yourself.” His eyes as dark as my thoughts, he released me.
“Why?” I asked. “Why are you doing this? Acting like this? What have I done wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said, exhaling heavily. “You haven’t done anything. Not really. Only open your eyes. See that you already have a best friend, and he’s not me.”
Chad turned away. His progress was slow on his crutches and cumbersome with the boot. Missy waited for him. She glared at me but was all smiles for him when he reached her. They turned the corner while I just stood there, feeling more alone now than ever, trying to process what had just happened.
• • •
My day didn’t get better. King didn’t sit with me at lunch. No one did. But I could see Bryan through the window. He was outside in the quadrangle, talking to the pretty redhead I’d once seen in a car with Missy. “Talking” being a euphemism for his tongue being down her throat.
So what if I’d shut him down? Apparently, the so-called unfinished business with me didn’t mean very much to him. Maybe he had unfinished business with a lot of girls. And Chad wanted me to think Bryan was my best friend?
Not hardly.
After lunch, the day dragged on even worse than before. I got called on in history class. I wasn’t prepared, and the teacher dressed me down in front of everyone.
“You’re a top student, Lace,” Mrs. Leticia said disapprovingly. “I expect you to set the bar for excellence in my class, not lower it.”
After class, I was dragging my feet and feeling sorry for myself when War jogged up alongside me in the crowded hall.
“Hey, babe. Why are you frowning?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Long day.” I couldn’t talk to him about it. Not with Chad, Bryan, or anyone else, really.
“Heard Phillips was back at school? Did you see him?”
“I saw him,” I said dully.
A guy with unruly black hair stepped into pace on my other side. “He and Missy are a thing,” he said, seeming to think he was part of my conversation with War.
I gave him a questioning look. In return, he gave me a long head-to-toe scan with eyes the color of smoke. Offhandedly, I noted the headphones hanging around his neck had a roach clip with a blunt attached.
“Missy’s his chauffeur.” My frown deepened as I wondered who this guy was and how he came by his information. “With his injury, he can’t drive.” I gave the guy a look that I hoped would silence him and make him go away.
“He can drive, all right.” The guy waggled his brows. “His dick into Missy’s cunt.”
“Kyle, c’mon,” War said. “Lace doesn’t need to hear that shit.”
Kyle nodded. “Got it. She’s your lily-white rose and all. Well, until after you bring her to my place. Party there after prom, right?” Cackling a high-pitched stoner laugh, he said, “See you later, Lace.”
“What’s he talking about?” I asked, watching Kyle veer off at the juncture in the hall.
Not receiving an answer, I turned to War, only to discover that he was no longer beside me. He was hemmed in at the lockers, a half circle of nearly a dozen girls in front of him. The redhead who had been with Bryan in the quadrangle was one of them.
“Heard Tempest has a record deal,” she said, placing her hand on the center of War’s chest.
I saw red, not red-hair red but angry, fire-engine red. War and I had a standing agreement made a year ago, post-Missy. No touching by the opposite sex allowed. That agreement was more important than ever with the band’s popularity rising and girls flocking to him. Not just at the clubs Tempest played at, but at school now too.
“I heard more than one label wants him,” another girl said. “I want you too. What do you say, baby?” Pressing her large boobs into War’s arm, she looked up at him through her heavily mascaraed lashes.
“Not signed with anyone yet.” War glanced at me, his brow creased beneath his rolled red bandanna. The accessory he used to mostly wear onstage now seemed permanent.
“Rumors are usually based on facts.” The redhead moved closer. “Are you gonna sing at prom?”
“No, Scarlett.” He pried her hand away from his chest. “I’m gonna take my woman to prom. And you need to keep your hands to yourself and move your posse along so I can ask her properly.”
“You’re no fun anymore, War,” Scarlett said, sticking her nose in the air. “C’mon girls. Let’s go