Girl Get Rid Of That Jerk by Melissa Johns

Allison hesitated, caught off guard by his question.

She mumbled a soft, "Yeah."

"He knows you like blue, too," Joshua said, the hint of a smile tugging at his lips—though his tone was sharp enough to cut. "That's nice."

Allison pressed her lips together and glanced at the bouquet of blue flowers sitting on the passenger seat. Joshua's taste had always been impeccable. He never picked flowers at random—this bouquet was exactly her vibe.

Joshua noticed her staring at the flowers and spoke in a flat, unreadable voice. "I was going to give them to you, but since you already have flowers, I guess these are just extra."

Allison didn't know what to say. She hesitated, then offered awkwardly, "Well... I should get going?"

She turned, ready to leave.

"Wait!" Joshua called out, his voice suddenly urgent. "It's not like two bouquets are too much to carry. Why don't you just take these, too? They're just taking up space in the car."

With her back to him, Allison couldn't help the small smile that played at her lips.

She turned around and met his eyes. "Taking up space, huh?"

nodded, his voice low. "If you

quiet laugh. "No way. They're too pretty to throw out. I'll

the car, and

both bouquets to her

darken just a bit when he heard her say

didn't comment. At this point, with where things stood

her car, balancing the

"Allie, where'd the second bouquet come from? Who gave them to

could see Joshua's car, so they'd missed the whole

front, glanced back

her

tell Allison didn't want to talk about it, so she let

told

to the Owens' house, Lizzy was on the couch in the living room, glued to

Lizzy lit up with a huge smile. She jumped off the couch, Mary Janes tapping on the floor, and raced over to throw her arms around Allison, shouting,

laughed and gently patted Lizzy's head. "Did you miss

in her sweet, clear