my wrist. He'd been putting on a show in front of my friends and the rest of the students.

"Did they believe the story?" he asked calmly as he ran his hand through his hair. His tousled hair fell back into place.

"I think so..." I replied, slightly unconvinced. I held my backpack strap a little tighter.

"Good," he replied, and without another word he turned and walked out of the classroom, leaving me standing there on my own.

I felt dejected.

I knew that the whole hookup thing was a cover-up for the truth. He knew it and I knew it, but I couldn't help the feelings that surfaced whenever he was around me. A glance from him set the butterflies in my stomach fluttering and that damn smile made my knees go weak every single time. Yes, he'd proven on Saturday that we had chemistry, but I had to find a way to ignore those feelings because I could never act upon them. I took a deep breath and psyched myself up.

You can do this, I kept chanting in my head as I walked to my next class.

At lunchtime I walked into the cafeteria. I glanced toward Jared's table and saw Felicity sitting with Neve. Neve's attention was on Felicity as she was talking, but Felicity had her gaze fixed firmly on me. I could tell by the anger on her face that she'd found out about Saturday. I turned from her glare and walked toward my usual table.

I saw Andrew with his back to me sitting at the table with Stacy and Kennedy sitting opposite him, leaving the only space for me being right beside him. My friends looked up when I got to the table.

"Hey, there," I greeted them, putting my things down on the table.

I could tell from their excited expressions that they were dying to find out what Jared had said after they had left, but they couldn't ask with Andrew sitting at the table. That led me to my next question. Why was Andrew sitting at our table instead of at his own?

"Hi," they all greeted back. I sat down next to Andrew and he smiled...I liked his smile.

"Did you have a good time on Saturday?" he asked. I got an apple out of my bag and started to nibble on it.

"Yeah, it was good," I replied. I was unsure if he was genuinely asking about the party, or if he was asking about what had happened when I left the party.

"Where did you and Jared disappear to?" he continued to question me as he fidgeted with his soda while keeping his eyes intently on me. I wasn't sure why he was asking. Kennedy gave Stacy a look and they mumbled something about having forgotten something somewhere and they both got up and left. I couldn't blame them, because this conversation was certainly getting awkward.

"We went back to his house." I looked straight into his eyes and lied like I was supposed to.

Tension filled his features as his jaw hardened and his gaze dropped to my hands. It was then that it dawned on me: he liked me. I was in unknown territory and didn't really know how to handle this, so I nervously nibbled my apple as I waited for him to say something.

How had my life gotten so complicated? It felt like, just as I managed to sort out one problem, two problems appeared in their place. I couldn't tell Andrew the truth, that nothing had happened between Jared and me. No matter what, I had to protect Jared's secret, and that meant I had to sit next to Andrew and lie to him even though it was hurting his feelings. I felt horrible. I was going straight to hell for this.

"So... are you guys dating now?" He struggled to ask the question. His eyes moved to the can of soda in front of him. He was so different from his usual teasing self.

I shook my head silently. "No, we aren't dating. Things are...complicated."

"So what exactly is going on between you two?" he prodded. His eyes settled back on my hands, which were still fidgeting with my apple. It was like he couldn't look at me while he asked these sensitive questions because the answers could hurt him.

"Nothing, really. We made out and haven't made any plans to meet up again. It was a one-time thing." I shrugged, hoping it would help. His eyes lifted to mine. I guess it had.

"You wanna go out sometime?" he asked, "so I can show you around town and maybe get a movie or something?"

I liked Andrew because he made me feel safe and comfortable. I was at ease with him. Being around Jared was different because he pulled fierce emotions from me that made me nervous, even though I knew that nothing would ever happen between the two of us. It would be easy to agree to go out with Andrew and see what happened, but deep down I knew that I didn't feel anything more than friendship for him.

"I don't want to give you the wrong idea," I said. "I like being around you and would love to go out sometime. But it would have to be as friends."