“Shush. I am going over to see Mike. But it’s a bonus that Brady will be there.” Becca giggled, and I shook my head in laughter.
When we got to the other side of the cafeteria, Mike greeted us. “Sup, ladies?”
“You tell me. You’re the one who disturbed our lunch.” I was snarky. He pursed his lips together but let my comment slide.
“I wanted my boy to meet B.” Mike nodded his head toward Becca. “Brady, this is Becca. Becca, this is my dawg Brady.”
“Hi.” Becca grinned.
“Nice to meet you,” Brady replied with a charmingly handsome smile. He had the most beautiful teeth I’d ever seen. He glanced at me. “That must make you Jayden?”
“Uh-oh. It’s probably bad if you already know who I am. None of what you heard from him is true. I promise.” I threw my thumb in Mike’s direction, and Brady laughed.
“I like her.” He elbowed Mike in the side.
“Becca does, too. Strange,” Mike mused.
“Whatever, homie…” I’d meant it to sound teasing, but it came out much harsher.
“Don’t get salty with me.”
I gave him an irritated look, then asked Becca, “Are we staying or going? Because I’m hungry.”
“She can stay.” Mike pulled out a chair for Becca. “You can stay, too, if you play nice.” I sighed but pulled out a chair, not sure I could listen to fake Mike around his friends. It was bound to be worse in their company.
A girl named Bianca turned around to insert herself in our conversation. I didn’t know her, but I knew her. Everyone did. Kind of like I’d known Mike. “You meant this Becca?” she asked Mike in surprise.
“What’s it to ya?” Mike got defensive before I could. My hackles had risen when Bianca spoke. It was hard to gage the meaning behind her question. Was this Becca a good thing, or a bad thing?
“Nothing,” Bianca replied just as defensively. “You should have said you were asking Coach Adams’s daughter. Then we wouldn’t have worried you were asking someone weird like you.” I pushed my lips together to keep from laughing, but at the same time, the insult made me aggravated. After our heart-to-heart yesterday, I felt oddly protective of Mike. It was okay if I teased him, but I didn’t want somebody else doing it. “I don’t know why you said yes to this freak of nature, but I’m glad you did. We’ll have a good time on Saturday. Oh, by the way, I’m Bianca, and this tall drink of water is Cam.”
“Hey.” Cameron Bates nodded at Becca. I watched silently as Mike introduced her to everyone at the table, but he didn’t bother introducing me. Finally, he got to Brady’s girlfriend Beth. She smiled warmly at Becca, then poked her head around Brady’s back to speak to me. I knew Beth because she and Angelica were friends. They were on the cheer squad together. We’d talked a handful of times, and she was, without a doubt, the nicest girl on the planet. I wasn’t surprised that she was the only person to include me.
“How are you, Jayden?” Beth’s smile was friendly and sincere.
“I’m doing okay. How about yourself?”
“Oh, you know, same-old same-old.”
I didn’t know, because she was beautiful and talented and popular—all the things I wasn’t. But I felt like pointing that out might offend her. “How’s cheer?” I asked instead. I didn’t really care, but it seemed like the polite thing to do.
“It’s going well, thanks.” Beth lowered her voice and gave me a conspiratorial grin. “How’s Spanish?”
How’d she know about that? More importantly, what did she know? I didn’t think Angelica knew about Mike’s and my arrangement, but if she did, I might as well announce it in the school paper. I must have looked worried, because Beth scooted her chair closer to me and placed her hand on my arm in a gesture of comfort.
“Mike told me you guys were working together. He’s been very complimentary of your progress.”
“Are we talking about the same Mike?”
“Of course.” She laughed, like my question was silly.
“Because I’m pretty sure Mike doesn’t have anything complimentary to say about me.”
“Oh, yes, he does. Just this morning he was telling me that…”
“Bethany.” Mike cut her off with an implied warning. “What are you guys talking about over there?” He knew exactly what she’d been about to say. Which meant he was afraid for me to hear it.
“We were talking about how much you enjoy Jayden’s company,” Beth replied, with unnecessary sweetness and a twinkle in her eye. This must be her equivalent of causing mischief.
“Oh, yeah. I enjoy it about as much as I enjoy a giant cramp during a long run.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet,” I crooned. “I can assure you that the feeling is mutual.”
“You two crack me up.” Beth laughed. “Are you joining us for homecoming, too?” she asked me.
“No,” Mike and I said at the same time, and Beth laughed again.
“Why not? It’ll be fun. I bet Becca would love to have you come along. Do you have a date already? Because if you don’t, I know a few guys who are still without one.”
“Thanks, but I actually have a date, and I think he’s pretty set on us going with his brothers.”
Beth frowned, but even her frown looked like half a smile. “Our loss. I’m sure we’ll see you there, though.”
“I’m sure you will,” I agreed. I’d probably even go out of my way to talk to Beth. She was one socialite you just couldn’t hate.
The bell rang, signaling five minutes until the end of lunch. Mike might not have been overjoyed to have me there, but he made Becca feel like a rock star, so I had to give him credit. She was absolutely glowing from all the attention. And why shouldn’t she? She was the one he asked to homecoming. She was the one worthy of introducing to his friends.
I was irked but reminded myself that Mike and I were only study partners. Sure, we might have managed a small camaraderie over the last few days, but he didn’t owe me anything. It’s not like I’d been super friendly to him anyway. I should have tried harder, but I hated what he became around other people. Mike being sweet to my best friend didn’t change the fact that he was a total fake. I wouldn’t indulge his idiocy just to get in good with the popular crowd.
“I gotta go, Becca. I need to get some stuff from my locker,” I whispered.
“Oh, wait, I’ll come with you.”
That was the last thing I wanted. This impromptu lunch date had put me in a sour mood, and I didn’t want it to ruin her good one. “No, stay and hang out. I’ll meet you in class.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind leaving.”
“Yes, I’m sure.” I smiled.
Becca grinned. “Okay, see you in a few.”
Beth saw that I was leaving and said good-bye, which prompted Brady to say good-bye as well. Nobody else noticed my exit. Not even Mike. Or if he did, he didn’t say anything. Which made me even more annoyed. I stewed on the way to my locker, until I was completely, unbearably angry. But I promised myself that when I entered the classroom, I’d put on a mask of indifference. Because I didn’t care about stupid Mike McGinnes.
I was one of the first people to Spanish, so I buried my nose in my textbook, trying to cram for the quiz. Becca slipped into the desk in front of me, and Mike took the desk behind me again. I hoped this wouldn’t be a regular thing.
“Why’d you leave so abruptly?” he asked softly, leaning over my shoulder.
I didn’t turn around. “Stuff to do.” My answer was short and clipped.
Mr. Thompson called us to silence and started passing out the quizzes. I tried my hardest to stay focused. The material was even stuff Mike and I had covered recently, but I couldn’t concentrate. Finally, I resorted to guessing and hoped that I wouldn’t fail. I was one of the last people to hand in my quiz, and when I returned to my seat, Mike whispered to me again.
“How do you think you did?”
“Crappy.”
“What? We just went over this on Friday. You were totally getting it th
en.” Mike sounded disappointed.
“Guess I’m not as smart as some people,” I snapped. That shut him up, and he didn’t talk to me for the rest of the hour. I should have known his silence wouldn’t last long. I stood when the bell rang, arranged to meet Becca after school, and bolted out the door. I made it to the senior hallway before Mike caught up.
“Jayden, stop,” he ordered, jogging up behind me. But I didn’t, so he reached out and grabbed my wrist, yanking me back.
“Ouch. Let go.” He hadn’t hurt me, but I needed a reason to complain.
“Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” I fibbed.
“You’re full of it. I know you’re lying.”
“It takes a liar to know a liar.” It was childish and totally irrelevant, but it was all I could come up with.
“I haven’t lied to you,” Mike defended himself, looking hurt.
He was right, so I had no argument. “Whatever.”
“Listen, you can drag this out, or you can just tell me what’s bothering you. Either way, I’m going to push until I get an answer.”
“Why do you care?” I snapped.
“Because you’re my friend. Or at least I thought you were, until an hour ago.”
“If I’m such a good friend, then why did you completely ignore me at lunch?” I demanded. Some sick part of me wanted the truth, because I’d gotten offended…and I might have been a tiny bit jealous.
“Is that what this is about?”
“What else would it be about? I thought we’d called a truce after yesterday. But you were a total dishrag to me in front of your friends.”
Mike’s expression turned from sympathetic to frustrated in a flash. “Hang on now, you were rude to me first. If I recall correctly, I waved you and Becca over, and the second you got there, you snapped at me. You’re the one who wanted to be all secretive about our association, because you were embarrassed to be seen with me. I thought you were over it, so I asked you guys to join me. But you marched up all I’m too cool for this moron and his friends. I assumed you still didn’t want me to talk to you in public. I was helping you protect your image.”
“You’re making me sound like a huge B right now.” I tried to sound insulted, but I’m pretty sure I only sounded guilty. I had been rude first.
“That’s because you’re acting like a huge B right now,” Mike replied.
Great, now I felt angry and guilty. The hall was thinning out because the warning bell was about to ring, but there were still plenty of witnesses. And this was the second day in a row that we’d made a scene. We were as bad as all those drama couples who break up and get back together once a week—only with none of the benefits.
Mike was still holding my wrist, but he’d loosened his grip enough for me to break it. I started to walk away, and he reached out to grab me again, this time snagging me through my belt loop. He pulled my back close to his chest, wrapping both his arms high around my shoulders. Then he squeezed tightly so I couldn’t move.
It was an odd hug, if that’s what you want to call it. The embrace was forceful, as if he were about to wrestle me to the ground. But it also felt intimate, like he was planning to kiss me on the neck or nibble on my earlobe. Obviously, he didn’t do either of those things.
“I won’t pretend to understand girls, because you guys are completely nuts and make absolutely no sense. But I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. I wasn’t trying to. I told you yesterday that I’m not ashamed to be seen with you, and I meant it. You might not feel the same way, but know that you’re always welcome to eat lunch with me. And, I’d be happy to introduce you to my friends.” Mike waited for me to respond, but I didn’t, and he sighed. “Please don’t be mad at me. I still want to study today, so hopefully you show up.” Mike dropped his arms, shouldered his bag, and took off.
MIKE
Jayden showed up after school, but I wasn’t sure if I’d been forgiven, she couldn’t pass on the studying, or she just needed a ride home. When we pulled up to my house, she got out of the car, so she must not have been too mad anymore.
“You can leave your bag on the porch if you don’t want to carry it up the street.” I smiled. My plan was to pretend like she wasn’t pissed at me and that everything was normal. Except her being pissed at me was kind of normal. Plan revised—pretend like the argument didn’t happen.
Jayden dropped her backpack on the porch and fell in step next to me. I was quiet, waiting for an indicator of her mood. Finally, she stopped walking and faced me, releasing a huge breath. “I’m sorry I was a brat today at lunch, I just couldn’t help it. Whenever you slip into fake Mike mode, I get annoyed and snippy. I think it’s fun when we bust out the witty insults. But I guess at school, mine come out more like regular insults.”
“It’s true,” I agreed, surprised she was initiating an apology. She owed me one, but I could take the high road and coddle her pride. Humility was obviously difficult for Jayden, and this had to be killing her. “But, I don’t exactly make it easy to be nice, since I instigate a lot of your insults on purpose. I’ll cool it, if you want.”
The bus came around the corner, so Jayden started walking again. “You don’t have to treat me like I’m fragile. I really do like the playful banter. Becca and Summer don’t appreciate it the way I do, so all my snarky, sarcastic thoughts get bottled in. Then I end up unleashing them at the worse possible times.”
“How self-aware of you,” I interrupted, and she flicked me on the arm but kept talking.
“What I’m saying is that I don’t want you to stop being yourself when you’re with me.” Jayden paused, as if considering her words. “I just want you to stop acting like not yourself around everybody else.”
“I thought we covered that yesterday. I told you about my past so you’d take it easy on me, not pester me even more.”
We’d reached the greenbelt, and kids were streaming from the bus. Joy spotted Jayden and ran over, launching herself into Jayden’s arms. “Well, hello to you, too!” Jayden laughed.
“I see how it is. I get a cool friend, and you don’t love me anymore.” I tried unsuccessfully to make Joy feel bad, but at least it worked on Jackson.
“I still love you,” Jackson replied, and gave me a hug.
“I still love you, too.” Joy huffed. “But now that I have a big sister, I have to hug her first. Because she’s my only sister, and sisters need to stick together.”
I couldn’t believe how seriously Joy was taking this sister nonsense. She’d be sorely disappointed when the week ended and Jayden stopped coming over. “You do remember that she’s not actually your sister, right?”
“Duh.” Joy got sassy and rolled her eyes at me, then looked at Jayden. “Men just don’t understand women stuff.”
Jayden sucked in her cheeks and shook with laughter, but managed to keep it contained and quiet. Joy was acting like a brat, but even I had a hard time not laughing at that one. Jayden jumped to my defense. “At least your brother knows he doesn’t understand women. He even told me so earlier today.”
“Boys can be such dummy-heads,” Joy insisted.
“Yes, they can,” Jayden agreed seriously. “Now, I need to ask a favor—one sister to another.” Oh, that was smooth. Jayden was quickly getting the hang of this sibling thing. Or maybe it was a managing six-year-olds thing.
Joy’s eyes widened. “What kind of favor?”
“Can you and Jackson walk home without us? We’ll still be watching you, just from a little ways back. We were having a very important big-kid talk that we need to finish.”
Joy’s lips turned down before sighing. “I wish I could have a very important big-kid talk.”
“Well, I wish I could have a secret-twin talk,” Jayden pointed out.
A tiny smile formed on Joy’s face. “Secret-twin stuff is better than secret big-kid stuff.” She reached for Jackson’s hand. “Come on, Jackson. Let’s do secret-twin stuff. No big kids allowed.”
&
nbsp; Jackson grinned at us as he took her hand. “Yeah, no big kids allowed.” He echoed Joy, and they both giggled. Then they took off with their heads bent close together in a whisper.
“Nicely played,” I said to Jayden.
“If I can’t manipulate a couple of first graders, I’ll never be able to manipulate big dummy-heads like you.” She smirked.
“Is that what you’re trying to do? Manipulate me?”
“Duh,” she answered, imitating Joy, and I laughed. We started walking again at a more casual pace. “Here’s the thing: I think you’re being paranoid. Your friends won’t instantly dislike you if they find out you’re not as dumb as you pretend to be.”
“As dumb?”
“You know what I mean.” Jayden waved me off. “Take Brady, for example. He knows your dirty little secret, and he still likes you.”
“But Brady’s a nice guy. He likes everyone.”
“Okay. What about Beth? Does she know how smart you are? You obviously told her about the tutoring, and she knows you’re the teacher, not the student.”
“Yes, Beth knows I’m smart, because Brady can’t keep his big, fat mouth shut when it comes to her. He’s so whipped he’s thrown the bro code out the window.”
“But Beth knowing isn’t a big deal,” I pointed out, waiting for confirmation. When he didn’t argue, I added, “She seems to like you well enough.”
“That’s because she’s just like Brady. She’s one of the few people who’s always been nice to me. Even before she knew the truth.”
“Stop being difficult. Joy and Jackson know you’re smart, and they adore you.”
“We’re related. They have to adore me.”
“That’s 100 percent not true. I know from experience.” Jayden’s annoyance was flaring up again. “What about Becca? She likes you.”
“She doesn’t know anything about the real me.”
“She totally knows something’s up,” I argued. “And before you get on my case, I didn’t break the bro code. She was trying to convince me that you had secret brains, even before we started working together. I threw a fit about how the biggest box of rocks in school couldn’t possibly teach me anything. But she insisted there was more to you than what we saw on the surface.”
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