Page 4 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
I looked down at my knees. “You know he’s not into me.”
“Then your options are Ashton or Kyle.”
I actually jolted in horror. “Don’t even say that.”
“Your mom’s dumb dating ban is finally lifted and you’re in the Top Tier,” Jade went on, landing both palms on my shoulders, pinning me firmly to the cabinet. “Youneedto date someone.”
“Yeah,” Riley chimed in, popping up over Jade’s shoulder. “You don’t want to be the loser who’s single senior year, Madison. Babble’s already getting bored of you.”
“This is our year,” Jade said in a sweeter tone. Shebegan to smooth her fingers through my blonde hair. She always said it was because it had a tendency of frizzing—“that bleach is frying your hair,” she’d say—and she was trying to make me pretty again. “We need to go out with a bang, and you need to be part of Brentwood High’s next It Couple before someone takes your place.”
The thought was nothing short of horrifying. Jade and Connor were Brentwood’s OTP, of course, but there had to be a runner-up—and it had to be me. There could be no one second to Jade. “I—I know. But Landon… I don’t think I can convince him.”
“Then we’ll find you someone else.” Jade gave me an encouraging smile. “This is our year. Yeah?”
Our year. I felt it too. With Mom’s no-dating rule finally gone, I could have it all—boyfriend, popularity, front page of Babble news. I could finally be the kind of girl other people talked about in the halls. The kind Brentwood Babble obsessed over.
This year would be… perfect.
I’d make it perfect.
“Not Kyle,” I said, staring my best friend in the eye.
“Not Kyle,” she relented, tugging me off the cabinet. “Let’s go get those cookies from the cafeteria.”
Riley trailed behind us, but Jade looped her arm through mine, and it was like the redhead wasn’t even there.
The halls were packed—mostly with wide-eyed freshmen trailing behind their parents. A few upperclassmen clocked us in our cheer uniforms as we passed, their gazes lingering. Whispers seemed to pipe up through the hall.The Top Tier.
I lifted my chin, angling my face the way I practiced in the mirror, resisting the urge to grin. This was what I’dbeen waiting for. The stares. The silent awe. The promise of my name whispered down hallways.
Jade looked down at her phone, and when I peeked over, I found a text conversation with a number she hadn’t saved to her contacts yet. “Who are you texting?”
With my question, she jerked her phone flat against her torso. “No one.”
“Is it a boy?” That, I highly doubted, given the fact that she was dating Connor and a scandal ofthoseproportions—Jade Dyer cheating on Connor Bray?Gasp—was the kind that would get her kicked out of the Top Tier. But I couldn’t figure out why else she’d be so secretive. I reached for her hand. “Come on, you don’t keep secrets from me.”
Jade’s reaction was immediate, and one I hadn’t expected. She shoved at my shoulder.Hard. Riley was standing close as we walked down the hallway, and I could’veswornshe stuck her foot out to trip me. I stumbled over her sneaker, feet all but flying out from under me as I fell backward toward the hard linoleum.
I slammed into something, but it wasn’t the floor.
Arms came around me, the firm embrace keeping me from ricocheting onto the ground. The grip was strong, catching my weight without hesitation. One hand braced my waist while the other steadied my shoulder, holding me in a dip as if we were dancing. The scent of sandalwood and citrus filled my senses, a heady, intoxicating cologne that made my head swim.
And when I lifted my chin, I found myself looking into the eyes of the most gorgeous boy I’d ever seen.
His golden blonde hair sort of fell into his face with the way he peered down at me, brilliant, baby blue eyes wide with the surprise of catching a shimmeringcheerleader. I was practically lying in his arms, and even though I knew I needed to stand up—and stop letting a total stranger support my weight—shock held me immobile for what felt like a lifetime.
My heart pulsed in my ears, the beat eerily in time with Brentwood High’s fight song over the speakers.
“Woah,” the boy breathed as he blinked down at me, a small smile beginning to curve his plush-looking lips. “Now that was a rom-com moment if I ever saw one, yeah?”
I wasn’t sure if it was because I hadboyfriendon the brain or if it was fate, but suddenly, I was a firm believer in love at first sight.Him, I decided then and there, surety washing over me. Jade said I needed to find myself a guy, and I knew, in that moment.Him.
He’s mine.
“Ohmygod,” Riley squealed as I straightened, causing every head in the hallway to turn. “You’re such a klutz, Madison, seriously!”
If the world’s cutest boy hadn’t been giving me his full attention, I might’ve shot Riley a dirty glare. But I was too busy trying to keep my mouth from falling open. “Good catch,” I murmured to the cutie, dialing into my inner flirt immediately.I tucked my blonde hair behind my ear, peering at him from underneath my lashes. “Putting those strong arms to use, huh?”
