Page 2 of The Playbook

“You’re the best.” I grinned at her. “But don’t put yourself in a position where you become a target of theirs. It’s not worth it. I’m fine. I’m always fine. So stop being sulky. I’m not even mad.”

“You’re a damn liar,” she snorted, shaking her head. A tiny smile touched her lips. “But I think that’s one of your best attributes, lying your way through anger. It’s probably why you haven’t agreed to toilet paper Nikki’s house with me.”

“And be a delinquent?” I feigned shock, my green eyes wide. “Never!”

Lana giggled and bumped shoulders with me. We grew quiet for a moment before we both noticed the guys by the fountain a few storefronts away.

“Dang,” Lana murmured, her eyes traveling over the group of guys. “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

“Lana,” I admonished, my face heating even though they hadn’t heard her.

The jocks.The hot, unattainable guys I would never in a million years have a shot with. Most of them came from money and from fathers who handed their jock status down to them. In the center of the group was king jock himself, Mr. Quarterback, Mr. Popularity every year since preschool, looking just as beautiful as he always did. Dark hair. Blue eyes. Abs for days.Ugh.And his arms? He’d probably be able to carry three of me over just one shoulder. Logan Walker had it going on. It was a truth I fought because I hated him and his friends, but I also had to appreciate that he really was perfect to look at.

Despite how beautiful he was, his friends included, he was part of the court, the group of jocks, preps, and fem-bots. As a group, they formed a trifecta of perfection. They were high school royalty, hence the group’s name. While Logan had never directly done anything to me in high school, he’d never done anything to stop the meanness. Still gorgeous, though. Such a waste.

I let out a soft sigh as he laughed, pushing Ryan Horner, another senior on the football team, playfully.

“Beautiful, but toxic,” Lana murmured, pulling me out of my reverie.

I cleared my throat and nodded, getting to my feet.

“Look at Ryan. He’s one mountain I’d love to climb.”

“Lana.” I let out a snort that was louder than intended.

Logan locked his blue eyes on mine, making my face heat. Mortification coursed through me. Ducking my head, I quickly booked it away from them, not wanting to be called a farm animal or worse. I wasn’t so sure I could take Logan’s jeering. The damage from Logan to me throughout school had been minimal, and I wanted to keep it that way.

* * *

“Did you and Lana have fun?” Mom asked as she popped her head into my room later that evening.

I’d been lying in bed on my back, my black hair in a high ponytail I had scattered over my face as I peered through the curtain it formed to my ceiling, thinking about how I wanted to make senior year better than the heap of shit that was last year. And how my main goal was to avoid Nikki and her fem-bots all year.

“Yeah,” I answered absently.

Mom hesitated at the door for a moment before coming in and sitting on the edge of my bed.

“Did you get anything good?”

“Lana picked out some clothes for me.” I sat up and reached for a few of the bags. I moved them closer and began pulling items out so Mom could look.

She seemed happy, grinning, as I showed her the cute outfits Lana had chosen. When I got to the bag filled with heavy sweaters, hoodies, jeans, and a pair of new chucks, Mom raised an eyebrow at me.

“It’s better than nothing,” I defended myself.

Mom let out a soft chuckle. “Your dad is going to flip when he sees those skirts. You know how he is about that stuff. I guess you take after him though because I see you got twice as much heavy clothing as you did other stuff.”

“What can I say?” I grinned at her. “Apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”

“That’s for sure.” She chuckled, planting a kiss on my forehead before getting to her feet. “Dad said he’s leaving for school at seven-fifteen. He wants to get there a bit early for some football thing he has to do.”

I groaned. My dad was the football coach. In fact, he also taught health and was head of the athletic department. He played professional football at one point even. And when he handed off the jock torch to me, I must have fumbled it because I definitely didn’t get it. Like, at all. Me and sports simply didn’t mix.

Mom gave me a squeeze before bidding me good night. I flopped back onto my bed and let out a sigh as I closed my eyes.

Tomorrow was a new day. I sent up a silent prayer that Nikki and her court would forget about my existence.

A girl could hope.

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