Page 42 of The Prom Queen Project
“How about you worry about Mason, and I’ll worry about Elliot.”
Her eyes became thin slits as she looked at me. I had clearly struck a nerve, but I didn’t care. She had no right to say anything about Elliot, especially after how she reacted when I tried to do the same with Mason.
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
Kendra sighed while taking a bite of her sandwich as she ate in silence. She pursed her lips into a thin line.
I clenched my jaw tightly as I stared at Meredith, who refused to break eye contact.
“You know what?” I stood from my seat as I clutched my tray. “I think I’m going to head back to class early today.”
“Whatever.”
“Can you believe all week, Meredith kept trying to tell me to be careful around you?”
Elliot threw his arms out dramatically, a mocking grin spreading across his face. “Well, hello there, Elliot. How was your day?Oh, it was great, thanks for asking. How about you, Clarke?”
“I don’t do pleasantries, Abercrombie.”
“I can see that.”
I plopped down in the chair across from him as the two of us sat in the library for another study session. Mrs. Hawthorne had given us a new assignment—a research essay onThe Tell-Tale Heart. Of course, the first words out of my mouth when I saw Elliot had nothing to do with the gothic short story, but hey, ifhe could bombard me with a million questions, most of which had nothing to do with school, then I could rant about my life. Not anything too personal, but general thoughts that consumed my mind. I wasn’t replacing Jessie, but maybe I could replace Meredith.
“Are you not mad that Meredith was trying to shit on you?”
“Okay, please don’t say it like that.” He chuckled. “And no, I’m not mad. She’s nobody to me, so why would I care?”
“Because she’s being a hypocrite! She got so angry with me when I tried to warn her about Mason, and now, she has the audacity to try and warn me about you.”
Elliot seemed amused. “So, wouldn’t that make you a hypocrite, too?”
“Okay, whose side are you on?”
“Look.” He laughed. “You can eat lunch with me and my friends if you want. Better?”
“Really?”
“What better way to get my friends to like you than to constantly harass them with your presence?”
“Ha-ha. Very funny.” I rolled my eyes.
“Alright.” He sighed, slapping his hands on his thighs. “Maybe instead of worrying about Meredith, we can focus on‘us.’”
“Us?”
“We need some ground rules for this whole fake dating thing ‘cause I don’t know about you, but I haven’t exactly done this before.”
“Yeah.” I scratched my chin. “I guess you’re right.”
He raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. “Doesn’t seem like you’re the type of person to say that a lot. Can I get that on tape?”
“In your dreams.”
“Worth a shot,” he mumbled. “Anyways, I have an idea.”
He shuffled over to my purse and rummaged through its contents, pulling out random items and throwing each one to the side. My water bottle, my perfume, my Advil, my pencils; everything was scattered on the floor.
