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A glob of peanut butter gets caught in my throat. That’s about the last question I expected Cassie to ever ask me. “Date?”
“Yeah. People were…talking. Earlier.” Cassie’s expression turns apologetic, like listening to gossip is a betrayal.
Nothing involving me ordinarily interests anyone besides Cassie, but the entire table’s attention is suddenly focused my way. I scoff loudly, eager to dispel any confusion on this topic. “We’ve never dated.Would neverdate.”
“Everyone knows Caleb and Lennon don’t get along,” Shannon Jones says.
I’m grateful Shannon is agreeing with me, but I also have to suppress a sigh. That’s all I’m known for in Landry: my last name and my contentious interactions with the star pitcher.
Eliza Gray laughs from her spot across from me. “Remember the spelling bee freshman year?”
Tina Smith leans forward to speak past Cassie. “Oh my God, I forgot about the spelling bee. I had culinary with them sophomore year. Caleb swapped out your sugar for salt, right Lennon?”
“Right.” I take another bite of my sandwich, growing increasingly annoyed with the topic of conversation. More of the girls mention encounters between me and Caleb, most of them moments I hadn’t even realized others noticed.
“Don’t forget that debate they had in History last year!” Shannon adds.
“I still say Johnson shouldn’t have been impeached.” A new voice joins our conversation from directly behind me.
A familiar one.
A male one.
The only thing worse than being caught in a conversation about Caleb Winters? Having Caleb Winters overhear it.Knowinghe overheard it.
An immediate, total silence falls over the table.
“Eavesdropping, Winters?” I keep my voice as nonchalant as I can manage, glad Caleb can’t see my face.
I have no idea what he’s doing over here. The baseball team rarely strays from its coveted corner table, lording over the rest of the school from its spot at the top of the high school social hierarchy.
“Doubt I missed hearing anything good if you were involved in the discussion, Matthews.”
I glance over one shoulder at Caleb, ignoring the wide eyes of my tablemates. “Did you need something, or did you just come over here to annoy me?”
“What makes you think I came over here to talk to you?” Caleb grins. It’s dimpled. Devilish. I pretend it doesn’t affect me, but there’s an annoying flutter in my stomach. “Maybe I came over here to talk to someone else.”
“Don’t get my hopes up.”
Caleb smiles again, but this time it’s more genuine. It’s wry, not polished or practiced. “We never decided on our project details. Hell, I’m not even sure we settled on a book. And then you ran as soon as the bell rang.”
“I did notrun. The bell signals the end of class. And I had to get to the math wing. I’ll do the outline, okay?”
“Without me?”
“I’ll put your name on it, Winters.”
“Do you really want to have this conversation? Again?”
I heave out a long sigh that I fill with as much exasperation as I can muster. Which is a sizable amount. “Why do you have to be so freaking difficult?” I ask Caleb as I stand up and grab the rest of my sandwich.
“I’mthe difficult one?”
I scoff before striding over toward a mostly empty table about twenty feet away. Only a few other students, who look to be freshman, are huddled at the opposite end. I drop down on one side, and Caleb takes the seat across from me.
“So…how often do you spend lunch gossiping about me?”
I should have known he wouldn’t let that drop so easily. “First and last time,” I inform him.
