"Yes," he said. "Of course I want to be friends again. I just—"
"Please!" I begged. "I do, too. But first I need you to promise me something."
"Okay ... what?"
"We never speak of it again." I said it very clearly, with no emotion.
Archer looked confused. "But Cara—"
"No. That's the deal. It's like it never happened. Can you be cool with that?"
Archer opened his mouth to speak ... but he didn't. He looked frustrated, concerned, even angry. Finally he sighed and shook his head.
"Fine," he said.
I felt a rush of relief so huge, I almost wanted to hug him—then I let Claudia's words scream out in my head again.
"Is there still a seat next to you at lunch?"
I was suddenly sure he'd say no, that Sue now sat next to him every day. It was a land mine I hadn't thought of until now.
"There's a seat. I'll save it for you."
"Great! See you then!"
I walked off to precalc feeling lighter than I had in weeks. This was going to work. There'd be rough patches, but it would work.
Dealing with Archer's friends turned out to be one of the rough patches. For once Claudia was wrong—they weren't happy to pick up where we'd left off. They were nice enough; they were just distant.
The lunch seating had changed, too. Sue and Doug were back at the table; Noah and Molly were gone. I got the feeling it was a keep-your-enemies-close thing for Sue. By now I was pretty sure she had a crush on Archer. I think she wanted to keep me off her turf. If I had been feeling more charitable, I could have told her she had nothing to worry about. I was actually surprised she didn't already know. Maybe Archer hadn't told them everything that had happened between us.
Things with Archer himself went fairly smoothly. We'd been such good friends, it was impossible not to fall back into our easy rapport. It wasn't long before we were grabbing fries together at the mall, and soon after that we even started playing Ping-Pong again. I was happy to see he had never taken down the giant wall chart, even though it gave me a romantic pang I had to quash.
In the meantime, I dedicated myself to the Ladder and filling my mind with Nate Wetherill. It was a little weird. I had gone after Archer because I really liked him. I was attracted to Nate—anyone would be attracted to Nate—but I knew nothing about him. I had to work at liking him, as if he were a school assignment. Sometimes it bothered me that I was being so calculating, but then Claudia would remind me of the alternative—permanent Archer obsession—and I'd get over it.
So I studied Nate. And I looked for things to like.
Nate was very broody. He frowned like he was constantly tortured with deep, troubling thoughts. That wasn't really my thing.
He didn't seem to have a lot of friends. Any, really. Also not my thing.
He did have the attention of the Populazzi. I saw it when I was in the halls between classes. Just like everyone else, Trista Camello stepped aside and stared when Nate walked by. Even the Senior Populazzi noticed him. If I were his girlfriend, part of that mystique couldn't help but rub off on me.
It was cool to think about, but it still wasn't enough to make me like him.
Then one day I was late coming in to lunch, and I saw him. He sat outside on a rock, strumming his guitar and singing softly.
I stopped to listen, then moved closer, staying behind him and far enough away that he wouldn't see me.
He was incredible.
I didn't recognize the song he played, but it was beautiful. I wondered if he'd written it himself. His broodiness seemed melodramatic when he walked through the halls, but it was perfect for the song. Just watching him, I could tell how serious he was about his music. He seemed to pour his entire soul into what he played, and seeing it happen right in front of me ... I was awed. I wanted to sit at his feet and listen all day.
Talent and passion: those were my thing. Those I could fall for.
From that moment, I tried to watch Nate as often as possible while he was playing guitar. It wasn't that challenging: any spare moment he had, he used it to play. I just had to slip outside or look through the right window and I'd get to