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I sit up and rub her back. “What did I say?”
“No one else cares because it didn’t affect you guys the way it did us, my family.”
I grab her shoulders and bring her back to me, lying down so she’s resting on my chest. “That’s their problem. We shouldn’t let it be ours.”
I hear her take a big breath, but she doesn’t respond as we watch the sun set. I hate my father for making her feel this way, but what’s done is done. We need to be able to live our lives without our parents’ feelings on the matter.
The next morning, we walk out of English class with her in front of me, acting like I’m not right behind her. When she turns right, I take a second too long, watching her leave, and am startled when I feel someone slap my stomach.
Instantly, I jump into fight mode until I see Maya standing there with a cheesy grin.
“Oh, I need details,” she says, laughing in shock.
I walk past her, trying to blow her off. “Details about what?”
We head toward the couches, where I plop down and sling my bag onto the floor.
She sits down right next to me and gets in my face with her eyes wide open as she whispers, “Natalie?”
I close my eyes with a chuckle and shake my head.
She slaps my chest again. “OMG. Don’t lie. I figured it could only be her since you guys were working on that project, but I thought,No way.”
I open my eyes and look into hers, not saying a word, but raising my eyebrows to confirm she’s right.
“Seriously?” She bounces in her seat. “Talk about loving the game of cat and mouse. What? You could have any girl at this school, and you just had to get the one girl you couldn’t?”
I laugh out loud. “You know it didn’t go down like that.”
Ben walks up and grabs Maya like he always does and places her down on his lap. “Went down like what?”
“Nothing.” Maya looks off to the side, like she’s five and she has a secret that she won’t tell anyone.
“What, that Natalie and Dalton are fucking?” Ben says nonchalantly.
My head spins almost as fast as Maya’s as we both stare at him.
“You knew?” Maya asks.
“We’re not fucking,” I clarify at the same time.
He looks at me. “Sorry, bro, I just figured you would have by now.”
“How did you know?” Maya asks, and I squint my eyes at him, wondering the same thing.
He responds, so blasé, “Come on. It was obvious. He’s always liked the chase. She’s the ultimate prize.”
“You know it’s not like that,” I defend myself.
“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that. Just don’t let her dad find out,” Ben states.
I throw up my arms in frustration. “Why should we care? She’s so worried about that.”
Ben raises his eyebrows at me. “Then, obviously, you don’t know the whole story.”
“What story? That they moved the company here? Obviously, I know how we ended up back here and not in California.”
Ben shakes his head. “Nope. There’s a reason your dad wanted back here so bad, and it has everything to do with beef between him and Randy Spencer. My dad told me a few years ago. That shit was fucked up. They all tried to act like they moved it here for other reasons but it’s not true. Mine and Maya’s dads went along with it because they wanted our moms back. They’ve keptthese secrets because moving here for love was a way better story than vindictive shit.”
