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he told you that.”
I shrugged. “I don’t care.”
Yes, you do. What was going on with him?
Ignoring that nagging voice in my head, I scowled at him. “Just do me a favor. Pretend we don’t know each other. I don’t want the extra attention, you know?”
His eyes narrowed.
I stiffened, feeling the weight of his measuring gaze, but then he nodded. “Sure.” A ball of tension loosened in my gut and I lounged back in my chair again. The professor had started roll call. Cord was true to his word. He dropped the teasing, everything, and it was as if we never knew each other. The only time he violated this was at the end of class when the professor told us that we would need to form a group of three or four.
Cord latched onto my desk. “Partner up, Connors.”
I glared. What was he doing?
His friend had the same sentiment. He glowered at me around him, but didn’t argue.
The three girls had turned around, hoping to become a part of their group, but they stopped when he did that. I realized why he’d done that and rolled my eyes at him. He shrugged, but gave the professor our names when the groups were recorded. It was then announced we’d be working with the same group throughout the semester on different projects. The first project was for introductions. Screw that.
Class was dismissed and everyone stood to give phone numbers and email addresses out. Not me. I grabbed my bag and darted past Cord and Douchebag for the door. I heard DB grumble behind me, “Dude, are you mental? That girl is crazy.”
I didn’t hear Cord’s response. I was already out the door.
I had two more classes and it was after two before I was done for the day. My stomach was rumbling since I’d skipped lunch and hurried across the quad so I’d get to my third class in time. When I headed to the food court, I spotted Beth and Hannah at a picnic table in the yard. They had books spread across it and Hannah was lying on her side while her cousin was hunched over a book on the other side.
I paused, wondering if I should go over or not, but Beth glanced up and saw me. She waved me over and Hannah lifted her head to see who was coming. She squinted with a hand over her eyes, but dropped her head back down when she saw it was me.
Drawing closer, I nodded to Beth.
She gestured to the empty seat beside her. “Take a seat. You have another class?”
A line was forming outside of the food court doors, but I put my bag on the ground. “I’m done. I was going to grab some food and start studying.”
Hannah groaned. “It’s the first day. You two are nerds.”
Beth shot her a dark look. “We are not. When you’re failing all your classes before finals, don’t come to me for help.”
“Ugh,” her cousin mumbled, scowling back as she sat up on her side and pulled a book in front of her. “Fine. Whatever. You suck.”
A small grin teased the corners of her mouth, but then Beth rolled her eyes. She turned to me, “Take a seat.”
Gesturing to the doors, I started towards them. “I’m going to grab some food. Be right back. Watch my bag?”
She nodded, turning back to her book already.
Hannah frowned at me before I turned all the way around. I couldn’t see from the Aviators she was wearing, but I was sure she was studying me intently. I narrowed my eyes back at her, wondering the reason behind her sudden perusal. She hadn’t given a damn whom I had been when we went to Club T. When I headed back with a salad, muffin, and water, both girls seemed to be reading again. Neither said a word when I sat so I ate my food and pulled out one of my textbooks for my own head start.
“Hannah!” a sharp voice called out.
I checked my phone. We’d been there for an hour.
“Oh gawd,” Hannah groaned. Her forehead went into her book. “Maybe she won’t see me.”
I fought against grinning, but then I didn’t have to fight against it anymore.
Tiffany marched over to us with Chandra and Kara behind her. All of them wore white polos again with the purple GW emblem on the top right corners. Chandra opted for a casual jeans look, though they were tight and left nothing to the imagination. Kara went classy, wearing matching purple capris, but Tiffany stood out the most. She wore a soft white pair of shorts that molded to her form.
The three of them struck a picture among the rest of the Grant West students. Royalty, I snuck a look at Beth. She had used that term before, but I could see it now. These girls were beautiful, all of them.
When Tiffany saw who else was with her sister, her lips thinned, but she ignored me. “Hannah, you never called me back last night.”
Hannah groaned in response, muffled from the book.
Kara glanced at me but turned away quickly.
I fought against biting my lip. That was not guilt rumbling in my stomach. That was my food. That was all.
Chandra stood behind their leader, ready for whatever was going to go down, but when she sent me a questioning glance I knew it was bothering her about Cord. She still didn’t know how I knew him. When Beth let out a small sigh, my attention was distracted. Tiffany stood at Hannah’s head now, glaring down, while her sister continued to ignore her. Beth’s shoulders slumped and before she lowered her head back to her book, I caught the pain that flashed over her.
I straightened where I sat. That wasn’t the sort of pain where she was being ignored or where she knew there was going to be a confrontation between the sisters. That was deep pain, the type that I felt stirring inside of me as a response to seeing it. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, wondering what the hell had gone down in Beth’s life for her to react like that.
Then I shook my head clear. What was I doing? I couldn’t get involved.
“Hannah, I’m speaking to you!”
Her elbow rotated and her hand lifted in the air. The middle finger was extended next.
Beth and I both shared a look, each grinning.
“You’re such a pain in my ass.”
Hannah looked up now and grunted, “Likewise, big pain-in-my-ass sister.”
Tiffany’s glare went up a notch and her hands went to her hips. “You need to call me when you go out drinking. Mom was worried to death about you.”
“Mom wasn’t worried about me. Mom would’ve been cheering me on. You were worried, Tiffany. Stop putting your crap on other people.” She gave her sister a nice eff-off grin. “I have no plans on reporting to you wherever I go, whenever I go, and whoever I do so get that out of your head. You didn’t care last year. You don’t need to now.”
Her hands slid from her hips and her voice quieted, “Hannah, I’m worried about you. Last year, you didn’t have—”
She cut her off, “It’s none of your business. Back off.”
“I’m—”
Hannah shoved her book closed and swept it into her bag as she stood from the table. Pulling her bag onto her back, she was seething at her sister. “Stay out of my business. You do that and we’ll get along fine.”
“But,” Tiffany glanced at Beth, who immediately dropped her head back to her book.
I frowned.
“And don’t look at Beth. Unlike you, she’s actually there for me and trying to support me.”
“I’m trying to do that too.”
Hannah poked her sister in the chest, pushing her back a step. “No, you’re not. You’re trying to control me. Trust me. I feel back-doored up the ass every time you talk to me.”
Her sister’s mouth dropped open and her friends moved away from the two. Tiffany sputtered, “But—Hannah, I don’t—”
“You do.” She silenced her with a look. “Do us both a favor and leave me alone. Focus all your energy on making sure Jamie doesn’t cheat as much as he did last year.”
Tiffany’s face flamed and her shoulders went rigid. Her jaw clenched, but before she could send a scathing retort, Hannah was gone. She jerked towards her cousin instead and clipped out, “Can you make sure she doesn’t end up dead by the end of the s
