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I’m looking at Nick in disgust. My eyes light on Becca, standing with her back to me, and something is nagging at me, but I don’t know what.
“Shelby-Roo,” Nick calls out again. “Hey.” He snaps his fingers at her. Actually snaps his fingers at her. Several people in line gasp. Thank God most of my fellow students aren’t platinum-plated asswipes.
“Not cool, dude,” the guy in front of him scowls.
“What’s not cool? Me and Shelby-Roo, we’re cool, aren’t we, Shelby-Roo?” Nick flashes her an enormous grin. The smile of a shark.
She frowns at him. “My name is Shelly.” She taps her nameplate. “I have asked you to call me by my name.”
He leans in and pretends to read it.
His antics are stopping the line, which has built up to about fifteen people behind me now, but Nick doesn’t care. It’s all about Nick being the star of the Nick Ruckman show.
“Looks like Shelby-Roo to me,” He brays with laughter, and Becca and Kirk join him, throwing back their heads and howling.
I pretend to trip over my own feet and “accidentally” throw my soda right on Nick’s crotch.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I sing out. “I’m so clumsy.”
“What the fuck,” he screams in a high-pitched shriek of fury, staggering back. “She attacked me. Did you see that? She assaulted me. I’m going to have her arrested.”
“Again?” Kennedy wonders aloud.
I shoot him an ice-cold glare. “Yeah, seriously. Because it didn’t stick the last time you tried that.” Well, the jury’s still out. I have the detective’s card in my purse. He actually told me not to leave town and said that Paxton’s alibi lets me off the hook for now, but Nick signed a sworn statement saying that I was with them and the entire thing was my idea and I was the one who gave him the code, so... I’m not completely out of hot water.
Nick’s face is red with fury.
“Oops.” The guy in front of him, who just purchased a salad, also pretends to trip, and now Nick is splattered with salad and ranch dressing.
Everyone around us applauds and cheers.
“Screw you,” Nick shouts at him. He draws his fist back as if he’s about to throw a punch and then pauses. The guy’s pretty burly. And he has a couple of friends with him.
Nick drops his hand.
A girl strolls by, pretends to trip, and spills her coffee on his jeans. “We are all so clumsy today, aren’t we, Shelly?” she sings out. “See, Shelly. That’s her name. Not so hard.”
“Ow,” Nick howls. “That was hot.”
“Bitch,” Kirk mutters.
“Excuse me, what did you say?” the burly guy demands, taking a step forward. Kirk takes a step back.
This is not their day.
“Nothing,” Kirk mutters.
“I didn’t hear you,” the guy snaps.
“Nothing,” Kirk repeats loudly, glaring. He turns to look at Nick. “Let’s get out of here. The food sucks anyway. And so does the service.”
“You probably shouldn’t come back until you learn to treat people with respect,” the burly guy says coolly.
Shelly is smiling bigger than I’ve ever seen her smile before. She looks at me and gives me a nod, and I nod back.
As the Three Stooges stomp off, Nick dripping with every step, and as Becca turns her back to me again, I suddenly realize what was nagging at me.
I quickly pull my cell phone from my purse, click on the camera app, and take a picture of her.
