Page 61 of Sporty Girls Don't Fall For Loners

I roll my shoulders. “Not everyone has great friends like you.” Mine abandoned me a long time ago. I feel weird talking about this, so I change the subject. “Where did you go to eat?”

She’s a bit taken aback by the change of topic, but says, “Ji-Ho’s.”

“What’s that?”

“An amazing Korean restaurant with yummy food. My friend Mia’s family owns it. She’s Korean on her dad’s side. You know Asher Park? The actor?”

I nod. “My dad used to…” I shut my mouth again. “I mean, yeah, I’ve seen a couple of his movies.” Dad really liked him. Like he’d watch every single movie starring his favorite actor.

She smiles. “He’s really good. Mia starred in some of his movies, but she also acted in other movies and TV shows.” She lists them and asks if I’ve seen any.

I shake my head. “Not much of a movie guy. Your aunt and uncle and I watched one before you came home and Ally was very upset. They killed the woman—the love interest.”

Zoey laughs softly. “That ticks Aunt Ally off so much. Especially when it happens in books. Like, she could go on a rant for hours.”

“She really loves books, huh?”

“Yes. All of us Hastings’ do. And the Parks and the Barringtons and the Knights.”

I lift a brow.

“They’re Ally’s friends from high school. They started a book club and then their kids started one as well. Now my friends and I carry the tradition.”

I sit forward as my eyebrows knit. “Our school has a book club?”

She sighs. “Of course no one knows about it. We’re invisible after all.”

“Invisible?”

“Dani Knight—you know the richest family in Edenbury? Anyway, she swore she and her friends had the invisible curse in high school. And then it was passed on to their kids. And then to my friends and me.”

“But how can you be invisible if you’re the most important member of the football team?”

Her eyebrows lift. “Most important member? No, all of us are important. We wouldn’t be a team and we definitely wouldn’t make it to state without every single member.”

I shrug. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have said that. But you are the captain, aren’t you?”

“No, that’s Jason.”

“But you’re an integral part of the team, right? So you can’t be invisible.”

She twists her nose as she thinks about it. “I guess. But I’m invisible in everything else. Even our lunch table is invisible.”

I shrug. “I noticed you.”

She slowly glances my way. “What?”

“Can’t be invisible if I noticed you.”

She’s about to say something, but there’s a breakthrough in the case and both of us sit forward, eager to see what happens next.

“At least they caught the guy,” she says with a shiver. “Can you imagine a serial killer like that loose on the streets?”

I look away from her. Right now, there’s a killer on the streets. Has been for six years. I have no idea why they couldn’t catch the guy who ruined my life. They tried hard, sure, but after having no leads, they gave up. I vow to reopen the case one day after I become a detective and bring that low life to justice.

“You okay? You look bothered.”

I snap in and look at her. “Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry, got distracted.”

---