So Many Boys (The Naughty List #2)(15)

I pulled my lips into a pout. Seeing Chloe today was particularly irksome. At least I didn’t have to deal with Christian. The brother-sister duo would have been a little too much, especially right now.

My phone vibrated in my pocket again. I exhaled, slightly unnerved by Chloe’s mention of Aiden, and slid out my cell to check the number. It was the same unfamiliar one from before.

“Hello?” I asked, my eyebrows pulled together.

“Tessa? Hey, it’s Mary.”

I squealed. “Mary! How are you?” Mary Rudick was our ex-captain and the founder of SOS. She was, like, the ultimate in pep preservation, so she’d called at the perfect moment. “I haven’t talked to you in forever!” We barely spoke now that she was going to school in California.

“I know,” she apologized, her voice raspy but upbeat as always. “I’ve been going crazy with these courses. College. Is. Super-hard.”

“That’s what Aiden tells me.”

“Aiden? He—I mean, I thought Kira told me you two broke up.”

“Sort of,” I said, my stomach turning at the mention of it. “But we’re…um, anyway, he goes to Washington State now. He’s always studying.”

“Oh, well, that’s good,” she said, then paused. “I’ve been there a few times. It’s a beautiful campus.”

I frowned. “I’ve never been up there.” At that, I wondered why none of my sessions with Aiden had taken place on campus. Hm. I’d have to ask him if I could come visit.

“Actually,” Mary said, sounding suddenly serious. “I was wondering if you had a sec. I wanted to talk with you about something.”

Even though I loved to talk cheer, there was the pesky matter of the note in my hand from Principal Pelli’s office. “Do you think I could call you when I get to lunch?” I asked, reaching behind me to rub at my back muscle. “I’m at school, and Principal Pelli just summoned me to the office.”

“Are you in trouble?” Mary asked.

“Don’t think so. Probably just a new student to shadow me or something.” I swallowed hard, remembering the last time a new student came to this school. He ended up with his tongue in my mouth. Gross. “But I’d love to catch up,” I added into the phone, shaking the uncomfortable memory.

“For sure,” Mary said. “It’s…no big deal. I just wanted to touch base. I’ve missed you girls and I couldn’t get through on the SOS phone, so I thought I’d try your cell.”

My heart skipped a beat. None of us had told Mary that we’d dissolved SOS. When she went to school here, she’d put her all into SOS. In fact, nearly every detail of the society came from her. She might freak if she found out we stopped without consulting her, and, well, we didn’t want to disappoint her.

“Sounds great,” I said, gnawing at the corner of my bottom lip. “The squad will be stoked to talk to you.” And they would. I’d just have to make sure they kept it short and sweet. I wouldn’t want Mary’s college workload to be impaired by stress. And I certainly didn’t want her getting wind of this copy-Kitten nonsense. After all, her rep was on the line too.

“Talk soon,” she sang.

I took a deep breath and shoved my phone back into my pocket. This was a very delicate situation, one I’d have to take charge of. Whatever we did, we’d have to act fast. And most importantly, we’d need to keep it quiet.

When I entered the front office, the smell of paper and potpourri immediately struck me. The dark-haired, middle-aged secretary behind the desk waved. She was great like that. Total spirit addict.

“Morning, Tessa. How are you?” Her desk tag said Mrs. Lambert, but she let all of the students call her Peggy. Unfortunately a few people called her Piggy behind her back, but I always made sure to correct them. There was no excuse for unwarranted rude behavior.

“I’m doing very well,” I said, smiling. “Thanks for asking. Principal Pelli sent for me?” I handed her the note and reached up to adjust the ribbon of my ponytail, stopping when I realized that the ribbon wasn’t there. I instead smoothed out my hair in one nervous movement.

“Oh, right.” Peggy snapped her fingers. “He wanted to talk to you about homecoming.”

“Homecoming?” Perspiration was beginning to gather under my arms, which was a disturbing development. I’d never had perspiration problems before. “Why me?”

“Because you’re head of the Washington High welcoming committee. If it’s a problem, I’m sure he can call Kira—”

“No,” I interrupted. “I’m still the president of the homecoming committee. He’s right. Sorry.” I didn’t want to burden Kira with anything more and hey, at least I was still in charge of something. “He’s expecting me?” I asked.

Peggy reached up to put the end of her pen between her teeth. “Yeah, you can go in.” She nodded toward his door.

“Thanks,” I tried to sound perky. I walked across the carpet, and just before I opened his glass door, Peggy called out to me.

“Tessa?”

“Yes?”

“The squad’s not quite the same without you.” She looked nostalgic. I remembered her at the games last year, front row, painted face. My cheeks warmed as I met her small eyes.