Elite (Empire High, #2)(13)

I followed Isabella over to her table. She sat down across from Matt, and I sat down next to her.

Matt was staring at Isabella now. But not the way he stared at me. He looked beyond pissed off. I hoped he never looked at me like that. No one said a word to me when I sat down. And I felt myself shrinking. I focused my gaze on my salad and hoped the next twenty minutes would hurry up already.

The person next to me cleared his throat up. I looked up. I hadn’t even realized that Isabella had made me sit right next to James.

He gave me a sheepish smile.

I looked back down at my salad.

“Brooklyn.” He nudged me with his shoulder. “I’m really sorry about your uncle.”

“Thanks.” I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I hated those words. And he wasn’t sorry. Because if he was, he’d apologize for what he did to my uncle. Not apologize for his untimely death. I’m sorry? Screw you.

“And I’m sorry about what happened in the cafeteria before. I didn’t know about your mom. I swear.”

That sounded a little more sincere. But I knew the only reason he was apologizing was because Matt probably made him. And I didn’t want to play games with any of these people. I just wanted to go back to my normal seat. “Why else would I live with my uncle? Did that thought really not cross your mind?”

He ran his fingers through his perfect hair. “Honestly?” he asked, lowering his voice. “I wasn’t thinking at all. That was the whole problem.” He stared down at his food like I had been doing a moment ago.

Something about the action pulled at my heart. He was actually sorry. I could feel it. And ultimately, he was Matt’s friend. Which meant…wasn’t he going to be mine too? And maybe, just maybe, a little bit of the reason I was angry at him was because he was part of the reason keeping Matt away from me. But that was Isabella’s fault, not his. And I couldn’t put that blame on him. I needed to stop blaming him for something he knew nothing about.

“It’s okay,” I said and nudged him with my shoulder like he’d done to me when I first sat down. “Maybe we can just start over? I’m Brooklyn.” I awkwardly held out my hand.

He looked back up at me with a smile on his face. “Deal.” He shook my hand.

“Sissy, you’re not making a good first impression,” Isabella said. “Introduce yourself to everyone, not just James.”

I let my hand fall out of James’. “Oh. Um. Hi, I’m Brooklyn.” But I was pretty sure everyone already knew me. Isabella and her minions had been trying to make my life hell ever since I started going here. Matt obviously knew me. Rob knew me. James knew me. I’d even met Mason once at a party.

“Sup, Sanders?” Rob asked as he shoveled some pasta into his mouth. “Are you really related to Isabella? That’s…wild.”

“Yeah.” I wasn’t sure why it came out as more of a question.

“Sucks to suck,” Mason said with a laugh. “Just kidding. So you’re friends with Felix and Cupcake?” He nodded at the table behind me.

I didn’t turn around. I knew they were probably staring over here. And I was worried if I turned around I’d run back over to them. “Mhm.” I took a bite of salad and prayed that no one else would speak to me.

“So now that we’re friends, does that mean I get a discount?” asked Mason.

I stared at him. First of all, he’d only ever spoken a few sentences to me. The only things I knew about Mason were that he was the Empire High quarterback and he liked to smoke pot on the weekends. That didn’t make us friends. And second of all…what was he even talking about? A discount on drugs? Because Felix stopped selling. Mason must realize that. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I took another bite of lettuce.

Mason put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. I couldn’t help but think that somewhere out there, someone would have fainted at the sight of such a brash disregard for etiquette. “Of course you do,” he said. “Everyone knows that you and Felix are…close.”

The word “close” was laced in innuendo. It felt like my lettuce went down the wrong pipe and I started coughing. I swallowed a huge gulp of water and tried to ignore Matt’s angry gaze. “We’re not that close,” I said as soon as I could speak again.

“Great, you met Mason,” Isabella said.

For a second I thought she was saving me from the awkward conversation. But then she opened her mouth again.

“And speaking of close, this is Matt,” she said. “We’re super close.” She said the word the same way Mason had. “And I think you two have a class together, right?”

I looked up at Matt. The intensity from his gaze was gone. He nodded. “Yup.” He didn’t offer anything else.

Everyone at the table was quiet.

James was kind to me. Rob was his usual funny self. Mason was…at least interested in talking to me. But that one simple yup hurt more than I wanted to admit. A few hours ago he’d asked me to be his girlfriend. And now he couldn’t even look at me? I wasn’t sure if I was cut out for a secret relationship.

“The other night when Matt and I were hanging out…he told me that you two and Rob have a group project together,” said Isabella. “It’ll be so fun now that we can all just hang out and work on it at my place. Sorry…our place.” She smiled at me with all her sweet insincerity.