Sam

The next day was the Lady Eddi’s biggest soccer match of the year. And it seemed like the whole school showed up to cheer them on. It was probably because everyone was excited about the long weekend, but Sam pretended it was because of her team’s undefeated record.

Devon sat in his usual spot—front row on the bleachers—with Eggsy. Sam loved when Devon brought Eggsy to her matches. The massive dog always growled at the girls that tried to talk to Devon. Sam ran over to say hello to them both before the game started. After chatting for a quick moment, Coach blew the whistle calling her in.

“Knock ‘em dead, kitten,” Devon cheered as Sam jogged away.

She blew him a kiss over her shoulder. “Thanks, baby cakes.”

They talked like that a lot, and pretty much the whole school thought they were dating. But Sam didn’t care anymore. Things were going well. People could think what they wanted. She had Devon and Eggsy and soccer. Nothing could bring her down.

Sam joined her team on the pitch and got ready to do their token huddle before they kicked ass and took names.

Devon

Devon cheered like a wild man when Sam scored her third goal off a free kick.

“Hat trick!” he hollered while Eggsy barked.

Sophie and Tess had showed up after the game started and stood next to the section where Devon was sitting. They looked pissed that they had to stand, but there were no seats left. Devon’s manners got the best of him and he offered the girls his seat. He was on his feet cheering most of the time anyway. Plus, it would be half time soon and he wanted to run over and high-five Sam for that awesome goal. She was an absolutely brilliant player. And if he weren’t already in love with her, he surely would be after watching her play.

By the time Devon let Eggsy do his business and made it to the other sideline where the players were, there was only five minutes of halftime left. He went to find Sam, but someone had beat him to it—Zander. He was chatting with Sam with his arm draped around her sweaty shoulders. Devon growled. Those are my sweaty shoulders! Sam was laughing. How could she not see Zander for what he was? A womanizing sycophant!

Devon wanted to scream. But then Sam saw him and shirked Zander’s arm off her shoulders so she could run to Devon. She practically leapt into his arms.

“Did you see my free kick?” she squealed.

“And that header! You’re on fire out there!”

“We’re killing them!” She turned to Eggsy scratching him behind the ears. “Thanks for cheering, boy. I can hear ya out there.”

“Is he distracting?” Devon asked.

“No, I love having my boys here.” Her coach blew his whistle. “Gotta go,” Sam said, giving Devon and Eggsy each a quick hug.

My boys . . . the words made Devon’s heart swell. His jealousy had almost subsided, as Sam jogged back to join her team. Almost—until he saw Zander glaring at him threateningly. He was up to something.

Devon returned to his spot by the bleachers trying to shake the foreboding feeling he got from Zander. Luckily Zander remained on the other side of the field with the boys’ team so Devon could keep an eye on him. Only the girls’ team and coaching staff were technically supposed to be on the sidelines during games, but Coach never reprimanded his players. That was half the problem. All the blokes on the team thought they were untouchable—Zander most of all.

Devon leaned up against the bleacher railing as the game got back under way. He noticed Sophie and Tess arguing. They were too engrossed to notice he’d returned.

“I can’t believe you’re not going to do anything about Zander,” Tess was saying. “He’s been blatantly flirting with that Samantha girl for weeks! Are you guys over or something?”

“We are definitely not over!” Sophie huffed.

“Then, I don’t get it. Why don’t you do something?” Tess continued.

“I am, Tess. It’s all part of the plan. Just wait and see.”

Devon gritted his teeth. He’d heard enough. He was going to keep his mouth shut about Zander until after their camping trip so he didn’t ruin the weekend he planned, but this couldn’t wait. If Sophie was involved in whatever Zander was up to, it wasn’t good. Zander was a prick, but Sophie’s wrath knew no boundaries—a dangerous combination.

* * *

Devon waited for Sam after the game. He had the Defender packed with all their gear so they could leave from Eddington to make camp before dark. Sam came bounding over to the car, freshly showered and grinning from ear-to-ear.

She greeted Devon and Eggsy as she climbed in. “There’s my favorite fan club!”

Sam seemed on cloud-nine, so Devon had to broach the subject delicately. He waited until they’d driven off campus to say anything. “So, I saw you talking to Zander at halftime . . .”

“Oh, Devon, can we not? We’re on our way to have an amazing weekend. I don’t want to argue with you about this again. Zander isn’t some maniacal villain. He’s just a flirt.”

“You’re not . . . into him . . . are you?” Devon asked awkwardly.

“God, no!”

“Good. Grand!” Devon’s chest flooded with relief. It was the first time he’d come right out and asked her. “I mean it’s not like I’m telling you who to date or anything. It’s just . . . I don’t trust him.”

“I know, Devon. You’ve made that perfectly clear. And I’m not an idiot. Zander’s pretty transparent.”

“He is?”

“Yeah. He’s just flirting with me because he knows it bothers you.”

“You think?”

“It’s obvious.”

“Oh. Well, that’s good.”

“Hey!” Sam yelled smacking Devon’s arm.

“What?”

“It’s not good. You’re not supposed to want guys fake flirting with me to make you jealous.”

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just good that you can see through his bollocks, because I overheard something unsettling at the game today.”

“What?”

“Sophie and Tess were talking. They saw Zander flirting with you and Sophie said it was all part of some plan.”

Devon glanced over at Sam in the passenger seat. She was frowning.

“I’m telling you the truth,” he argued.

“I know.”

“Then why do you look mad?”

“After the game, Trista, one of the girls on my team, got in a big fight in the locker room with Molly. Trista accused Molly of putting hair remover in her shampoo.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I guess big clumps of her hair came out in the shower. And I didn’t think anything of it until you said you heard Sophie plotting.

“What are you thinking?” Devon asked.

“Trista and I share a locker.” Sam shook her head and then looked at Devon. “Sophie and Molly are pretty tight. Do you think Sophie would put Molly up to spiking my shampoo?”

Devon ground his teeth. “There’s not much I would put past Sophie.”

Sam looked rattled. “That means it should’ve been me with bald spots, not poor Trista.”

“Perhaps your flirting with Zander isn’t so harmless.”

Sam’s face fell. “Can we please press pause on this argument. I really don’t want to spend our weekend arguing about Sophie and Zander. I want to go camping!”

Devon couldn’t help grinning despite his concerns. “I never thought I’d hear you say those words.”

“I might just surprise you yet,” she said raising her chin.

Sam was in such a good mood before he’d brought up Zander and Sophie that Devon hated to waste it. Besides, it’s not like they could do anything to them while they were camping. “Alright, Boston. You’re right. Let’s go celebrate your victory in the woods!”

Sam giggled. “I like when you call me Boston.”

“I like when you call me baby cakes.”

Sophie

“Are you kidding me, Molly? How could you screw this up?”

Sophie was fuming. She was sitting in her BMW with a tearful Molly and a cranky Tess. Her plan to Nair-poo Samantha had royally backfired.

“I didn’t realize she was sharing a locker with, Trista! And now Trista wants to kill me.”

“That’s not my problem,” Sophie snapped. “Someone come up with a plan to fix this! Now! I will not have that skank going to the Grad Ball with Devon!”

“Don’t you mean Zander?” Tess asked.

Sophie glared at her useless friends. She couldn’t believe her plan had failed. Samantha was supposed to be bald right now! Sophie could picture it. Samantha would look so hideous without hair that she would never show herself at the dance. Better yet, maybe she’d drop out of Eddington. But no! Molly had fucked it up. Now, Trista, who could actually pull-off a bald head because she was butch as hell, was going to kill Sophie if she ever found out she’d been behind the Nair-poo. Trista was definitely going to kill Molly.

“I have an idea,” Tess said pulling a vial from her purse and handing it to Sophie.

Sophie read the label and frowned. “I thought I told you to get rid of this last summer?”

“You did, but I don’t always do what you say,” Tess challenged.

Sophie smirked. Maybe one of her friends was useful after all. “Does anyone know you have this?”

“No,” Tess replied.

“Good. Let’s keep it that way.”