Page 23 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
“Why?”
“Why… what?”
“Why would you ask me out if you didn’t like me?”
Now it was my turn to blink. “Because… Jade told meto.” He literally just said that. Were we not on the same page?
“No, I know.” Landon readjusted his bag where it sat on his shoulder, a line forming between his brows. “You do everything she asks you to do?”
“You’ve met Jade—I’d be crazy if I didn’t.”
I meant it as a joke, but Landon didn’t smile. “I don’t do everything Connor tells me. No,” he murmured, shaking his head. “He doesn’ttellme to do anything.”
I reached out and patted Landon’s shoulder. “It’s because you’re boys,” I said sweetly, dropping it. “Anyway, I just wanted to clear the air. Because… well. I kind of have this thing going on. With someone else. And I didn’t want you to think I was just bouncing between guys, or whatever.”
“Got it.” Landon’s cheeks looked reddish, but he didn’t seem embarrassed. Just still wholly confused. “Air cleared.”
I lifted a fist. “Go Bobcats?”
Landon lifted his own in return, a small, white-flag shaped smile tipping up his lips. No more awkwardness. I could’ve slumped against the wall with a sigh of relief. “Go Bobcats.”
Landon walked away then, merging into the growing hustle and bustle of the hallways before classes started. My homeroom was with Mrs. Diego on the other side of the school, which meant that unless I wanted a tardy on my first day, I couldn’t linger too much longer.
Six minutes from the top of the hour. Still nothing from Logan.
Even though it went against every instinct in my body, I double texted.Did you snooze your alarm?
“Are you the welcoming committee?” a high voiceasked. “Because having a Brentwood Babe like you greet everyone issucha good idea.”
It took me a second to realize the person was talking to me. “Yep, here to greet everyone on their first day—” I had begun answering before my eyes fully lifted from my phone, but when my gaze landed on the two girls who stood in front of me, my sentence fumbled. Everything in me stiffened. “—back.”
There was only one person in all of Brentwood High, over a thousand students, that I didn’t like seeing. So much so that I refused to meet her eye whenever our paths crossed.
That person, as harmless as she looked, was Maisie.
And just like always, seeing her always sucked me back into the past.
Jade laid her hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “You know Maisie. She’ll laugh it off, just like every other prank you pull. That’s what you said, right?”
“Right.”
Maisie hadn’t laughed it off. Everyone else had laughed, but Maisie Matthews had not.
I wouldn’t do anything differently.
Maisie stood in front of me now, her brown hair loose around her face and her black glasses resting on her nose, though she hadn’t been the one who’d spoken. The dark-haired girl beside her had. I recognized her as Reed Manning’s twin sister, Rachel. She wasn’t in the Top Tier—didn’t play sports, didn’t have any dirty little secrets. She didn’t meet the criteria for the popular crowd, but she was nice.
“You should have the other cheerleaders with you,” Rachel said. At her side, Maisie focused down the hallway,pretending I didn’t exist. “Brighten everyone’s spirits extra, extra.”
“Everyone else isn’t as peppy so early in the morning,” I told Rachel in a conspiratorial tone. No one would’ve guessed that Maisie’s appearance had shaken me to my core. “That’s okay. I don’t mind being the face of the cheer squad.”
Rachel’s smile broadened further. “Youarethe captain.”
“Co.” We all turned toward the new voice who’d joined the group, finding none other than Jade coming up to stand beside me. Her shimmering shadow pulled the flecks from her hazel eyes, making them pop. Her blue and gold cheer uniform matched mine—our captain uniforms. “Co-captain.”
Rachel looked sheepish. “Right, right.”
“Come on,” Maisie said, tugging on Rachel’s arm. “I need to unload my stuff before the bell.”
