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“Careful,” I told her, refusing to waver in the glare I sent her way. “With how clumsy I am, I’d hate for all that grease to get on your costume.”
Jade and Madison wore their cheer outfits, the blue pleated skirt falling way too high on Jade’s mid-thigh. Her white sweater was pristine underneath the blue vest, not a grass stain or dirt smudge in sight. Like Rachel and Ava, she had pawprints drawn onto her cheeks, everything about her oozing Brentwood High cheer.
“Jade.” Madison, who’d been lingering a step behind, tugged at her friend’s arm. “Come on. Let’s get a table.”
Jade shrugged her off. “Go find us a good one, Mads. I’m catching up with Alex and Math Book. Alex, how’s the trombone?”
“He plays the tuba,” I muttered.
Alex grinned. “It’s great. You know, I’m one of the two tuba players in the entire band.”
Without any further push, Alex went down the rabbit hole of geeking out over instruments, ketchup still on the corner of his mouth. I watched Jade fake her interest, her amusement, like he was a toy to entertain herself with. Behind her, Madison pressed her lips tightly together, as if she were debating on saying something else.
“Alex.” Jade cut him off suddenly, leaning even further over the table. “You’re such a cool dude, you know that? The tuba…powerful instrument for a powerful guy.”
Kyle’s mouth scrunched up with disgust at the idea of her flirting with him. Same, Kyle. Same. “I’m going to sit down. Come join me when you’re done gossiping.” He flipped his hand underneath Madison’s ponytail as he walked past, giving it a playful tug.
The door chimed once more as another person joined the fray. Connor’s hair was damp, and he had his varsity jacket loose over his shoulders. It was too hot out for it, but he wore the ugly blue and gold thing anyway. When he spotted us, and how Jade towered over our table, he stopped mid-stride. “What’s going on?”
“We’re chatting.” Jade pressed her fingertips to our table, nearly upsetting my plate. “Waiting for you to park the car. What took you so long?”
“I had to parallel park.” Connor didn’t even look at me, but I squirmed in my seat. “If you’re done talking, I’m starving.”
Alex clamored to his feet, chair screeching as he shoved it backward. “Connor, man, you did great tonight. That final touchdown? Man, itsailedright into your arms, didn’t it?”
Connor’s expression brightened with the compliment, voice radiating charm. “Gotta have a solid pass for a solid touchdown. Landon did all the hard work. I was just in the right place at the right time.”
Jade gave up her attempts at ambushing our table and walked over to Connor, pressing her palm on his chest and playing with the zipper of his jacket. It was a lingering touch, one that seemed highly inappropriate in the middle of the rinky-dink diner. “Don’t downplay it, baby. You were great.”
Without hesitation, Connor swiped up her hand, entwining their fingers. “Let’s go sit down.”
She let him lead her away, but only a few steps before she pulled up short. The entire time, Madison stayed right behind her, and aside from her one comment, she’d been silent like her lips had been zipped shut. “Oh, and Maisie?” Jade gave her signature grin. “Bring Connor back his sweatpants on Monday. Don’t be creepy and keep them in your closet.”
There was a clear window for Connor to say anything. Something like “it’s fine, no rush.” Something like “don’t be a jerk, Jade.” He didn’t laugh like she did, thank God, but he also didn’t tell her to stop either. He didn’t say anything.
Even though they’d walked off, the atmosphere they’d left at our table weighed me to my chair. Jade and Madison, I knew. Their attitudes weren’t anything new. The glimpse of a halfway decent person I’d seen yesterday wasn’t Connor Bray’s true self. This guy, holding hands with the head cheerleader and thriving off compliments from others, was the real one.
I was snapped from my thoughts when Alex grabbed his plate with one hand, swiped up his soda with the other, and acted like he was about to stand up. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“Let’s go pull up a chair and sit with them,” he said quickly. “There’s enough room.”
My hand shot out, latching onto one of his wrists. His coke swished, almost like we were going to get a round two of Niagara Falls. “Are you joking?”
“Of course not.” His eyes were round as he turned to me. “This is the perfect chance! I mean, they talked to us first. Let’s go join them.”
Did he honestly not pick up on the animosity emanating from Jade like a bad perfume? He didn’t get it at all? I gaped at him, lost for words.
“I’m not sitting with them,” I told him in a low voice, heart fluttering with something like panic. “If you’re going over there, you’re going without me.”
Alex glanced over at the Top Tier table, the longing in his dark eyes crystal clear. He was going to sit down. The hands holding his plate and Coke wavered, and he was going to put them back on the table. We were going to finish our food, and maybe round our date night off with getting a piece of Wallflower’s signature chocolate cake. He was going to sit back down.
After a second, Alex did not sit back down. “Maisie.”
That feeling definitely had been panic. “You drove me!”
Alex’s excitement turned into desperation. He wore an expression of a kid begging his mom to buy him a toy from the store. “You brought your phone, right? I’m sure Rachel wouldn’t mind coming to pick you up.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Please, Maisie. This is my chance.”
Chance. Chance to…what? Weasel his way into the Top Tier?His chance. At the expense of me. Except he didn’t see that.
