Page 88 of Sporty Girls Don't Fall For Loners

“Do you know you and Zoey picked the same Jello flavor?” Rylee says. “Cherry.”

He looks at my dessert. “Cool. But there were only two flavors of Jello. So statistically speaking, there was a fifty-fifty chance I would choose the same one as her.”

“Thanks for using math to clarify,” I say. “We wouldn’t want anyone thinking it meant something more than that.” I give my friends a pointed look.

Kade’s eyes move between all three of us. “I’m not sure what’s going on, exactly, but you guys are funny.” He takes another bite of his pasta. “This is really good, by the way. Edenbury High has delicious food.”

“It wasn’t always like that,” I tell him.

He lifts a brow. “No?”

“Apparently, when our moms went here, the food was awful,” Rylee explains. “Like, disgustingly awful.”

“After Vivian Wood, who was the lunch lady, left,” Mia says. “She prepared the most amazing food in the world. But she quit because kids made fun of her.”

“Really?” Kade asks. “That’s terrible. Why are kids such jerks?”

“But she has a successful catering company now,” I say. “So maybe that was a blessing in disguise.”

Kade nods slowly. “I guess if you look at it positively…”

“And after years of gross lunch, they finally made changes a few years ago,” Rylee says. “You can thank The Knights for this yummy food. They practically own the school.”

“There are lots of good people in Edenbury, too,” I tell him. “Overall, I think it’s the best place to live.”

Kade nods slowly again, but he doesn’t say anything. Just eats his food. I want to kick myself. Why did I say that when he might leave Edenbury one day?

I don’t want him to leave.

But I shake my head, scolding myself. This isn’t about me. It’s about Kade. My feelings don’t matter. The only thing that matters is Uncle Zack finding the perfect home for him.

“So tell us about yourself, Kade,” Mia says. “If you don’t mind, I mean. I don’t really know anything about you.”

Kade takes a sip of his Coke. “There isn’t much to tell. I was put in the system six years ago and have been tossed from one home to the other.”

“Oh, that sucks,” Mia says with a frown. “But I’m super glad you’re in a good place now. Ally and Zack are the best.”

Kade nods. “They really are.”

“What about hobbies?” Rylee asks. “What do you like to do?”

As he tells them he enjoys watching crime shows and playing mobile games, I can’t help but watch him. He seems at ease with my friends, and it looks like he’s very grateful that they’re so accepting of him. Most kids at school still think he’s bad news.

“Eh, mobile games aren’t real games, though,” Mia is saying. “Not that I’m crapping on people who love mobile games. I play a lot of them, too. But to call yourself a gamer if you only play mobile games?” She twitches her nose.

“I never called myself a gamer…”

“The definition of a gamer is someone who plays games, Mia,” Rylee says. “Whether it be on a big platform like a PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo, or on a smaller platform like a phone.”

“We can argue about this all day.” Mia leans back in her seat and folds her arms over her chest.

“Please don’t,” I say.

“I never said I was a gamer,” Kade repeats. “I just said I like playing games on my phone.”

“Which makes you a gamer,” Rylee says.

Mia shakes her head resolutely.

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