Page 18 of Sweet Temptation

I kept my head down and tried to ignore the strange looks. Word must have finally got out about my breakup with Noah. The kids at Weybridge Academy were all obsessed with him and loved nothing more than to gossip, so I guessed I was the day’s big news.

I should have thought about that before coming to breakfast on my own. Cress was running late today, but I really wished I’d waited for her. I did my best to ignore the attention as I headed for the buffet and began to load my plate with whatever I could find. I was hoping that the sooner I got my food and sat down the sooner people would find someone else to gossip about. At least I could be grateful Noah wasn’t in the dining hall too.

“Hey, you’re Isobel, right?”

I glanced up from my plate to look at the girl standing next to me in the line for the buffet. I recognized her from my chemistry class, but she’d never bothered to speak with me before. She was always too busy flirting with her lab mate or complaining loudly about whatever homework was set. I didn’t think she even knew I existed.

“Uh, yeah...”

“I’m Mandy, and this is Trish.” She nodded to the girl beside her who gave me a smile. “It’s so crazy we haven’t run into each other yet. How are you liking Weybridge?”

It seemed like a strange thing for her to say considering we’d been in the same class for weeks already.

“We should hang out some time,” she continued.

“Definitely,” Trish agreed.

“Uh...”

I was saved from having to answer as Anna appeared at my side.

“Everything okay here, Isobel?” she asked, linking her arm through mine.

“Oh, hey, Anna.” Mandy didn’t wait for me to reply. “We were just introducing ourselves to Isobel and welcoming her to Weybridge.”

“How nice.” Anna’s voice was thick with sarcasm. “But you know she’s been here for over a month now, right? What could possibly have sparked such a random act of kindness from you girls?”

The girls shared a look, and Trish scoffed. “What are you talking about?”

Anna didn’t answer. She just raised her eyebrows and cocked her head at the pair as though she was waiting for Trish to answer her own question.

“Whatever, Anna.” Mandy shrugged before focusing back on me. “Seriously, Isobel, if you ever want to hang out with me and my friends, you’re always welcome. We have a lot of fun, and it would be nice to have someone like you in our group.”

“Someone like me?”

She tittered a laugh and waved a hand at me. “Oh, you know what I mean.”

I was about to tell her I actually didn’t, but she kept talking before I had a chance. “It was nice to finally meet you, Isobel” she said, before turning and walking away with Trish close behind.

I glanced at Anna. “What was that all about?”

“Ugh.” Anna rolled her eyes as she reached past me to grab an apple. “I think word about your dad finally got out. I heard some girls talking about it on the way here.”

“They were only talking to me because of mydad?”

Anna nodded. “I’d say there’s probably a ninety percent chance that’s the reason. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I thought it was weird they were talking to me.”

“They probably won’t be the only ones,” Anna said. “I'm sure you’ll have plenty of ‘networking opportunities’ today.”

“Sounds fun,” I groaned.

“Oh yeah.” Anna matched my lack of enthusiasm. “There’s nothing better than people only talking to you because they want to use you.”

“And I thought my biggest problem today was going to be people gossiping about me and Noah,” I said as we made our way to our usual table.

“Actually, I haven’t heard anyone talking about it.” Anna shrugged.

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