Page 161 of Tell No Lies

Mr. Cox lectured for only twenty minutes today before taking his seat and ignoring us. Without turning, I knew—well, I could feel—Mike glaring at my back. Nick shot him a look as he reached across the aisle and pulled me over.

“Don’t let him bother you. He’s an idiot for letting you go, but now the rest of us have a chance.” He winked and nudged me in the ribs, my most sensitive ticklish spot.

Before I could contain it, laughter escaped. It wasn’t the polite, quiet kind either.

Once Nick realized what he did, he repeated his poking until I was in tears from laughing. The dull noise of conversations ceased as everyone turned to look at me.

“Control yourself, Ms. Tate.”

I held up my hand, waving that I understood, but I couldn’t stop. It felt too good to be carefree, even for a few seconds.

By the time I composed myself, the rest of the class moved on, but I glanced back to find Mike looking at me with a mixture of hatred and jealousy. I was so caught off guard that I locked eyes with him for a split second. He shook his head and lowered his gaze.

Apparently, I wasn’t allowed to be happy ever again, or even show signs of enjoying myself. He probably thought I was going to move on to Nick next.

When I looked back at Nick, he was wiping tears from his eyes. “Part of me is sorry for doing that, but the other, bigger part is so happy I found out your kryptonite.”

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

“Wrong superhero.”

I rolled my eyes and organized the mess on my desk. My notebook and papers were everywhere from my little episode.

☼ ☼ ☼

I got used to the awkward smile and small wave Sean gave me at the end of fourth period now. I waved back and gathered my things before walking out of class. Hopefully, Gage would be around, and I wouldn’t be alone again.

When I got to his bench, it was empty. I began to panic, but a hand grabbed my shoulder and tugged me forward. Gage was standing next to me with a small smile on his face.

“Waiting for me?”

I set my books down and pulled an apple out of my bag. “Nope.” I bit in and giggled as juice ran down my chin.

He brought his finger up and wiped it away. “Oh, so that wasn’t sheer panic I saw on your face?”

“Nope.”

“Liar.” He stretched his arms over his head. “You’re welcome to my humble bench anytime.”

“Thank you.” I tried to be more ladylike with my next bite and succeeded in not making another mess.

“I should start charging you rent if this is going to be a long-term thing.”

“We broke up, so you might want to start a tab for me. I don’t think my friends will be forgiving me anytime soon.” I took another bite and waited for his reaction.

His eyebrows rose, but that was all he gave away. “Well, that didn’t last long. Even we would have done better than that. Not that you belong with me. I mean, I’m a whole different type of crazy, but you deserve better than a guy like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mike only wants a trophy.” He waited for my reaction, probably thinking of a slap across the face. When he saw it was safe, he continued. “No offense, but he liked the idea of you more than he liked you. He never even knew you.”

I threw my apple into the bin across from us with a little too much force. “Of course he did! I’ve known him since I moved here. I knew him just as well as he knew me.”

His hands flew up defensively. “I didn’t say that. I said he never knew you.”

The difference was blatantly obvious now that he’d pointed it out.

“Did you guys ever just talk like this? Have you told him about your dreams of becoming a professional dancer? No? And why not? Because he doesn’t take what you do seriously. Even though he’s seen how crazy talented you are.”