Fallen Crest High

"Oh. Well." Her shoulders lifted and dropped in a dramatic way. "You got your chance now."

Except I didn't and I didn't want it. Then I remembered last night when Mason touched me, how his fingers lingered on my thigh. I shivered as the same desire swept through me again.

Not good. None of this was good.

"Are you two coming or what?" Adam called us over.

"Yeah!" Becky shouted back and dragged me after with a forced excited look in her eyes. She tried to sit in the back, but I made her sit in the front.

As we went to the theatre I slumped in the back of the car and was quiet on the drive over. Both tried to pull me into the conversation, but admitted defeat when we got closer to the mall. I listened to them talking when we got our tickets and took our seats.

Their conversation wasn't forced. There was no taunting, strained silences, or fakeness. They sounded like two friends who'd known each other all their lives and then I realized that they had known each other all their lives. They were neighbors. Their parents were friends.

I made the decision then that I'd try to be the friend for Becky that she seemed to be for everyone else.

I sighed. If only I knew how.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"We get out of practice early tonight. Your da—David's got something, I guess." Adam dropped a shoulder against the locker beside mine when I arrived the next morning to school. He folded his arms and his backpack's straps cut into the muscles on his arms and chest.

That annoyed me for some reason and I opened my locker to stuff the bag lunch Mousteff had shoved at me that morning. He had muttered, like he always did, but this time I was certain I'd heard a few curse words. And I was certain they were directed at me, well, me or my mother. Then I relaxed as I considered that. He was probably pissed about my mom again. That made more sense.

Adam had been watching me with an odd look. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I bit out. I forced myself to relax. Sometimes being mean right off the bat wasn't good. And Adam had started to be one of the two people still there for me after my debacle with Jeff/Lydia/Jessica.

And speaking of, as I turned to Adam, I saw my two ex best friends at Jill Flatten's locker across the hall. All three of them were watching me with frowns on their faces. When they saw me, Jill giggled and leaned closer to the two. She whispered something and both of them started laughing.

Jeff stopped beside them, saw me, saw the exchange, and kept going.

Adam chuckled. "I think he's finally learning."

I rolled my eyes and started towards my first class. When Adam walked with me, I asked, "So what about you getting out of practice early?"

"I was thinking we could try that dinner again."

I saw Becky at her locker ahead. She dropped her bag. Books and papers fell out of it and she knelt beside and lurched to grab everything before people kicked her things away. A few laughed and did what she tried to prevent, but one other girl helped her gather her stuff.

I sighed. "I can't."

"Why not?" Then he saw where I'd been watching. He stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. "Becky and I are never going to date. We had a heart to heart last night after the movies."

"You did?"

"Yeah." He nodded. His eyes skirted over my face, scanning me constantly as if he were looking for something. "She's really okay with you and me…" He hesitated. "Getting to know one another?"

I smirked. "And do I get a say in this?"

"Well, yeah, of course." But his cheeks got red, just a bit, and he scratched the back of his head. "So do you want to have dinner tonight? I was thinking you could even eat the food this time."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure." I waited a beat. "Can I bring Becky?"

He froze and I moved ahead, laughing. Then he called after me, "You're not funny."

I shook my head and kept laughing. I was funny enough.

I had Lydia in my first two periods and she kept giving me weird looks. Jessica was in my third and fourth period. She refused to look at me. Then at lunch, when Becky dropped across from me and Adam went to sit with his football team, Jill joined their table along with Lydia and Jessica.

Becky looked over her shoulder and her eyes got wide. "I can't believe them."

"What?" I was cautious as I opened my bag lunch. Then I relaxed. Inside were an orange, a bag of chips, and a peanut butter sandwich. I gave her my chips, tossed the sandwich in the trash, and started to peel the orange.

"Jill Flatten. She's all over Jeff at the table. And I can't believe she's friends with your friends."

"They're not my friends."

"They were," she retorted and sent them a glare. Lydia had looked, but ducked her head down. "It's like Jill Flatten wants your life."

I sat back and fought off a yawn.

"Aren't you bothered at all by her?"

I shrugged. "Truthfully, no. It's sorta the last thing on my mind these days."

She gave me an incredulous look. "What else is going on in your life?"

If only she knew… I lifted an careless shoulder. "Jill Flatten does not bother me." Mason and Logan on the other hand… My mother… I shuddered. My whole life had fallen apart. Finding one good friend like Becky erased all the other friend drama.

"She bothers me." She peeked over her shoulder at them.

I looked this time too and saw all three of them had been staring at us. Lydia squeaked and looked at her food. Jessica's head whipped away and Jill only narrowed her eyes, but she held my gaze.

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