Page 118 of Ruthless Court

I take his laptop and enlarge the picture.

Hannah’s hair is down. Contacts. Makeup. No oversized hoodie hiding her shape. At the parking lot, she looked soft in places Bookworm never showed beneath all that fabric.

Still, the chin is the same.

The small tilt of her mouth.

The large gray eyes.

Without those heavy frames, I missed them.

“She let me ask if she had a twin.”

Eli laughs.

“She watched you flirt with her while you described her to her face.”

“She said she didn’t know Sandy.”

“You got played by a girl who carries emergency pens.”

“I did not get played.”

“She gave you a fake name, disappeared in an ivy maze, then reintroduced herself and let you think she was someone else.”

I hand back the laptop.

“She’s going to be in class Monday.”

“Good. Ask her out.”

“I will.”

“What are you going to say?”

I picture Hannah in the parking lot.

The smile she tried to hide when I asked about Sandy.

The way she looked straight at me and denied knowing herself.

Eli closes the laptop.

“I’m not sure yet. She thinks she’s smarter than me.”

“She might be.”

I look at him.

He lifts both hands.

“You asked for honesty.”

“I didn’t.”

“Still free.”

He heads toward the door, laughing.