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“Thank you for the ride. I just figured you wanted to get out of there….”

I didn’t ask if he was okay. It would have been the final straw if he thought I felt sorry for him.

I opened the door, feeling a little sick. My face turned bright red. “I just wanted to say, I’m sorry I lied about Barton Springs.” As soon as I said it, I shook my head, knowing I needed to stop. “Anyway…bye.”

I waited for an appropriate response from him, but all he did was nod, and I was left feeling like I was on uneven footing. As I got out of the car and closed the door behind me, I tried to read his mind. Nothing happened.





The next morning I walked to English class later than usual, wanting to dodge John in case he decided to question me about how I’d led him to Tom and Sarah. As I approached the classroom, I realized someone inside was talking about me.

“She was in his car?”

“That’s what I heard. God, she’s so pretty, but scary pretty. I bet she could eat Sarah.”

That made me laugh. How the hell had I ended up embroiled in gossip with one of the kings of the school? And just when people had stopped staring so much.

“Do you think they’ll get together?”

“I don’t know….”

“Why the hell is she even here?”

I stopped listening when I realized John and his brother were walking right behind me. I had learned John’s brother’s name was Alex, and I knew he was just a year younger—similar to the age difference between Liv and me. I’d seen him from afar and knew exactly who he was after hearing talk about the Fords.

“Dude, you have to deal with her at some point,” Alex was saying. “Do you even care?”

“I care that she lied to me. And that she didn’t break up with me because it made her life exciting. Maybe if I had known about this last year when I was away and so into her, I would have been crushed. Now, though, it’s not going to be hard to forget about her.”

“Damn, you’re cold. So now the way is clear for Julia Jaynes….” Quickly I realized Alex was joking.

Sarah was waiting by the entrance to our classroom. Face-to-face, she had the nerve to give me a dirty look. She couldn’t be serious.

“John.” Sarah looked past me, her eyes red and puffy.

“You don’t need to say anything.” John passed me and looked like he was going to head straight into the classroom, but Sarah blocked his way.

Tom was coming toward us from the other direction and then slowed, wanting to avoid the scene. Alex kept walking to class and shoulder-checked Tom on his way. “You’re a piece of shit,” Alex called over his shoulder. Tom didn’t bother to respond.

I had planned on going back to pretending John and I were strangers. I could read his mind from afar. But now I couldn’t resist.

It was a risk, since I wasn’t sure how John felt about me now. I walked up to him and put my hand on his arm.

“Ready?” I asked him.

If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. He nodded and we walked into English, leaving Sarah in our wake, everyone looking at us as we entered together.

When we took our seats, I expected to be able to read his mind.

Nothing. Dammit. I didn’t understand why it happened when it did.

Tom walked in and, eyes glued to the floor, took a seat near the front. I felt everyone look from him to John.

Was he upset that his whole group of friends would be forced to pick sides? I realized I was even more frustrated that I couldn’t read his mind because I was curious. I also wanted to know if John hated me now.

Class started, and Mrs. Bartell announced a pop quiz on Beloved, the book we’d been assigned to start last week. John probably wasn’t prepared. He seemed tired.

Tom was the one chosen to hand out the list of questions we could write about. I wouldn’t reach out to help him, so he had to place the papers on my desk. I peeled one off the stack and handed the rest to John.

He reached out, but I let go too soon and papers started to fall. We reached out to catch them at the same time, and our hands touched accidentally.

“Sorry. Thanks,” he mumbled. I was surprised to see him blush.

“No problem. Did you read the book?” I whispered, and he leaned his head closer to mine to hear what I was saying. People were passing out the papers and hadn’t settled down to write yet.

“Not all of it.”

“Okay. Just write about the first chapter and introducing character and how it’s done.” He gave me a strange look. “This is the last thing I would want to do if I were you,” I said by way of explanation. So much for ignoring him.

“Time is starting now,” Mrs. Bartell said officially from the front of the classroom. Everyone dug into the assignment, including John.

I turned my attention to it, dreading having to pretend this would really take forty minutes of my time. I don’t know why I decided to write what I wanted to write. I’d just have to replace it with a dumbed-down essay ten minutes before the end of class.

“Five more minutes,” Mrs. Bartell eventually chimed. I crumpled up my dissertation and switched over to start the new essay. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed John was finished with his essay and watching me. Shit. I quickly wrote the dumbed-down version.