He follows Elizabeth to see what's upsetting her

Amy rolled her eyes, but I chased after Elizabeth—

“Elizabeth! Hey, Elizabeth!”

She disappeared into the girls’ bathroom. I hesitated to follow, but then my brain reminded me: It’s not like there’s an electrified wire fence keeping you out, jackass. Just a picture of a stick figure in a dress.

So I went in.

Elizabeth looked up at me in surprise as I approached. Thankfully, we had the place to ourselves for the moment. I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder—

“Sweetie, what is going on?”

“Nothing, I’m just being dumb.”

I pulled Elizabeth to me in a bear hug and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“You’re not being dumb, something’s upsetting you. Is it me and Amy?”

“No! I mean, not really. It’s everybody. Every time I see Stephanie now, she’s with Simon, and they’re all cutesy at each other. And then I see you and Amy together, and Talia and Rachel—“

“Elizabeth, Amy and I aren’t exactly—Wait, Talia and Rachel?”

Elizabeth raised a confused eyebrow for a moment, then suddenly remembered, “Oh, that’s right, you weren’t there at the party last night! Talia made out with Rachel and they’re together now. I saw them holding hands during passing period this morning, it was adorable.”

She muttered the word “adorable” with just a hint of venom in her voice.

I choked on a laugh, in spite of myself. Elizabeth gave me a look, but I quickly assured her, “No, it’s not you, it’s just funny how things turn out sometimes. At the start of this year I sort of had a crush on Rachel.”

That made Elizabeth laugh, too. “Seriously? Ian, she’s like the most cliché, obvious lesbian ever.”

I just shrugged, “People see things the way we want them to be.”

“I don’t. I always see the worst possible outcome to any situation.”

“And yet somehow you’re the warmest, sweetest, kindest person I’ve ever met.”

Her lovely green eyes met mine for an unexpectedly long moment, but she finally shrugged me off, saying, “I just feel left out, seeing all these couples everywhere.”