Page 40 of Love me, Maddie Mendoza

I tsked. “I’m afraid I can’t, Cathy. I will forever cherish someone calling him a man-baby with such passion.”

Cathy groaned. “Ok, but next time we see each other you have to do something as embarrassing.” I chuckled and offered my hand. “Deal.”

She took it and we beamed at each other, only stopping when a voice came from the front door.

“Zeek Marvolo King, you will not date the devil!”

“Is your middle name Marvolo?” Cathy whispered, “Like Lord Voldemort?”

I scoffed. “No. That’s not my...” and I said it louder for Jason’s benefit. “That’s not my middle name!”

“You better come over here or it will be!” Jason threatened.

I looked blankly at Cathy and she blinked at me. With a smack of her lips, she brushed her red curls off her face. “Are you going to change his middle name if he doesn’t comply? What kind of threat is that, Barlowe?”

“Don’t start with me, Catalina.” He growled in response.

Catalina?

My eyebrows shot up, and I looked at the woman beside me. “Is your name Catalina?”

She shrugged, but offered nothing. Why someone named Catalina would go by a boring nickname like Cathy? It made no sense. The most important question was; why did Jason know about Cathy’s secret name? What kind of war was he in?

“I think you need to start using your brain and come up with better threats, Barlowe,” she said with a smirk, passing Jason at the door.

Jason saw red, his cheeks told the tale. His ears peaked in the same shade as he watched Cathy walk away. “Don’t you date her, King.” I was told with a poke to my chest.

I rolled my eyes and went ahead inside, but he wasn’t one to be ignored. “I’m telling you man, don’t date her.”

“Let’s take the picture, Jay. Just breathe, all right?”

He narrowed his eyes as Cathy jumped to join her group. Jason definitely wasn’t happy when Maddie and Aisha started a conversation with the girls. His chest grumbled, rolling his eyes at everything Cathy said. Jason was giving me a lecture about not “laying with the enemy,” and I tried my hardest to take it seriously. I watched Maddie, scratching her neck and looking away, biting back a laugh.

In the end, it was Jason who literally laid with the enemy. Both groups worked together, getting the wood shavings ready. Jay took one side and Cathy took the other. Flame behind his eyes as he batted his arms up and down to form the snow angel. Maddie took a picture while he was still on the ground and then another just of the angel.

“Why would you hate Cathy of all people?” She complained as we left the wood factory behind.

“I prefer not to say.” He shoved his nose up in the air.

“You know Z is dating her, right?”

“He’s not dating her!” Jason told her angrily. Sure, dating was a very strong word for seeing her in the library once.

“I’m not dating her.” I agreed.

“No?” Maddie frowned.

“I saw her once. We studied together.”

“You shouldn’t study with her either.” Jason started.

Maddie waved us off, “Either way, we have to know what she has done to Jay so we can decide if it’s good or not.”

“My word isn’t enough?” He looked Maddie up and down.

“No.” She shook her head, and I hid my laugh with a cough.

“I thought better of you Maddie Mendoza.”

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