Clique Bait - Ann Valett Page 0,65
strongest ally.
“It’s not true,” I said. “About our deal being all that’s between us. I thought we were friends.”
Through these few weeks of fake dating we’d developed a friendship. A complicated one, admittedly, but for him to disregard it as nothing hurt.
“Then listen to me.”
I turned away, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I can’t keep doing it, because I’m starting to care too much to see you self-destruct like this. To see you play their games and try and win them over.”
William cared for me?
“At first, I saw Monica all over again, a girl desperate to be popular. To break into our group of friends so everyone in the school would like her. But that’s not it. You’re just holding on to someone who left you behind, long before she really left.”
His words cut me, because they were partly true. Monica and I had argued so much before she cut contact altogether. The last time we spoke was an argument. I’d ignored the invitation she left me in my locker to her birthday party. We were in a rough patch.
“I’ve seen more than the Chloe you’re trying to be—I’ve seen more than who you are when you’re trying to be like them. I’ve seen your loyalty to your best friend tear you up, the guilt of talking badly about people plague you all day. The way your face lights up when you change the radio station on the way to school and blast your favorite music. I’ve seen you put Monica first even when she’s let you down. You deserve better than this.”
“Will—” I tried to say, to stop the words pouring from his lips and splitting me open, leaving me bare. But he cut me off and continued.
“That’s why I can’t keep doing this,” he said finally. “The fake dating. It’s too confusing for me—for us. I can’t keep waiting for something to go wrong. For those girls to get ahold of you too.”
“But Monica—”
“Chlo, Monica wouldn’t have wanted you to repeat her mistakes.”
I looked down to my hands in my lap. “You’re on my list too, William. I’m supposed to be taking you down for doing this to her.”
Silence. I’m not even sure why I said it. I knew this could be the end of us now. I could see the pulsing in his jaw as he stared me down. “I thought I was protected.”
“I lied,” I said, my voice thick. “I’ve told a lot of lies for her.”
“Still doesn’t mean you have to do it,” he said. “But if that’s how it is, then I am out, Chloe. It’s over.”
Could I lose William now? Logically, maybe. I had almost all I needed from Level One in terms of intel. I just needed to collect it. Even though the others would turn their backs the second William deserted me, I still had a chance.
But if I let down my walls to the influx of nonlogical feelings held at bay, I knew losing William now would affect more than my plan. I cared about him too, and I needed him more than I should.
“I won’t hurt you,” I said, my voice cracking. I was ashamed at my vulnerability.
William looked at me carefully. Maybe he was searching for any signs I was lying, or maybe he was just seeing how pathetic I was. Then his hand reached out, and this time I let it find my arm, pulling me close and against his chest.
“You better not, Whittaker.”
Twenty-Two
Monica,
I always wondered if you were capable of the kind of things they were. My heart told me you weren’t—that you were better than them—but now I don’t know anymore. I feel like I stopped knowing you when you started going to their parties, when you started changing yourself just to impress them. I don’t know who to believe now. My memories feel blurred.
Please tell me it isn’t true.
Love, Chloe
“ONE MORE WEEK,” William said as I pulled into Arlington’s parking lot. “As of Friday, no more pretending.”
By second period William and Francis had been called to the principal’s office. The halls, though currently absent from the reigning king and his newly defined rival, were abuzz with their drama. And by default, this meant that everyone’s attention was on me too. I kept my chin high, attempting to keep my dignity intact, as if I was totally unconcerned with the looks I was getting.
The tension was turned up a notch when Lola, trailed by Sophie and Maddy, strolled over to my locker. I tried to