Page 144 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
At first, it was like we floated along unnoticed. The hallway stretched on forever, lockers gleaming like rows of eyes waiting to watch me crack. Every step echoed too loudly, like I was announcing myself to the entire school. Maisie walked beside me, close enough that her shoulder brushed mine every few steps, steady and unflinching, like she wasn’t afraid of being seen with me. My throat was tight, my palm damp against the strap of Mom’s lunch pail, but Maisie’s quiet presence grounded me.
And then I became aware of the murmurs. The way the space around Maisie and I went from cramped to roomy. People stepped away from us, wanting a better view of the social pariah as she walked down the hall.
Someone suddenly came up on my other side, and I found Connor standing there. “What’s on the menu today?” he asked.
I stared up at his profile, so dumbfounded that I’d forgotten how to speak. “Chili and breadsticks,” Maisie replied to him from my other side, her grip on my hand still firm.
Connor glanced at Maisie’s lunch bag. “Want anything from the line?” he asked her. “Cookies, chips, juice?—”
“Are you allowed to get extra breadsticks?” she asked sheepishly, looking up at him with a small smile.
And he returned her gaze with a dazzled one of his own. “Even if I’m not allowed to, I’ll get them for you somehow.” He lingered on her for a moment before raising his eyebrows to me. “Want anything?”
I wasn’t sure Connor had ever asked me that question in his life. I wasn’t sure if it was because he felt sorry for me or if it was the Maisie Matthews effect. “I’ll take a cookie,” I mumbled.
“You got it.”
“I want a cookie!” a new voice chirped. I turned to find Ava hurrying up behind us, her own brown paper lunch bag tucked underneath an arm. Her pink hair was in two buns on the top of her head, a few pieces escaping. “And Rachel will want one too, you know. Which then means you should get one for Lacey, and then?—”
“I’ll just sell them out of cookies,” Connor said with a knowing nod. His lips lifted in a half smile. “Because if I don’t buy them all, Reed will take half of yours.”
“He cantry.” Ava scoffed. “He’d have to fight me for it.”
“And I’d let you win.” Reed came up behind Ava and dropped his arm around her shoulders, jostling her lightly. She swatted at his chest playfully, but he only grinned like a fool. “Either that, or I’d end up on Babble asThe Cookie Thief.”
I gave an awkward chuckle. “Not quite the most interesting thing that’s happened lately.”
It was like a tumbleweed blew through our conversation as everyone fought to figure out what to say.Nice, Madison, I thought with an inward groan.Way to kill the mood.
I didn’t have a chance to try to recover the convo, either, because before I knew it, we were walking through the cafeteria doors. I’d stepped over the threshold on instinct, but when I realized, I immediately wanted to backtrack. Maisie didn’t relinquish her grip on my hand, though, and Ava was directly behind me, making turning around impossible.
It only took a second for those already at their tables to notice who had just walked in. The entire cafeteria went quiet in a rush, the hush falling over every table as their heads swiveled to the double doors I’d just walked through. I wanted to say I was just imagining it, that surely it was my panic brain making the situation seem worse than it was, but Maisie stiffened at my side.
“Everyone’s staring,” I muttered, pointing out the obvious.
“Imagine how it was when Connor and I walked into the cafeteria on Monday,” Maisie said in a low voice as we sat down at her empty table. “I thought someone was going to chuck a lunch tray at my head.”
“Connor would’ve gone nuclear,” Reed said as he settled into his seat next to Ava, who sat beside Maisie. “I swear, he’s just begging someone to say something. I’m waiting for it, too, honestly. It’d be funny.”
I latched onto their conversation as I shakily unpacked Mom’s lunch pail, gripping onto every word to let it distract me. I wondered if that was their intention, to bat the ball back and forth to give me no time to get lost in my thoughts.
She’d packed a tuna and mayo panini. My favorite.
“He’s been brutal at practice.” The new voice belonged to Landon. He set his blue lunch tray down across from me, shaking his red hair out of his eyes. “Nate Tulane said something the other day, and he sacked him hard during the practice scrimmage.”
“Nate has poor timing with his jokes.” Lacey Churchill arranged her own tray beside Landon’s, swiping up a carrot stick from his as she sat down. She bit into it. “He’s working on it.”
I found my gaze lingering on Lacey as she settled in. She flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, nudging her shoulder against Landon’s playfully, seemingly just because. A small, boyish grin broke out across his face.
Lacey looked up then, our gazes locking. Her eyes were bright and calm. “Congrats on homecoming queen,” she said.
Landon not-so-discreetly elbowed her. “Thanks,” I said before he could scold her. “Happy belated birthday.”
“It was your birthday?” That was Ava, whose jaw dropped. “I should’ve posted it on Babble!”
“It was Friday.” Lacey’s gaze slid to Maisie. “So not the most exciting thing that happened at the homecoming game, I hear.”
Maisie just groaned.
