"Hey, I bet Adam would give you a ride!" Her head bounced up and down. "Yeah, yeah. I bet he would. I think he feels real bad. He called me last night and said that he wanted to make things better with you. He wanted all three of us to be friends again."
"He did?"
"Uh, yeah. I mean, why would he make that up if he didn't mean it?" Her grin turned sloppy and a glaze drifted over her eyes.
Oh boy. I recognized that look.
She sighed dreamily, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if all three of us hung out again? And then maybe he'd realize he needed me in his life?"
I gave her a blank stare. "What do you mean? You are in his life; he gave you a ride to school."
"Yeah, I know." Her eyes drifted downwards and she bit the corner of her lip. "I was just meaning that if us three were better friends. It felt like we were going to be before, but then he got all weird and mad at you. It changed when he found out about the Kades, now that I think about it."
"Becky."
She turned to me. Her eyes clicked into focus. "Uh?"
"What's going on with you?"
Her eyeballs went from side to side. "What do you mean?"
"You're weird, weirder than normal." Then it clicked in place. "What have people been saying about me?"
As soon as I said that, she sucked in her breath dramatically and scooted away from me.
"Becky." I clamped onto her arm so she couldn't go any further. "What's going on?"
She patted her chest and it rose higher and higher. It looked like she was hyperventilating or having a panic attack. I hoped not, I needed answers.
"Becky!"
"Okay, okay." She dragged me down the hallway and into the empty theatre. It was dark where we were, but the lights were bright on the stage where a group of people stood in a small circle. I didn't care what they were doing up there.
"Spill. Now."
She looked in pain as she rushed out, "MirandaStewarthatesyouandnow everyoneelsedoestoo." She took a deep breath. "And everyone thinks Adam and Mason fought over you. Everybody knows something happened at the Elite dinner Miranda had and that you guys went there, but no one will say what happened…so…people are figuring out their own guesses."
"People think Mason and Adam fought over me?" A blast of cold air rocked me again. My stomach dropped out again and a surreal feeling of terror started to settle in. Was I ready for this? The knot had doubled in size. I forcibly swallowed one more time. I knew what would happen if people found out…
"No, yes, I mean—I don't know. We don't really know. Some people think it's about Logan. I'm not sure why, because of Tanya or something. I have no idea. Everyone knows Logan took Tanya away from Adam and we all saw that Cassandra and Adam were flirting. Now they don't even talk to each other. Something happened."
"Oh." Relief washed over me. Adam's fight with Logan over Tanya made more sense, didn't it? "Yeah, I mean, Logan wasn't nice at the dinner. He rubbed it in Adam's face."
"Rubbed it in?" A hollow laugh came from behind me. Jessica gripped her books tight and glared at me. "We heard he was practically having sex with Tanya at the dinner. No wonder Adam popped his cherry and went after Mason today." She eyed me up and down and curled her lip in a sneer. "We also heard that Emily Connsway laughed in your face. Way to go, Sam."
The theatre door was open and a small group had congregated behind us.
"Give it a rest, Jess." Lydia sidled up beside her and leveled her with a piercing look. "Stop making up lies, stop being a bitch, and apologize to Sam for what you did."
Jessica's back straightened. "Me? Apologize? What did I do to her? She stood there and let Logan Kade humiliate me. He used to like me and she ruined that. You ruined my life, Sam. Thanks a lot."
Jill pushed forward to stand beside them and chewed on her lip. Then she burst out, "I'm sorry for being a bitch, Sam. I was threatened because of Jeff." She waved towards Jessica and Lydia. "And I didn't want them to do to me what they did to you so I tried to be friends with them. You know, get closer with your enemies and all…that…" She hung her head and trailed off.
Jessica whirled towards her. "You're such a whore, Jill. Sam's not going to be your friend. She hates you and me. She hates Lydia too."
Lydia gasped. "I don't think she hates me. I'm trying to be her friend." She looked at me with pleading eyes. "I'm really sorry. I really am. And I don't care if Jessica hates me after this. I should never have covered for her and Jeff and lied to you. I should've apologized to you right away too." She edged closer and shoved Jessica back a few steps in the process. "I really miss you and I'll do anything to be your friend again."
"Lydia!"
She ignored Jessica and gave me a shaky smile. "I don't care if the Elite don't like you. I'll support you and stand by you the whole time. They don't scare me."
Jill sighed. "Yes, they do. They scare everybody…well, except for maybe Sam, but still."
"Hey…?" Jeff stood at the back of the crowd, and they opened for him. His face was twisted in confusion. "What's…what's going on here…? Do I even want to know?"
Jessica turned her glare off and went to his side. She gave him a seductive smile as her hand traveled up his arm. "Hi, Jeff."