I scoffed and shook my head. “He was just being friendly.”
“If he was just being friendly, then why is he still looking at you?” Tessa asked.
I glanced over my shoulder and flushed when I saw Luke watching me from across the room. He was sitting at a table with my brother and my nemesis, of all people. But he wasn’t the only one watching me. Chase was also looking in my direction, and for a moment, I couldn’t see any of the usual contempt he held toward me flaring in his eyes. As soon as I caught him watching though, he looked away.
“Luke’s sitting at my brother’s table?” I asked, turning back to my friends.
“Yeah, because Jenna’s already got her eye on him.” Mia snorted. “She swooped in and escorted him over there the moment you turned your back on him.”
“But that doesn’t mean he wants to date her,” Tessa said. “I think you guys would make the cutest couple.”
“Definitely,” Mia agreed. “You should go steal him before Jenna gets a chance.”
I shook my head. Tessa just wanted me to start dating, no matter who the guy was. Meanwhile, Mia’s motives probably stemmed from her enjoyment of disrupting the status quo.
“You guys are crazy. We’ve only spoken, like, three words to each other, there’s no way he’s interested in me like that. And even if he was, there’s no way we could date—not with my dad. I’m not allowed to date until college, remember?”
“Which is so unfair,” Mia said.
I shrugged. “Dad’s convinced I’ll be too distracted if I get a boyfriend and won’t get into college. It’s a miracle he lets me hang out with you guys on weekends and doesn’t have me chained to my desk so I can study.”
“It’s not like you have to tell him you’re dating,” Tessa said. “He’s never around, and we’d totally cover for you.” Cora had given me pretty much the same advice. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that my bestie and an eighty-year-old were both encouraging me to sneak behind my dad’s back. It was probably a sign that I was far too much of a stickler for his rules.
“Even if I wanted to try and secretly date, which I don’t, my dad’s got a sixth sense for these things,” I replied. “He always manages to find out. Last year, I went to the movies with Ben all the way in Charleston, and Dad somehow found out. I was grounded for a month, and I still can’t look Ben in the eye after Dad ‘had words’ with him. Can you imagine what he’d do if I ever got a boyfriend?”
Tessa let out a sigh. “You’re right, we’d never see you again, and he’d probably kill the poor guy.”
“Probably,” I agreed. I glanced over my shoulder in Luke’s direction once more. He was turned toward my brother, chatting happily among the popular crowd. It was only his first day at Fairview, and already, he’d accomplished something that I would never achieve—he fit in.
I had my three amazing friends, but I always felt awkward talking with the rest of the kids in our class. I would never be popular like my brother, but I’d accepted that a long time ago.
As I watched the boys, I noticed that Chase didn’t look his usual composed self. In fact, he almost seemed bothered by all the attention the new guy was getting. I smiled. All the girls at their table were completely focused on Luke. They were all leaning toward him and hanging off his every word. They had a new target to pursue, and Chase must have hated they weren’t all watching him. He was no longer the hottest commodity in school, and the idea that he wouldn’t have girls throwing themselves at him with the same vigor as he was used to gave me untold pleasure.
I was smiling broadly as I turned back to my friends. “Looks like Chase is old news,” I said. “His Chasers only have eyes for Luke.”
“Yeah, even Jenna isn’t fawning all over him for once,” Tessa agreed. “Do you think the Chasers will finally give up on him?”
“What do you mean?” Mia asked.
“Well, he’s been rejecting these girls for years, and even Jenna couldn’t keep his interest. Maybe they’ll finally get the hint.”
We all glanced over at their table once more, but as soon as we looked, one of the girls started running a finger down Chase’s arm, and we all burst out laughing.
“I guess it was optimistic,” Tessa said.
“Very,” I agreed.
“Why do you think he never dates any of these girls though?” Mia asked. Her gaze was still focused on Chase, who was brushing the girl off his arm.
“Maybe he’s into college girls,” Tessa suggested.
“Or maybe he finds the girls at our school are too easy,” Miles added, his eyes still glued to his textbook.
I let out a sigh, disappointed that I was actually about to willingly contribute to a conversation about Chase. “I overheard him tell my brother once that all the girls at our school were too vapid.”
“Maybe the ones he hangs out with.” Mia grunted. I couldn’t agree with her more. There were plenty of amazing girls at our school, and I was already sitting with two of them. I just couldn’t imagine that any girl with half a brain would be interested in Chase.
“That’s it!” Tessa suddenly said, slamming her hand down on the table. Her voice was loud enough that we all jumped in our seats and people on the tables closest too us all glanced in our direction.
“What’s it?” Miles asked, looking up from his textbook.
Tessa shook her head though. “I can’t tell you guys here because I don’t want anyone to overhear, but I’ve had an idea that’s going to solve Ally’s problem.”
“What problem? What idea?” I asked.
“The little problem of your unwanted house guest,” she replied, with a knowing glance in Chase’s direction.
“Chase?” I whispered.
“Yep.”
My heart leaped at the certainty in her voice, but I tried to rein in my excitement. I didn’t want to put too much hope in her solution only to be let down. “How?”
Tessa simply shook her head. “I’ll tell you tonight. We’re having an emergency meeting at my house after school, and I expect you all to be there.”
“Can you at least give me a hint?” I asked.
“No,” Tessa replied. “But trust me, it’s brilliant.”
4
Ally
I didn’t get a chance to talk with Tessa before the end of school. She wasn’t in any of my classes, and the last lessons of the day dragged as I tried not to speculate about what her solution to my problem might be. My unwanted houseguest was a serious issue, but I had no idea how she hoped to solve it. Short of convincing Chase’s parents to give up their business expansion and move back to Fairview, I honestly saw no way out.
When the bell finally sounded, signaling the end of the day, I launched from my desk and hurriedly made my way to Tessa’s locker. It was right next to mine and had been since we started high school.
“Are you going to tell me yet?” I asked, when I found her leaning against the lockers waiting for me.
She smirked at my impatience. “All in good time, padawan.”
I lifted an eyebrow at her. “I thought you slept through most of our Star Wars marathon.”
Tessa laughed. “Your Star Wars marathon. You know I’m not really into that sci-fi stuff. I think we both know I was only there for the eye candy.”
I scrunched up my nose. “Please tell me you’re not talking about my brother.”
Her cheeks paled at my comment, and she stammered out her reply. “More like Harrison Ford. Obviously.”
“Yeah, obviously.” She was totally talking about my brother. Unfortunately for Tessa, my dad was just as strict with Shane as he was with me. He wasn’t allowed to date before college because he was on track for a big football scholarship, and dad said he couldn’t afford to take his eye off the game. I don’t think Shane really cared about Dad’s rule though. My brother was completely oblivious to anything that didn’t involve football, and that included girls.
Tessa hiked her bag up on her shoulder and glanced down th
e corridor, unable to meet my eyes. “So, where are Mia and Miles?” she asked, all too keen to change the conversation now that Shane had been brought up.
“I think Mia said they’ll meet us at your car.”
“Perfect,” she replied, linking arms with me before she started to lead me down the corridor toward the school entrance. “Did you drive here today?”
I shook my head. “Shane has practice so I figured I’d catch a ride with you after school.” I shared a car with my brother, but since he was the golden child, he pretty much had free rein over it.
“Oh, did you now?” Tessa replied.
“Well, I just assumed you’d want to be a good friend and wouldn’t subject me to walking home.” Our house was only a thirty-minute walk from school, but it was an unpleasant walk that mostly traipsed along the highway with zero shade from the sun or shelter from the rain.
“You could have asked your new roomie,” Tessa suggested, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Yeah, I can imagine that would go down real well.”
Tessa shrugged. “It’s not the worst suggestion though. Chase has a really nice car, and you both live in the same place now.”
“Yeah, but the nice car is just compensating for a bad personality, and I thought you were about to fix the whole living situation.”
“We’ll see,” she said with a knowing smile.
When Tessa’s car came into view, we could see Mia sitting on the hood. Miles was leaning against the side door with his eyes downcast on a textbook he was reading. Neither of them was talking, and Mia looked bored as she tapped her fingers against the hood of the car. Her eyes lit with relief when she saw us coming toward her.
“Finally,” she said, as she popped off the hood. “You guys took forever.”
“The bell only rang five minutes ago,” I protested.
“Like I said, forever,” Mia replied. “Miles is being thoroughly boring.”
“Miles can hear you,” he said, his eyes still glued to his textbook. He took a few moments to quickly skim over the rest of the page he was on before he closed the book and looked up at us. “And now I’m all yours.”
Mia shook her head at him. “You’re such a nerd.”
He grinned widely in response. “Thanks.”
“Of course, you took that as a compliment,” she laughed.
“How is that not a compliment? A nerd is someone smart and dedicated to school.” The confusion in Miles’ eyes was kind of endearing.
“I think she means you’re too dedicated to school,” Tessa said before unlocking the car so we could all pile in.
“I still don’t see the problem with that,” Miles grumbled as he climbed into the back seat with Mia.
As soon as the engine was on, Tessa’s music came blasting through the speakers. I wasn’t even sure if there was a volume switch, as Tessa only ever drove with music pumping from the speakers at full blast.
As we pulled out of the school parking lot, I caught sight of Chase heading toward his car. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t alone. Jenna was at his side, struggling to keep her hands off him. She was chatting at a million miles per second, but Chase’s gaze was distant, and he didn’t seem to be reciprocating her attention. He was nodding in a disinterested manner as she talked, and I highly doubted he would have been able to repeat anything she’d said.
Chase had always been moody and withdrawn, but he seemed even more detached today, and I wondered what had made him so grumpy. As if sensing my gaze, Chase glanced in my direction. Our eyes met, and the corner of his lip lifted slightly, like he’d gained a point in our little war by catching me watching him.
I frowned and quickly turned away, mentally chastising myself for looking at him at all. I really didn’t need to give the guy any more ammunition than he already had against me.
“You all right, Ally?” Tessa asked, having to raise her voice to be heard over the blaring music.
I must have looked concerned because she kept glancing at me as she drove. I gave her a tight smile and nodded. “I’m fine; just trying to figure out your evil master plan.”
She grinned. “It’s practically diabolical. You’re going to love it.”
* * *
Tessa only lived a couple of blocks from my place, and while our houses might have looked similar, they couldn’t have been more different once you stepped inside. The moment Tessa opened her front door, I could hear the TV chanting the PAW Patrol theme song and her little brother squealing with delight. Her mom was yelling for him to turn it down while a remote-control car barreled down the corridor toward us.
Tessa’s home was total chaos while mine felt like more of a mortuary. It was always so silent in our house, and I rarely missed an opportunity to come to Tessa’s place. Her home actually had life to it that mine was sorely missing.
“Maybe we should have gone to yours, Ally,” Tessa said, hesitating by the front door. She looked like she’d just entered her own personal hell.
“That would somewhat defeat the purpose of our secret meeting,” Mia replied.
“Yeah, I doubt a plan to solve the Chase problem will work if he hears it all,” Miles added as he walked past Tessa and strolled into the house. “Hi, Mrs. Martin,” he called as he strode into the living area.
“He can be such a suck-up,” Tessa grumbled. The three of us were all still hovering by the front door.
“He’s probably just hoping your mom will whip up some of her brownies,” Mia said. “I’d do just about anything for one of those.”
“Me too,” I agreed.
I turned at the sound of a squeal as Tessa’s younger brother appeared in the corridor and spotted us. “Tessy,” he called with delight as he saw his big sister.
He ran toward us and slammed into her, wrapping his arm around her leg. “You’re home!” he announced with glee.
“Way to state the obvious, genius,” Tessa replied. Her words might have been mean, but her voice was gentle. Her expression was soft too until her brother peeled his hands away and she noticed chocolate covering his fingers.
“Dude, please tell me you didn’t just put chocolate all over my clothes…”
“I didn’t, I didn’t,” he cried, as he turned and ran back down the corridor.
“Mom!” Tessa shouted. “Your son just covered me in chocolate!”
Tessa’s mom poked her head out into the corridor. “Your brother has a name, Tessa. And a little chocolate won’t kill you,” she said before disappearing back to the kitchen.
Tessa let out a long sigh. “Come on, let’s go before Sammy decides he wants to attack you guys with chocolate too.”
We followed Tessa to her room and were soon joined by Miles who had commandeered a plate of brownies from the kitchen. We all moved toward him, but Miles lifted the plate out of reach.
“You guys can’t call me a suck-up and then proceed to steal the fruits of my labor,” he said. “I worked very hard to get these brownies.”
They were probably just waiting on the kitchen bench, but I decided not to argue.
“We can and we will,” Tessa said. “Besides, I’ve already paid the price for these brownies. I’m fairly certain Sammy has ruined my new skirt.” She pouted as she looked down at the dark fingerprints that stained the material.
“Plus, we’re your friends. If we don’t call you on your shit, who will?” Mia added.
“Fine,” Miles said, lowering the plate and holding it out to us.
None of us hesitated to take one of the offered brownies. Mrs. Martin could seriously cook, and her brownies were her specialty. It was yet another reason I loved coming to Tessa’s house. Shane and I mostly had to fend for ourselves in the food department, and we often resorted to takeout or frozen meals.
“So, are you going to tell us this grand plan you’ve come up with?” I asked, taking a seat on Tessa’s bed. Her room was a complete contrast to my own. My walls were filled with books while Tessa’s were plastered with posters of shirtless actors and Insta-celebrit
ies I’d never heard of. The room was slathered in so much pink it looked like Barbie had thrown up everywhere, and everything from Tessa’s bed comforter to her lampshades was a different shade of the color. My room, on the other hand, was so bland it looked like something out of an Ikea catalogue.
Tessa smiled and took a seat next to me, while Miles and Mia made themselves at home on the huge beanbag she had in the corner of her room. “I feel like I need a drumroll or something to really emphasize the pure brilliance of my plan,” she said.
Mia rolled her eyes. “Or you can just tell us the plan after making us wait all day…”
Tessa tapped her fingers on her lips. “Or that, I suppose,”
“So…” I prompted.
“So, I was thinking about how your dad won’t let you date,” she started.
“A tragedy, I know, but it doesn’t really help with the whole Chase problem,” I replied.
“Except that it does!” Tessa’s brown eyes were sparkling with anticipation as she looked at me. “Your Dad would put a stop to it if he found you dating a boy, right?”
“Yep,” I agreed. “He’d pretty much kill them.”
“Exactly. So, can you imagine what he’d do if the boy in question lived in your house?”
Tessa was practically bouncing up and down on the bed as she spoke, her excitement getting the better of her. I frowned as I returned her stare, and my whole face scrunched up in repulsion as I started to realize what she was getting at. “You think I should date Chase?” I could barely keep my voice at a normal pitch.
“Yes. Isn’t it perfect?”
“Not even slightly.”
The enthusiasm in Tessa’s eyes was immediately dampened by my reaction. “But if your dad found out you were dating, he’d definitely kick Chase out. That’s what you want. Isn’t it?”
I nodded. “Of course, it is. But there are no guarantees my dad would even give him the boot. Knowing my luck, he’d ground me for the rest of the year and Chase would still be living with us. And I haven’t even begun to factor in the whole ‘having to date Chase’ aspect. We’d kill each other.”
I Hate You More Page 5