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We’d hung around a few times with Miles and Harleigh. It didn’t make us friends. It made us acquaintances at best. But he had been there for Harleigh at the beginning of the semester. I guess I owed him that much.
“I was thinking of heading to the Hawks game in Teller Valley tonight. Want to tag along?”
“You’re inviting me to a football game? A Hawks game?”
“Pretty sure that’s what I said.”
“Why?”
“Because it’ll be less weird if I turn up with you since you’re practically family.”
“I… what?”
Nate studied me, waiting for it to click. When it did, a strange pang of something went through me. “They didn’t invite you.”
“Did they invite you?”
“I… no.” My heart clenched. Chloe had told me about the game. About how her and Harleigh were riding with Jessa. But she hadn’t invited me.
Harleigh hadn’t even mentioned it.
“So let’s gatecrash.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Because it’s fun?” He shrugged. “Because it beats sitting at home in my room wondering why I don’t fit in with the kids at DA. Because I want to make life happen, not sit around waiting for it to happen.”
“Teller Valley is hours away. We’d have to leave now if we wanted to make it.” A quiver of anticipation zipped through me.
Nate flashed me a devious smile. “Ever cut class before, Rowe?”
I shook my head.
“There’s a first time for everything.”
Mom and Dad would kill me. But that only spurred me on. I never broke the rules. I always colored inside the lines. Always played it safe.
But Nate was right. You couldn’t sit around waiting for life to happen. You had to live for the moment.
“Let’s do it.”
“Atta girl.”
I glanced down the hall as if I half-expected Principal Diego to appear, ready to reprimand me. Max had cut class more times than I could count. But I’d never wanted to tarnish my attendance record.
In this moment though, doing something for me—something completely unexpected of me—was more important than any punishment.
Besides, Nix and Kye were my friends too. Cheering them on so close to the playoffs was a normal thing to want to do.
“This way.” Nate nodded toward the fire exit.
“Wait, isn’t that—”
He slammed his shoulder into it, and it swung open. “The mechanism is broken. I’ve been using it for years.”
“You… oh.”
He chuckled. “Don’t look so worried. I know all DA’s little secrets. Including the blind spots in the cameras.”
