“I don’t know if I’d call myself either of those things.”
“But don’t you live at the Ashworth Estate?”
She nods. “Yes, but my family’s not rich. At best, we’re middle-class.”
“That’s not bad. It’s still rich for a lot of people. It’s way further up the ladder than a girl from Logan’s Point.”
“What’s wrong with Logan’s Point?” Christie asks. “Ash keeps prodding me to go hiking there.”
“It’s perfectly acceptable for adventuring, but it’s unacceptable to live in. The town itself is rundown.”
“Oh. You’d think people from Victoria Falls would pump money into its economy.”
I smirk. “Then they wouldn’t have somewhere to look down their noses at.”
Christie giggles behind a cupped hand. “Sounds about right.”
“What are you two talking about?” Ash asks.
“Logan’s Point,” Christie answers. “And why it’s so-calledunacceptable?”
Milo huffs. “It’s so dumb. Just an excuse for people to be mean.”
Tummy flutter. Again. Ugh. Chill out, stomach.
“I have to say it again. These shakes are amazing. Gosh, I can’t believe I’ve never been here before,” Christie says with amazement. “Meghan always likes going to Village Coffee at the other end of Main Street.”
I swallow hard and fidget against the vinyl seat cushion. “Meghan? As in Meghan Fisher?”
Christie nods. “Yeah. You know her?”
A sour frown pulls at my lips. “Oh, I’m aware of her.”
“Oh.” Christie blows out a hard breath. “I always forget. She was a mean girl at Ashworth Academy before I moved here.”
“It’s fine. Let’s just blow past the subject,” I say, shaking my head.
“Hi kids,” Coach Anders says with a wave as he strolls toward the counter.
Everyone says hello back, and I can’t help but grizzle.
“What was that about?” Ash asks. “Is there a problem with Coach Anders? Because if you need me to…”
“No!” I blurt, pushing my hands out like stop signs. “Coach Anders is the greatest teacher at our school. If you do anything, push the administration to give him a raise.”
Ash smirks. “So, what was with the hostility?”
“He benched me from the soccer team.”
“That’s rough. What did you do?”
“Have sucky grades.” I frown until a shiny idea pops into my head. “Hey, wait a minute. Can you help with that?”
Ash’s eyebrows lift. “Help with what?”
“You’re like the king of the school, aren’t you? Can you make a call and get the school to stop threatening to take away my scholarship?”
Ash winces. “I don’t think so. It’ll set a dangerous precedent.”
