Page 27 of How To Tackle A Crush
And I mean it.
Yesterday had been manageable because it had an end. A clear task. A defined role. Sit. Listen. Leave.
That is the part I like.
AJ is still watching me like I might suddenly reveal a secret competitive streak.
“You didn’t even enjoy it a tiny bit?” he asks.
I consider lying.
“I did not hate it,” I admit.
“That’s basically enthusiasm coming from you.”
“That is not enthusiasm.”
“That’s how it starts,” Chloe says.
“It is how it ends,” I reply. “I attended. I survived. I am done.”
AJ laughs. “Famous last words.”
Before I can respond, Ben from sport appears beside us, moving with the careful caution of someone who still doesn’t fully trust his own internal systems.
“You’re the one who covered Westland, yeah?” he asks me.
I nod.
“Marie-Louise said you took notes,” he says. “I need them so I can actually write the piece.”
I hand him the notebook.
He opens it straight away, scanning quickly at first. Then slower.
His brow furrows slightly.
He turns another page.
“Right,” he says after a moment. “Quick question.”
I brace slightly. “Yes?”
“Did they talk about football?”
I blink. “Yes.”
He turns the notebook slightly toward me.
“Because you didn’t write any of it down.”
I look at the page properly for the first time since yesterday.
“I…” I stop, recalibrating. “I suppose I wrote what I was concentrating on.”
AJ makes a small noise that sounds suspiciously like a suppressed laugh.
Ben flips another page.
