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Madison stood by the sinks with her arms folded, her reflection in the mirror portraying her fury. She wasn’t wearing any makeup today, which was out of the norm for her. Without the concealer under her eyes, she looked tired. However, when she spoke, her voice was filled with energy, almost as angry-sounding as Jade’s. “Ever heard ofprivacy?”
My stomach dropped as if I was on a rollercoaster. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Denying it makes you look stupid, you know. The only spot that photo could’ve been taken was from your bedroom window.” Her normally full lips thinned. “And now you’re over here eavesdropping on Jade and Connor? What, you run Brentwood Babble now?”
I couldn’t see it, but I could feel my cheeks flame, irritation spiking me. “I couldn’t care less about stupid gossip.”
“Oh, yeah? Then why did you take a picture of Logan and me last night?”
Logan. I didn’t recognize the name, but then again, as a girl who pretty much surgically removed herself from that part of school life, not knowing wasn’t a surprise. “Maybe I wanted to get back at you,” I told her, forcing my lips into a thin line. “Maybe this is payback.”
She knew exactly what I was talking about. “Oh my gosh, Maisie, come on. You didn’t know the choreography.”
“Yeah, becauseyoutaught me the wrong routine.”
Her chest rose and fell fast, as if she’d finished sprinting around the track field. “If you were serious about cheer, you would’ve made sure you had the right choreo yourself.”
“I didn’t expect my best friend to sabotage me.”
Madison let out a sharp groan and turned toward the mirrors, bracing her hands on the porcelain sink. “You don’t get how big of a deal it is, being caught with him. I could get kicked off the squad.”
The seriousness of her words connected with me in a way I wished they hadn’t. We were in the same boat, and she didn’t even know it. Or maybeweweren’t, not really—I didn’t have any skin in this tutoring game aside from getting valedictorian. My friends would be mad that I kept it a secret, yes, but I didn’t have much at stake. Madison andConnorwere in the same boat.
When did it begin to feel like Connor’s fate intertwined with mine?
“Maybe this wasn’t payback,” I said, but there was no heat to my voice anymore. Apparently, bathroom confrontations with Madison were a new regular for us, but I had too much weighing me down for a proper argument. “Maybe it was karma.”
Madison took a sharp step toward me, enough that I almost flinched back. “I did you a favor and we both know it.”
In the sea of laughing people all those years ago, she’d been the only one I’d focused on. Ironically, she’d been the only onenotlooking. She’d ducked her head, too embarrassed for eye contact.
Squaring my shoulders, I took a shuffling step backward. “Maybe one day you’ll think the same of me,” I said, wrapping my hand around the bathroom door handle. “That I did you a favor.”
Before I had the chance to tug, the door swung open, nearly clipping me in the forehead. Jade pulled up short of storming into the narrow bathroom, and before she schooled her features, I caught a glimpse of the true emotion. Frustration simmered in her eyes and worry tugged at her mouth—two emotions that seemed out of place on her.
And then, when she registered who stood before her, it was all wiped away by a twist of annoyance. “Excuse you,” she said by way of a greeting, in true Jade fashion, and brushed past me. “If you don’t mind, Math Book, I need to talk to my best friend.”
Without meeting anyone’s eyes, I slipped back out into the hallway, slouching forward as if someone punched me in the stomach. My knees were shaky, an aftershock of bringing up the past.
I did you a favor and we both know it. So even now, all these years later, she couldn’t see that what she did was wrong.
She didn’t do me a favor—she did herself one.
With a sigh, I straightened. The spot where Connor and Jade had been standing was empty now, though, but the hall clung to the tense atmosphere. Jade didn’t sound as mad as I would’ve expected her to be, hearing her boyfriend could potentially be cheating. Then again, Connor didn’t seem that desperate to convince her otherwise, either.
Curiosity ate at me as I tried to imagine where the conversation had gone, my mind replaying the snippets that I’d heard.
Jade’s bare irritation.We’ve talked about this. We’regoodtogether.
Connor’s detached reply.Are we?
Connor had said that he didn’t believe in love in high school, but I couldn’t help but wonder what was keeping them together if itwasn’tlove. How had they lasted two years without a deep connection? I didn’t have an answer, but as I headed back into the lunchroom, I remembered Connor’s words from once upon a time.If that’s love, I don’t want it.
Once I buckled myself into Connor’s passenger seat, I leaned back with my book bag in my lap, knotting the strap around my hands. The sandalwood of his bodywash was a warm and familiar scent that greeted me, putting me at ease. “What, you didn’t think the germ-infested closet was good enough for round two?”
“It might not have been my best idea.” Connor grimaced as he got the words out, wrinkling his nose. “No, scratch that. It was probably the worst idea I’ve ever had.”
“Did you get things sorted with Jade?” It felt weird asking, like I was crossing a line, but then again, we talked about my relationship with Alex. Was it weird to ask him about Jade?
