hadn’t just had a random embarrassing cafeteria experience: I’d been set up. And judging by the satisfied smile on Chelsea’s face, she’d seen the whole thing coming and hadn’t said a word. Not so much as an “Oh no! Mackenzie, look out!” For all I knew Alex Thompson and the other Notables plotted it together. My eyes scanned the expressions of the Notables around her while I tried to think past the pain. Most of the table was laughing and probably thinking,
There goes that Awkward Girl again. What a loser.
I rubbed the back of my head tentatively, and for the first time my eyes met Logan’s. He was already halfway across the cafeteria and moving steadily toward me. It registered briefly as weird that Logan didn’t sit at the Notable table. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him sit there, actually. I could feel the migraine pounding with the rhythm of Logan’s feet as he stalked across the cafeteria.
I panicked … again. I’ll admit that now. I saw him and I was
positive
he was going to fire me. Let’s look at the facts, shall we?
1. He’s a Notable
2. I humiliated myself in public again.
3. He had a reputation to maintain.
4. I didn’t fit into that reputation … at all.
I couldn’t let him fire me. I had to escape before I was out of a job or a best friend who looked intent on fighting with a football player. I grabbed Corey’s shoulder.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said lamely. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What the hell do you mean it doesn’t matter?” he seethed. “They think they can body check you and get away with it?” He swore loudly and rather eloquently to my way of thinking.
Alex Thompson just grinned. “Payback. Although maybe I have to spend some time on top of her for us to be even.”
I felt sick, and not just because my head was ringing and my every movement was probably being filmed. Alex actually thought it was fine to knock me down and joke about forcing himself on top of me … and all because of a minor accident. This was his way of proving his manliness.
I stepped toward him carefully.
“Don’t you
ever
think about touching me or my friends ever again,” I told him in a voice that I managed to keep both cool and even—barely.
“Or what?” he sneered.
“Or I’ll show you just how much damage a good girl can do.” I smiled. “Believe me, I can hurt you without laying a finger on your skin.”
I turned back to Corey and Jane, who were staring at me with open-mouthed amazement. “You guys ready to go?”
They nodded and the three of us made our exit. For the first time in the past two years I’d spent in high school, I felt vaguely cool.
Too bad the feeling didn’t last.
Chapter 11
“Y ou handled it well.” I tried to figure out what the hell Logan was talking about as we walked from Mr. Helm’s classroom, where we had agreed to meet, to the parking lot at the end of the day.
“Handled what well?” I asked, rubbing my temple to fight back the rager of a headache that had kicked up a notch as I’d left the cafeteria.
“Alex and his friends.”
I noticed he didn’t say “my friends” and wondered what to make of it. Had my brain not felt diced, strained, and broiled, I definitely would have analyzed that for deeper social significance. Instead, I just shrugged.
“Could’ve done worse.”
He grinned, much to my surprise. “No kidding.”
I couldn’t help smiling back. “I got the last word. Did you notice that? And I actually made a pretty convincing threat.” I tried not to notice the way his dark hair flopped in his eyes as he unlocked the car and I slid in. “It sounded credible to you, right?”
He pulled out of the lot. “Sure, but I doubt you could really hurt the guy.”
I leaned back against the seat. “It was the first thing that came to mind. But I suppose I could do
something
and get away with it. It’s hard to believe the valedictorian, or future valedictorian,” I corrected myself, “was the catalyst for
There goes that Awkward Girl again. What a loser.
I rubbed the back of my head tentatively, and for the first time my eyes met Logan’s. He was already halfway across the cafeteria and moving steadily toward me. It registered briefly as weird that Logan didn’t sit at the Notable table. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him sit there, actually. I could feel the migraine pounding with the rhythm of Logan’s feet as he stalked across the cafeteria.
I panicked … again. I’ll admit that now. I saw him and I was
positive
he was going to fire me. Let’s look at the facts, shall we?
1. He’s a Notable
2. I humiliated myself in public again.
3. He had a reputation to maintain.
4. I didn’t fit into that reputation … at all.
I couldn’t let him fire me. I had to escape before I was out of a job or a best friend who looked intent on fighting with a football player. I grabbed Corey’s shoulder.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said lamely. “Let’s get out of here.”
“What the hell do you mean it doesn’t matter?” he seethed. “They think they can body check you and get away with it?” He swore loudly and rather eloquently to my way of thinking.
Alex Thompson just grinned. “Payback. Although maybe I have to spend some time on top of her for us to be even.”
I felt sick, and not just because my head was ringing and my every movement was probably being filmed. Alex actually thought it was fine to knock me down and joke about forcing himself on top of me … and all because of a minor accident. This was his way of proving his manliness.
I stepped toward him carefully.
“Don’t you
ever
think about touching me or my friends ever again,” I told him in a voice that I managed to keep both cool and even—barely.
“Or what?” he sneered.
“Or I’ll show you just how much damage a good girl can do.” I smiled. “Believe me, I can hurt you without laying a finger on your skin.”
I turned back to Corey and Jane, who were staring at me with open-mouthed amazement. “You guys ready to go?”
They nodded and the three of us made our exit. For the first time in the past two years I’d spent in high school, I felt vaguely cool.
Too bad the feeling didn’t last.
Chapter 11
“Y ou handled it well.” I tried to figure out what the hell Logan was talking about as we walked from Mr. Helm’s classroom, where we had agreed to meet, to the parking lot at the end of the day.
“Handled what well?” I asked, rubbing my temple to fight back the rager of a headache that had kicked up a notch as I’d left the cafeteria.
“Alex and his friends.”
I noticed he didn’t say “my friends” and wondered what to make of it. Had my brain not felt diced, strained, and broiled, I definitely would have analyzed that for deeper social significance. Instead, I just shrugged.
“Could’ve done worse.”
He grinned, much to my surprise. “No kidding.”
I couldn’t help smiling back. “I got the last word. Did you notice that? And I actually made a pretty convincing threat.” I tried not to notice the way his dark hair flopped in his eyes as he unlocked the car and I slid in. “It sounded credible to you, right?”
He pulled out of the lot. “Sure, but I doubt you could really hurt the guy.”
I leaned back against the seat. “It was the first thing that came to mind. But I suppose I could do
something
and get away with it. It’s hard to believe the valedictorian, or future valedictorian,” I corrected myself, “was the catalyst for
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