Page 88 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
Logan
too late
Two arms suddenly wrapped around my neck, a strong waft of peach and mango perfume accompanying the tight grip. My hand spasmed on the side of my phone, locking it in a panic. “Ugh.” Jade’s sigh was directly in my ear. “Why have I barely seen you lately, Mads?”
My pulse was slow to die down after the scare. “I saw you yesterday after practice,” I said with a chuckle.
Her forearm cut into my throat, nearly restricting my airway. “You’re not doing anything after the game tomorrow, are you? We have a Players Only party.”
There were some Fridays after the game that those in the Top Tier threw what we calledPlayers Onlyparties. It wasn’t necessarily exclusive to the Top Tier, but definitely exclusive to football players and cheerleaders. There were other times someone would host a party where anyone could show up, but these parties wereexclusive. And Babble always blew up with all the speculation, the gossip, and the intrigue.
“I’ll be there,” I said. “But I probably can’t stay for the whole time.”
Jade finally relinquished her near death grip and came up to lean against the locker beside mine. She looked effortlessly put together, per usual, but her eyes were sharp on me. “Why not?”
The answer I couldn’t give her? Because I wanted to surprise Logan and go toDanielle’s bonfire. After last night, I wanted to do as much as possible to get to know him, and that meant meeting all his friends.
Jade was blinking at me expectantly, and the thought of lying to her was less easy. Probably because she had a clear view of my face now, ready to catch any of my tells.Take a breath, Madison. “Like I said yesterday, my mom’s been so?—”
“Did you tell your mom about talking to Coach?”
I jumped at the abrupt subject change. “No. Why?”
“Just curious. You’ve been hanging out with her so much, I didn’t know if you were telling her everything.”
“Coach hasn’t said anything more about it,” I told Jade, answering the question I was sure she was thinking.
“She’s waiting til after homecoming.”
“She told you that?” They’d talked about me? It made sense, I guess, for Coach to go to the other half of co-captain to say that one wanted to jump ship. But still. “What did she say? When did she talk to you?”
Jade’s gaze slid down the hallway, suddenly unable to meet my gaze. Or unwilling. “Well, she didn’t?—”
“What are we talking about?” Riley swiftly cut in, not an ounce of remorse of interrupting me. She looped her arm through Jade’s, saddling into her side. “About Babble?”
My phone vibrated, but I angled the screen away before anyone could glimpse it. “What about Babble?”
Riley’s gaze bounced from me to Jade and back again. “Neither of you saw?”
“Sawwhat?” I demanded, because Jade remained quiet. I was surprised she hadn’t already reached for her phone. “Someone posted something? I didn’t think to check it this morning.” Which was a surprise all on its own.
Instead of opening Babble up on my own phone—I was too afraid Jade would catch a glimpse at my notification from Logan—I waited for Riley to pull it up on her end. Jade busied herself with examining her fingers, diligently looking for a hangnail.
Riley came up close to me and angled her screen. It took me a second to realize what was even in frame, since Riley’s brightness was so low. The picture, taken at night, was blurry and grainy, but it was clear there were two people in frame. The first thing I noticed was the bright blue sleeves of someone’s jacket wrapped around something dark. I squinted. “I can barely see.”
Riley, letting out a huff of irritation, reached over and used two fingers to zoom in on the couple. Thatsomething darkthe arms were wrapped around was someone wearing a Jefferson High varsity jacket—one with their last name scrawled on their shoulders. I could barely make out -TLE.
Castle.
That was Logan’s back.
And those were my arms—my blue Brentwood High varsity jacket-clad arms.
Panic flooded me. Pure, undiluted panic. Almost my entire frame was obscured by Logan’s broad shoulders in the photo, save for my arms around his frame and my legs beside his. My vision blurred, but I could still make out the headline:Treason on the Cheer Team?!
“How crazy is this?” Riley all but screeched, giving her phone a shake. “There’s a traitor among us!”
That, coincidentally, was the opening line of the post.
