Keep From Falling (Markson Grove Series Book 1) by Amy Vanessa Miller

what?” He awkwardly tries to find a casual place to lay his arm.
    “Skylar is my girlfriend.” I rephrase the sentence. This time I say it louder and with more confidence because I need him to understand that Skylar isn’t a fling. She’s important to me.
    He says nothing for what seems like an eternity, and I wonder what it is he’s thinking. Is he going over everything I’ve ever told him in his head trying to see if there was any indication of something like this happening? Does he regret kissing me? Does he regret meeting me? How could he not have known after what happened at school today anyway? It’s all over Facebook .
    “Say something,” I finally say in order to break the silence.
    “Ok,” he indulges me. “When you say girlfriend… what kind of… I mean, are you… gay?”
    I don’t like this question.
    “Well,” I begin, “Skylar and I are… involved. We…we love each other.” No labels. I hate labels.
    He scratches the top of his eyebrow and looks at me thoughtfully, as if he’s trying to think over what he wants to say before saying it. “You shouldn’t have said yes,” he says finally, and I know he’s right. I don’t know what came over me.
    “I’m so sorry,” I reply. And it’s not a lie. I feel horrible about doing this to him. “It’s just, I’ve never kissed a guy before,” I start to explain, but he quickly cuts me off.
    “Oh my God, Bree. This is seriously, totally wrong.”
    I lower my head in shame. I can’t believe everything that’s happened all in this one day. My life is being turned upside-down and I don’t know how to fix it or if I even can.
    “I’m sorry,” I say again quietly.
    “This explains Skylar’s weird behavior this morning,” he says. “No wonder she was so pissed. I was hitting on her girlfriend right in front of her. Damn it Bree, I feel like such an ass!”
    “You didn’t know. It’s not your fault. It’s my fault for not telling you.”
    He shakes his head in either anger or disappointment. “I have to go,” he says.
    “Ok.”
    He walks to the store entrance and unlocks the door. As he begins to walk out I call to him. “Evan?”
    He turns and looks at me. His face is sad and it makes me feel terrible. “Yeah?” he answers quietly.
    I want to tell him to stay off of Facebook so he doesn’t have to see the pictures of Skylar and me. I want him to know that I said yes because I’m attracted to him. I want to tell him that if I had met him first, everything might have been different. But none of those things will make him feel better, so instead I say, “I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”
    He nods sadly and walks out the door.
     

     
    When I arrive home from work an hour later, Skylar is in the living room watching a rerun episode of the television show FRIENDS . She’s curled up under my big comforter with her bare feet sticking out of the bottom. I close the door softly and tip toe over to her.
    “Where are Mom and Dad?” I ask quietly.
    She smiles. “They went to bed about an hour ago.”
    I crawl under the big comforter and cuddle up next to her. She wraps her arms around me in a warm hug.
    “So, what’s the damage for our public display of affection?” I ask quietly.
    “Actually not as bad as I thought it would be. Hardly anyone posted about it, and there were maybe six different pictures uploaded but in every one of them you couldn’t see our faces. I just untagged both of us. No one will know the difference,” she says with a confident grin.
    I let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”
    “Maybe it’s a good thing, though,” she says. “Maybe it’s time for us to let everyone else know that we’re taken.”
    I begin to chew on the nail of my index finger nervously. Something about that comment rubs me the wrong way. “You think people need to know that I belong to you?” I accuse. Why now? Never before has she crossed into this territory of conversation willingly. This is about today at