leaned over and scooted to the edge of her seat. “Did Brian say he likes me?”
“Uh-uh,” Tommy said, shaking his head. “I’m not going there. I’m not an online dating service.”
“Tommy!” Emily chastised, elbowing his ribs.
“Ow! What? It’s true.” Tommy narrowed his eyes and rubbed at his side, leaning a little out of Emily’s poking range.
“You don’t have to be such a jerk.” Emily’s eyes softened as she turned to Leah. “Yes, Brian’s going.”
Leah’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. Her eyes curved into upside down crescent moons while she bit into her food, smiling around her fork.
“Well, I’ve got plans. In case anybody was wondering,” Amanda muttered.
Before anyone could ask what her plans were, a loud, incoherent grumble from Tommy had everyone turning their attention to see what was wrong just as Zeke pushed him across the bench.
“Hey, speak of the devil,” Emily said. “Shouldn’t you be in class?
Zeke stared at Grace, his mouth lifted into a crooked grin. Not taking his eyes from her, he held up a hall pass in explanation. “So, was it fast-spreading gossip, or not-worth-repeating gossip?”
“Neither. We were talking about Friday,” Grace said uncomfortably. His smirk was going for sexy and his eyes were hungry. As if fingers were snapped in front of his eyes, he finally tore his gaze away. She wondered why she wasn’t into him. “So,” Zeke said to Tommy. “You guys in for Friday?”
“Dude, The Board Shop,” Tommy said.
“Oh, yeah,” Zeke said, resting an elbow on the table. “Grace, do you care if we go to Bountiful instead?”
Grace sighed with relief inside. “Actually, I was hoping you’d want to go.”
Zeke smiled at Grace again from across the table. “I’m guessing you could talk me into going anywhere.” She smiled back, but quickly diverted her gaze to the uneaten sandwich before her.
After Zeke headed back to class, Leah continued her nonstop “he likes me, he likes me not” poll, and Grace snickered a little to herself as she realized that everyone else seemed to be as annoyed by it as she was. As soon as the bell rang, the group split up. Grace, Amanda, and Emily went one way for fourth period, Leah and Tommy the other.
“I can tell you this,” Amanda said, as they cleared the double doors of the cafeteria. “If the party’s going to be that much fun, I won’t be staying long. Especially if I have to listen to her talk about the what-ifs all night.”
Grace glanced around, relieved Leah was out of ear-shot. “Be nice. She’s just excited.”
“Yeah, well, my Pomeranian gets excited too, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t want to walk up and kick the little bitch when she starts yapping too much.”
Emily gasped and shot a glare at Amanda.
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Relax, I’m not going to kick Leah.”
“I was worried about the dog,” Emily snipped.
“I haven’t kicked her yet either.” Amanda’s lips lifted in a smirk.
“Oh, what a relief.” Emily narrowed her eyes and pinched her lips, her displeasure apparent.
Amanda laughed. “Man, you guys definitely need to go to that party. If for no other reason than to get your drink on and chill. I’m outie.”
Grace and Emily stood shoulder to shoulder and watched Amanda walk down the hallway, unconsciously provoking responses in her wake—guys staring, girls glaring.
“There’s no hope for her. You know that, don’t you?” Emily’s voice was thoughtful as they watched Amanda walk away.
“She’s fine. She’s just going through … a phase,” Grace said, hoping she was right but not believing the words as they left her lips.
“Whatever. We need to get to class.”
After school, Grace caught up with Emily and Tommy, and told Emily she’d call or text her later.
“Okay,” Emily said from against Tommy’s lips. “Bye.”
Grace rolled her eyes and headed for the Shelby. It was at least 102 degrees outside. She hoped the freakishly unusual burst of warm southwest air would head in a different direction. She could feel the heat through her flats and see the mirage undulate from the blacktop. She dropped her backpack from her shoulder to her hand when a noise from her right made her pause. Nonchalantly, she peeked over her shoulder, but no one was there. With a shrug, she continued walking to her car.
Again she heard a noise, but this time to her left. Annoyed, she glanced over her other shoulder. Nothing. Whipping around, she was ready for whoever was sneaking up on her. What the hell? No one was there, only a low growling noise that