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“Same to you. Brady told me all about you. Said you actually stood up to Rome and called him out in class. I’m just sad I had to miss it. I’ve been waiting my whole life for someone to do that.” Leaning back in my chair, I’m thankful I was late for a moment because now I’m stuck at the back of the class with someone at this school that doesn’t bow to my stupid stepbrother.
“You know Rome well?” I ask her, noticing the way she tenses up when she says his name.
She rolls her eyes. “Everyone knows Rome. And Wilder. And even Callan. As for knowing them, well, thankfully not. I’ve had the typical Rome Cromwell experience that most girls in this school have had.”
I tilt my head to the side, frowning sympathetically. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Eh.” She presses her lips together into a thin line, then sighs. “It is what it is.”
The teacher tells us to pair up and I turn to Julia just as she turns to me excitedly. “Hey! You should have lunch with me and Brady today. We can fill you in on all the dos and don'ts when it comes to the Cromwell boys.”
“Sure.” I beam. “I’d love to.”
I think I’ve just made my first friend in Willow Creek.
“So,” Julia begins as she takes a bite of her ham sandwich, speaking as she chews. “Rome and Wilder might be twins, but they are very different. Not just their looks, but also their personalities.” I take a big bite of my own sandwich and nod along, already knowing this from having lived with them.
Rome is chaos through and through, whereas Wilder is calmer and more organized.
“Both hot, though.” Brady waggles his brows. “Did I just say that out loud?” He shrugs his shoulders, then returns to poking at his salad.
I chuckle. “I’ve definitely noticed that Rome is more intense than Wilder. But I don’t trust either of them.”
“Good,” Julia says. “Because neither of them can be trusted. In fact, I hate all football players because they abuse their power.”
She leans in close, eyes wandering around the room before saying, “Rome and I dated for like a nanosecond in eighth grade and?—”
“You went on a date,” Brady interrupts. “One date. One time.”
“Wait a minute.” I raise my hand up. “I thought Rome didn’t date.”
Brady shakes his head and mouths, “He doesn’t. They didn’t date.”
Julia balls a fist and punches him in the shoulder. “Shut up and let me tell my story.”
He laughs and resumes eating, and Julia takes that as her cue to continue. “Anyways, Rome and I dated for…a night. When the date was over, we kissed. It was my first kiss, and we all know how those first kisses make us feel. I was certain I was on the verge of falling in love.”
Her face sours, and it already has me wanting to punch Rome in the face for whatever he did to her.
“Well, the next day I told a couple people. I wasn't bragging.” Brady scoffs at her remark, and she continues, “Okay, maybe I was. But I was excited. Then your jackass of a stepbrother denied the whole thing, saying I was making it all up and that I was strangely obsessed with him.”
Julia sets her sandwich down in defeat. I’m not much of a comforter, but I reach out and cover her hand with mine for just a second. Getting a girl's hopes up is bad enough, but embarrassing her and making her look desperate, now that’s downright evil.
Julia clears her throat and shakes her head like nothing happened. “I’ve been trying ever since to get my reputation back to what it was. That’s how much of a pull that asshole has in this school. I’m warning you now, Elodie. It’s great you’re standing up to him, you might be the only one that will ever be able to do that. But you need to watch your back.”
I shake my head in disbelief, feeling a bit worried for myself. If Rome could ruin her reputation over a kiss, I can’t even begin to imagine what he’s going to do to me.
We finish eating and head to the second half of our classes with plans to go to the football game on Friday night.
CHAPTER 8
ELODIE
Lucky for me, the rest of the school day was surprisingly uneventful, aside from the growing wads of gum on the outside of my locker. It seems the entire school has decided to partake in Rome’s antics. I’m not sure why the staff is letting this slide, but I can only assume they haven’t noticed yet.
Regardless, I continued to go to my locker, even with the sound of giggles and whispers around me, opening the door to swap out my books like nothing was happening. Each time, Rome watched as if he was waiting for a reaction from me, but I failed to give it to him.
Which is probably why he’s walking steadfastly down the hall behind me, trying to catch up to my brisk pace.
