He'd better sit with Amy

Hesitation would be as bad as anything so Matt made a quick decision. Sitting with Amy had to be right for {if wendydate=true}four{else}three{endif} reasons. First, she was already thinking about backing out of the hundred dollar deal. Second, Karen would kill him if she backed out without him even giving it a try. {if amydate=true}Third, Amy was there and Wendy wasn't... and might not even be riding the bus today which would make him look like a complete idiot for ignoring Amy.{endif} And {if amydate=true}fourth{else}third{endif} he was starting to see that this was not just about getting his dick wet. Amy, Karen, and the other girls were people with feelings. He hadn't consciously been treating them as pussies with brains attached but he hadn't exactly not been, either, if that made sense. Amy needed some comforting and he was going to give it even if it ended up costing him.

He sat with Amy.

She gave him a chin-trembling smile.

"So, Amy, I don't even know what you're taking for second session in summer school. You're not in Biology with Karen are you?"

"No, I'm taking speech and c-communication. My m-mother says that it'll be good for me and help me develop more c-confidence."

He almost asked how that was working for her but realized it could come off as snarky and mean. "That sounds cool."

"Yeah, like you need it."

He leaned in close to her. "I'm going to tell you a secret, Amy. Before I started here at Peninsula, I would hurry home from school and either read a book or play videogames. Karen is the outgoing one in our family. I was the shy nerd. But when I started here, I decided I'd change... and it's been hard. Every day I have to psych myself up. Every time I meet a new girl, I have to grit my teeth and make myself smile and wrack my brains for something to talk about and then I worry that I've said something completely stupid and that she'll tell everyone what a dork I am."

Amy's eyes had gotten bigger and bigger as he'd gone on. When he finished, she grabbed his arm. "Really?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Thank you for telling me. It makes me feel better."

It was hard for him to imagine a rich kid who was set to have plastic surgery and boob enhancement and worried whether she'd ruin her trip to France could be worried about the same things he was worried about. Still, apparently she was.

The bus wheezed to a stop and Wendy got on, her smile fading when she saw him sitting with Amy.

Crap. How was he going to handle this?