Page 4 of Best Friends Don't Fall For Best Friends

That makes all of us laugh. Then we separate to our classrooms. I’ve got history now, and to say I concentrate in this class…nope. I don’t concentrate in my next classes, either. No matter how much I try, random guys’ faces pop into my head and make me imagine what it would be like if they marched over to me with their hands outstretched and confessed they’re the author of the note…

“Miss Barrington,” my psychology teacher says as she stops before my desk and looks down at me through lowered glasses. “Am I disturbing you?”

“What?” I ask.

“You’re not paying attention in my class.”

“Oh.” My cheeks sizzle again. “Sorry.”

I can’t let this whole secret admirer thing make me fail my classes. So I force him out of my head and focus on the lesson.

***

After getting lunch, I carry my tray to our table in the back corner of the cafeteria, where my friends and the boys are already seated.

“This looks promising.” Xavier nods at his plate of barbeque chicken.

“Yep,” Ava says as she opens her container that holds the gourmet lunch her family chef prepared for her. “Had a long talk with my parents the other day and they promised they would make some changes around here. Starting with the awful school lunch.”

My eyes scan the guys seated at the tables near us. Are any of them looking my way? Considering no one pays attention to us, I should be able to spot someone glancing at me, right?

“Well, I’m starving,” Liam says, cutting a huge chunk of chicken and shoving it into his mouth. His eyes light up in surprise. “Hey. Not bad at all.” He chews for a few seconds. “There’s something in this, though…” He takes another bite and chews it slowly. “Can’t figure out what the ingredient is. Try it, Chloe. Maybe you can figure it out.”

I blink at him. “What? Did you say something?”

He raises a brow. “I was talking about the chicken. There’s an ingredient I can’t identify.”

“Oh.” I cut a small piece and take a bite. “Chili powder.”

His brows come down. “No way. It’s not chili powder.”

I shrug and continue studying the guys in the cafeteria. Not a single person glances in my direction.

“Well, you guys are the culinary experts,” Ava says. “If you can’t identify the mystery ingredient, there’s no hope for us.”

“Does it matter?” Aidan asks as he devours his chicken like he hasn’t eaten in days. “This thing is ridiculously good.”

“My brother and Chloe eat, drink, and breathe cooking and baking,” Lily tells him.

“We’re not that bad,” Liam says.

“You were close to tears the other day when you ran out of chocolate chips for the cookies you were baking,” she teases.

Liam’s face turns pink as he glances at me. “No I wasn’t! I just wanted to have all the ingredients ready for when Chloe came over. She had so much work to do on the paper…”

With a sigh, I play with my chicken.

“You okay?” Willow asks. “The chicken’s pretty good. Even for your and Liam’s standards.”

I shake my head. “It’s not that.”

“Is it your secret admirer?” Lily asks, her eyes lit up like her mom’s.

I scan the area again. “I thought I could find him, but…” I nod toward the popular table, where cheerleader Paisley and her friends and the jocks sit. “Maybe it’s a prank.”

“It’snota prank,” Lily insists.

“It could be Paisley. You know she has it in for me.”

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