Fallen Crest Public (Fallen Crest High #3)(9)

Jasmine hissed behind her, “Don’t you talk to her like that—”

“Like what?” Ethan shot back at her.

That stopped her. All the wind she had ready to let loose fell flat. Her eyes darted to his, and she couldn’t look away.

Ethan leaned back against the car beside Logan, and shoved his hands into his front pockets. His shoulders hunched forward, but his gaze never left hers. They were dead-locked as he added, “You’re going to tell us what to do? You’re going to tell me what to do, Jaz?”

“Stop.” Her throat moved as she visibly swallowed. “Ethan—”

“No, Jaz. You picked your side. We’re not friends with you guys anymore.”

Her shoulders flinched as if he’d punched her.

He nodded in my direction. “And you know why.”

She didn’t turn and look. She only took another deep breath before her head went down, and she shuffled backwards. Natalie touched her arm softly, and then sidled beside Kate. She whispered something to the other girl, quiet enough so no one else could hear, and Kate’s only response was a heavy nod.

All the fight had left her.

I waited, watching the entire thing fold out. I didn’t take pleasure in this, but I wasn’t going to let Kate get a pass, not when I knew she was just starting. The chances were high that she already had a plan in place, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if her next move was to go inside and say something to Sam. She’d pick a public arena, let everyone know that they shouldn’t become friends with Sam, or they’d have to suffer the consequences of dealing with her.

As she jerked her head and headed inside, her friends followed behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, and met my gaze for a single heartbeat.

I saw the rage. I even understood it, but when she caught the warning from me to let it go, her rage doubled. The look only lasted a second, but it was long enough. We both knew neither of us would budge.

It was war.

Kate thought she was fighting Sam, but she wasn’t. Kate was fighting me. She just didn’t know it.

I became aware of Logan next to me. “What was the look she gave me?”

We watched the girls go inside. “She’s smug about something. I didn’t like it.”

“About me?”

“I don’t know.” I glanced at him. “Any reason she’d be like that about you?”

He frowned and shrugged. “Not that I can think of anything, but I know she thinks she can get you back.”

“I know.” I didn’t care about that. I wanted to know what she was thinking when she looked at my brother like that. Studying Logan, I knew he was telling the truth. He was clueless, but that made me wonder even more. Did she have something planned to hurt him? Hurt Logan. Hurt Sam. Hurt the ones around me?

I didn’t know. Yet.

Logan added, “She thinks that if she destroys Sam, you’ll go back to her. Doesn’t she?”

“Yeah.”

Logan started laughing again. “New definition to the phrase ‘dumb bitch’.”

My gaze lingered on the door, even after it closed behind them. Logan thought this was going to be fun, but he had no idea. It was going to get ugly. I knew it, and I was ready for it.

As soon as I was through the doors, Heather linked her arm with mine and pulled me close. Dressed in faded jeans and a loose black shirt, I had to grin when the V-neck dipped low. She didn’t mean to, but she oozed sexuality. I had a feeling Heather Jax would look provocative in a grocery bag and she had no idea. Her eyes weren’t clueless. They were sharp and focused as she asked, “What was that about?”

“Your ex-bestie.”

She froze in mid-step, but was jostled from someone passing by and jerked me to the side for a split second. “Sorry.” She patted me, withdrawing her arm at the same time. “Tate was out there?”

“She gave Logan googly-eyes.”

Heather grimaced, side stepping a group of freshmen girls before swinging back to my side. “And let me guess, Mason didn’t like that, did he?”

“No.”

She rolled her eyes. “Tate’s a bitch. I side with your boyfriend on this one. If she’s already looking at Logan, who knows what she’ll be capable of doing later.”

“You make her sound like a villain.”

“She is.” Stopping at a locker, Heather wheeled the lock and opened it. Putting her books inside, she added, “Whatever Tate is saying, don’t believe her. We didn’t really talk about her before, but there’s more to the story then whatever Mason told you.”

That didn’t sound good. “He told me that she dated Logan and, two years into their relationship she hit on him. There’s more than that?”

A hollow laugh came from her. “Oh, a hell of a lot more. Things that Mason and Logan don’t even know about.”

I narrowed my eyes and moved closer. The hallway was packed. A lot of people were watching us, or me. A sudden wave of nervousness came over me. I had pushed aside the normal first-day-of-school-jitters with seeing Tate in the parking lot, but they were back now. They came back hard, but when I grinned at a few girls, they rolled their eyes and turned their backs to me. If that wasn’t subtle, I didn’t know what was. I was not welcome here. Glancing at a few others, they stared right back. I tried smiling at a few more, but I got varying responses. None welcoming. A few others continued to stare back as if I hadn’t smiled at them, while a couple narrowed their eyes at me. The ones who turned away, bent forward to whisper with their friends. I had a feeling this was my welcome to Fallen Crest Public. I’d have to get used to it.