Elite (Empire High, #2)(47)

“But, Brooky, we’re sisters now. It’s okay if I call you Brooky, right?”

I just stared at her. “I prefer Brooklyn.”

“Okay, great, I’ll just call you Sissy then. So we’re on for lunch then?”

How were either of those things the conclusions that she came to? But just then Matt walked past us. Our eyes locked for a second and he ran his index finger against his nose and then winked. I was pretty sure I melted right there. It wouldn’t be as bad now that we had a signal, right? Maybe it would be nice to sit with him this time. I quickly looked away before Isabella could notice. “I’ll think about it,” I said.

Her smile grew, and for the first time I wasn’t sure if it was fake. She actually looked relieved. “Daddy will be so pleased with this news. I know it’s his wish for us to become close. And now I can tell him we’re doing just that. See you later, Sissy.” She blew me a kiss and her and her posse clicked off, everyone in the hallway parting for them to pass.

“Sissy?” Kennedy said under her breath. “Could she be any more manipulative?”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m not actually going to sit with her. But I don’t think she’s planning anything sinister today.”

“Oh yeah?” Kennedy raised her eyebrows. “What makes you say that?”

“Because Mr. Pruitt has my back.” He’d kicked her out of the house after the milk incident. And he was keeping my relationship with Matt a secret. He wasn’t even going to let Isabella kill me anymore. Although, I still wasn’t sure of the specifics on that. Mr. Pruitt refused to elaborate and I hadn’t seen the amendment in the document yet. Either way, Isabella was scared. I could tell. She wouldn’t pull anything like that again at lunch.

“So you’re coming around to him?” Kennedy asked. “Is it the new clothes?” She looked down at the blue tights I was wearing. There wasn’t a single hole in them.

“You know my love can’t be bought,” I said.

“It certainly can’t hurt.” She stopped outside her homeroom. “I’ll see you later.”

“Kennedy, wait,” I said. “Did I do something wrong?”

She hugged her books to her chest. “No. Nothing. I just didn’t feel well yesterday, and I think I still have whatever bug it was.”

I could tell she was lying, but I didn’t know what to say. I’d already told her I was worried about her. But she just brushed it off. “Are you sure that’s all?”

“Yeah. I gotta go. The bell’s gonna ring.” She turned around and hurried into the classroom.

I just stood there for a moment. Felix hated me. And now I was pretty sure Kennedy was mad at me too. In the course of one weekend I’d gone from two best friends to none. It didn’t matter if I had Matt back. I wasn’t going to survive going to Empire High without my friends. I needed to find a way to fix it.

“Everything okay, Sissy?”

I almost screamed. I hadn’t seen Isabella sneak up behind me. “What? Yeah.”

“I rushed over because it looked like you were distressed.”

“I’m not distressed.”

“Oh. I think I know what’s going on. Let me give you a piece of sisterly advice. It’s better to cut off ties from your lesser associates sooner rather than later, don’t you think? Your little friend will never belong in our world. And she’s clearly bitter about your new status. You don’t need that kind of resentment and negative energy in your life. It’ll just give you worry lines. And Daddy won’t allow us to get Botox until we’re 18. See you at lunch.” She turned on her heel and left as quickly as she’d come.

Isabella was the negative energy in my life, not Kennedy. And I didn’t care about worry lines, I was just worried that I was losing my best friend. The bell rang and I hurried toward homeroom. But what if Isabella was right? It did seem like Kennedy was bitter about my new clothes. I tried to dismiss the thought. Anything Isabella said was toxic. But I couldn’t shake it. Did Kennedy really resent me?





Chapter 18


Monday

All I wanted to do was talk to Felix. But when he chose to play basketball with Cupcake instead of heading outside to run, I knew he wasn’t going to give me a chance to explain. He was ghosting me. A part of me knew I deserved it, but it still stung. No, students weren’t staring at me and whispering behind my back today. But I still felt isolated. I thought running would clear my mind. But I was no closer to figuring out why Kennedy was mad at me, and I had no plan on how to make Felix stop hating me.

I sighed as I headed toward lunch. I just wanted things to go back to normal. Normal. I tried to push the thought aside. I didn’t even know what normal was anymore. And I certainly didn’t want today to be my new normal. The only person that had been nice to me all day was Isabella. What twisted reality was I living in?

“Not sitting with Isabella?” Kennedy asked but didn’t look up from her chicken sandwich.

“No, I’m sitting with you. Like always. Where’s Cupcake?”

She shrugged.

I tried to spot Felix and Cupcake in one of the lines for food. But I didn’t see either of them. I knew Cupcake would sit with us whenever he got here. And that should draw Felix over too, right? I just needed five minutes to explain what happened. He’d listen about the blackmail. He’d understand that I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Except I hurt him.