Page 2 of His Heart

“Um, hi.”

The Mean Girls had gone silent and I saw Liam’s eyes flick toward them once, then back to me. He opened his mouth to say something, but Karina had crossed the hallway and stepped close.

“Hey, Liam,” she said, a phony sweetness to her tone. “Did you see they announced the theme for the Valentine’s dance? Hollywood Nights.”

His forehead creased a little. “Uh, yeah. Sounds a lot like the theme from last year.”

She somehow managed to shoot a micro-glare at me while almost simultaneously batting her eyelashes at Liam. I wanted to take the opportunity to make a break for it, but curiosity had me rooted to the spot. Why had Liam talked to me?

“Well, I think it’s going to be amazing,” Karina said. “Do you have a date yet?”

I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling. Obvious, much?

“Yeah,” he said.

Her face registered surprise, her mouth popping open. That wasn’t the answer she’d expected. “You do? Who?”

“Brooke,” he said.

Karina huffed, her mouth dropping open. “Brooke Summerlin? You mean, her?”

Liam met my eyes and treated me to a little grin. “Yep. Right, Brooke?”

My mind spun as I stared at him. What was he doing? Was this some sort of pity thing? Or was he waiting for me to agree so he could pull the rug out and laugh in my face? My cheeks flushed hotter and I swallowed hard.

The possibility of being able to look Karina Bowen in the eye and tell her I was going to the dance with Liam Harper was too much temptation. If this was a prank, I’d risk the humiliation.

“Yeah,” I said, glancing at Karina. “I’m going with Liam.”

Liam’s smile widened. Karina’s look of disgust was about two steps past ridiculous. You’d have thought someone just told her she stepped in a big pile of dog shit.

“Oh,” she said. With another scathing look at me, she flipped her hair and walked back to her minions.

The Mean Girls backed their leader with more glares at me, but I barely noticed. I stared at Liam, knowing he wasn’t actually taking me to the dance. There was no way he’d ask me. But standing up for me like that had been such a nice—and completely unexpected—thing to do.

“Wow, that was… pretty amusing, actually,” I said, watching the Mean Girls flounce down the hallway.

“Amusing?” he asked. “Why?”

“Well, you know, the look on Karina’s face,” I said.

He glanced over his shoulder, as if he’d already forgotten about them. “Oh, yeah.”

I shifted on my feet, feeling a little awkward. My locker still hung open, so I pulled out my bag and slung it over my shoulder, then closed the locker door. “I guess I should get going.”

“You live next door to me, don’t you?” he asked.

I shrugged, trying to maintain a casual air. But inside I reeled from the knowledge that Liam Harper knew I lived next door to him. Of course, I knew where he lived. I’d noticed him within days of moving in. But the fact that he’d made the connection that I was his neighbor left me a little breathless.

“Um, yeah, I do,” I said.

“But I don’t see you around much,” he said.

“I guess not.”

“So what are you up to all the time? You know, when I’m not seeing you around?”

“I don’t know. I just do my thing. School, other stuff, you know.”

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