press the topic. Our relationship was fragile.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you at lunch,” I said, stepping out of the car and shutting the door behind me. He drove away almost instantly. Like me, he was probably still fuming and masking it for the sake of our deal.
I had a feeling he wasn’t quite aware of what he was getting himself into when it came to me taking down everyone on my list.
Including him.
Nine
Dear Monica,
I don’t think I ever said this to you, but I knew you were serious about being popular when you pierced your ears. God, a simple thing, right? Even I had my ears pierced. But you were never allowed.
You know, when your mom found your studs in your drawer and she drove to the school and walked you out of campus I told everyone your dog was sick, which was why you needed to leave so suddenly. I knew you were so embarrassed. I wanted to make sure nobody started talking about you.
See, we protected each other from the start. I’m not going to stop now.
Love, Chloe
CLAIRE’S PRESENCE WAS becoming routine. I seemed to always have someone wanting to sit with me or walk with me between classes. It made me uneasy after being so comfortable with silence.
“Sitting with them again?” Jack asked as we reached the entrance of the cafeteria at lunch on Thursday. My stomach turned in guilt.
I gave a meek smile. “Yeah, I haven’t seen Will all day.”
“Right,” Jack said. His smile was friendly, but I could tell he was disappointed.
“I’m sorry.” I was sorry. For using him. For talking about him behind his back. But it was all for the greater good. “I’ll see you in chem?”
“Of course.” He hesitated, and I wondered if he was expecting some kind of apology for how Sophie treated him, but I couldn’t. I had to look united with Level One, I couldn’t let them think there were cracks in my relationship with William by disagreeing with Sophie.
William and I had settled into a familiar pattern, as if we were performing from a script. In front of his friends we continued to act like we were in the honeymoon stage of dating, and when we were on our own we were learning to keep a sensible distance, tiptoeing around conversations that barely scraped past the surface.
His secret past with Lola was constantly nagging at the corner of my mind. I noticed subtle things now, things I’d never registered before. Across the table, Lola and William never seemed to meet eyes, and they avoided responding to anything the other said. I wondered how it had started, and just how many others knew about their affair. It could help me determine just how beneficial it would be to expose it when the time came.
I was becoming a fixture at the Level One table, never directly invited into conversation, but still present enough to gain more and more information about the internal dynamics of the group.
“What are you wearing tomorrow night?” Maddy asked Sophie, not raising her eyes from her salad.
Sophie screwed up her face in thought. “Hmm, the two-piece I bought in Paris this summer.”
“Ugh, I need to go shopping,” Maddy said dramatically. “Would you come?”
Sophie barely hesitated before responding, “I have a family dinner.”
Maddy looked hopefully to Lola beside her, who was busy playing with Francis’s hair, her legs resting over his lap. She looked toward Maddy in disinterest. I watched her carefully, the disdain in her eyes evident. “Why don’t you ask Chloe?”
Maddy looked at me questioningly. Her eyes were kind, almost innocent. I recalled the moment she’d seen me at the party last weekend and complimented my top. I also recalled the fact that she was sleeping with Francis, who was two seats down from her and currently kissing Lola.
This was the opportunity I’d been searching for, a chance to get to know the other Level Ones better so I could dig deeper.
“I could help,” I said.
“Great!” Maddy said, her posture visibly slackening with relief. “How about we meet at the mall at four?”
“Sounds great.”
“Hope you don’t mind me stealing your girlfriend, Will,” she added.
William stopped prodding the plate in front of him to peer up at her. He hesitated too long, and his tone was just a little off what would classify as casual. “As long as you look after her.”
I rolled my eyes, hoping I was coming across as playful rather than annoyed. Our feigned relationship was starting to take its toll. Maybe it