sinks and took her time washing and drying her hands thoroughly. I pretended to be extremely interested in the contents of my backpack as I dug around inside to avoid acknowledging her.
Finally, after tossing her paper towel into the trash can, she turned back to me and said, “Hello, Avery.”
“Hi,” I said, still elbow deep inside my bag. My guard immediately went up. Hannah did not talk to me for no reason.
Hannah smoothed out a wrinkle in the red cardigan she wore, despite the hot day outside. The white roses along the bottom edge matched the white rose on her headband. Her dark brown hair fell in perfect curls around her shoulders and her skirt was the exact knee-length required by the school dress code. Hannah would never try to fudge the length a little like most of the other girls always did. According to our teachers, Hannah was the perfect example of the model student.
“Nice job on that history quiz last week, Avery,” Hannah said. “You even got the bonus questions. Bravo.”
“Stop sneaking peeks at the teachers’ grade books,” I told her. “You wouldn’t want to get caught and ruin your perfect reputation.”
Hannah gave me a fake smile. “At least I have a nice reputation to worry about. I’m not the one known as the Ice Queen.”
I was in no mood to stand there all day and admire the witchy green tone of Hannah’s skin in the bathroom’s horrible lighting. “It’s been nice chatting with you, but I have to go.” I moved toward the door, zipping my backpack and throwing it over my shoulder.
“Wait,” Hannah said. “I have a proposition for you.”
“You’re not my type,” I told her.
Hannah sneered. “Ha ha. I mean a business proposition, inspired by everything Mr. Freeman has been teaching us this week. I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. I know how upsetting it would be if you couldn’t help all the poor, sick people and not get a chance to be a hero. You always have liked helping people, haven’t you?”
I sighed, rolling my eyes toward the ceiling. “Can we forget the games and get to the point? What do you want?”
“I want you to steal my boyfriend.”
It took several moments for the meaning of what she had said to sink into my brain.
“You want to break up with Zac?” I exclaimed.
Hannah scowled. “Think you could say that any louder? Yes, I want to break up with Zac. But I want him to be the one to dump me. That’s where you come in.”
My head spun with questions, but I asked the first one I managed to force out. “Why are you breaking up with Zac?”
Hannah shrugged. “That’s my business.”
“Okay. So why not break up with him yourself?”
“Oh, yes, because that would be great for my reputation, wouldn’t it? In case you haven’t noticed, a lot of people around here really like Zac. There’s talk that he may be voted junior king. If I dump him right before the junior queen vote, I’ll be ruined.”
Junior queen? Hannah didn’t want to risk losing our school’s biggest, stupidest end of the year popularity contest? Class king and queen didn’t even mean anything. There were no special duties, no extra credit, nothing at all that came with it. It was nothing more than a popularity contest our school had made up so two students each year could have something extra to add to their college applications. I doubted Columbia cared whether or not Hannah won class queen for the third time.
That was exactly why I didn’t believe in real love. Zac had no clue Hannah was talking to me about breaking up with him. You could go through each day thinking everything was perfectly fine with your relationship and you loved each other so much, when in reality your significant other was plotting ways to get rid of you.
“Can’t you get him to dump you on your own?” I asked. “I’m sure if you show him your true personality, he’ll drop you in a second.”
Hannah’s laugh echoed off the tiles around us. “Don’t you think I’ve already considered that? I’ve tried for the last two months to get him to break up with me. I’ve been rude, I’ve canceled dates, I’ve ignored him. He doesn’t take the hint. Getting him to fall for you is my last resort.”
I leaned against the wall, studying her. “And how will helping you break up with Zac help me?”
“I told you, it’s a business proposition. You do this for me,