Page 11 of Jesse and the Ice Princess
"Yeah, but we're better than that."
Charlotte should have felt good about Jesse chastising Roman for embarrassing her, but his words bounced around her brain.We're better than that.
Ice Princess wasn't just a nickname. They truly thought she was cold, devoid of any kind of emotion, programmed to care about perfection above all else.
Leaning toward Hadley, she dropped her voice. "Thanks for the save."
Hadley only shot her a glare as Mr. Thompson stepped up to the front of the class and turned on the projector.
Charlotte opened her notebook and tapped her pencil against the page, but her head wasn't in class. She didn’t care about the chemical equation in front of her or the fact that a single unbalanced equation would wreck her perfect record in that class.
By the time the bell rang, she'd only written a single line of notes. Normally, Hadley borrowed notes from her, but maybe she'd do the borrowing this time.
They walked into the crowded hall and Hadley's fingers closed around Charlotte's arm. "Come on. We need to talk."
She pulled her through the swinging doors of the library. An older woman with thick-framed glasses lifted her head and smiled at them. Hadley led Charlotte past the computer terminals and down an aisle of books where two beanbag chairs waited for eager readers.
"I'm going to be late for study hall." Charlotte could count on one hand the number of times she'd been late to class.
"Charlie, it's study hall. They don't even take attendance." She dropped into a beanbag. "I don't feel like going to Brit Lit."
"It's the first day back from break."
"Okay, Mom. I promise I'll do better tomorrow." She gestured to the other beanbag. "Sit."
Charlotte glanced back down the aisle, nerves tumbling in her stomach. She'd never even skipped study hall, but Hadley was right, they didn't take attendance.
She lowered herself to the beanbag and crossed her ankles.
Hadley sat pretzel style and pulled her sleeves down over her hands. "Charlie, we have one semester left in this school."
"Thank God."
"Contrary to what you believe, some of us actually like it here." She folded her arms over her chest. "Tough love time, girly. I'm going to start by saying I will defend you to the ends of the earth. I don't care who you're sparring with, I will always be on your side."
"I don't deserve a friend like you."
"Of course, you do. We all deserve people in our corner. Now, it's time for you to be in mine."
"What do you mean?"
"Stop making me defend you to the likes of Jesse Carrigan."
"Why? He's—"
Hadley cut her off. "Adorable. Smoking hot. Actually a nice guy when he isn't talking to you."
"Wait..." Charlotte's eyes widened. "You have a thing for "the king"?"
"Well, that's an awful nickname, but... yes?"
Charlotte didn't know whether to laugh or stop breathing altogether. This was it, the moment she lost Hadley to them. She'd always known this day would come. Who would choose her over someone like Jesse Carrigan?
"Oh." Her cheeks heated. "But you just said some mean stuff to him."
"For you. Please don't make me do it again."
"What are you asking here?"
