“Can you believe this?” I mumbled, slouching down in my seat. I used my spoon to push around the Froot Loops in my bowl, having suddenly lost my appetite. The idea of Tino and I dating had been a little funny on Saturday night, I supposed, but now, it was making my skin crawl. I guess it wasn’t the actual idea of dating him that felt so weird, but rather that everyone here seemed to have an opinion on it.
“They’re just excited,” Poppy said. “I mean, that photo was...” She waggled her eyebrows at me.
I threw a Fruit Loop at her as she laughed.
“It wasn’t like that,” I insisted. “None of it was what people were saying.”
“So we shouldn’t start calling you Lilah Valentine now?”
I had never been so tempted to strangle my best friend.
And the feeling only got that much worse when she slid her phone across the table to me and pressed play on a video. Not an odd occurrence except that it was an edit of Tino and me—not just the photo from the store but photos from the party, including me resting my head on his shoulder while I was tired. All of it was set to an aggressively romantic song.
“Poppy,” I said carefully, “why is this on your phone?”
“Because it’s on everyone’s phone,” she said. “Look at the caption!”
I did.
Famous Family Feels? Tino & Lilah Take It Public #Valenturner
As if we’d done a red-carpet reveal instead of trying not to get recognized in a costume store.
“Valenturner,” I repeated flatly. “That sounds like a disease.”
Saylor snorted. “You have to admit it’s catchy.”
“I don’t have to admit anything,” I said, shoving her phone back. “We’re not dating.”
“Sure,” Poppy said, smirking. “And I’m not addicted to Kit Kats.”
I groaned and buried my face in my hands. “This is a nightmare.”
Across the room, I could hear a couple of freshmen were already arguing over what our ship name should be—apparently Tilah was another contender, which was an even worse disease name. Then someone shouted across the cafeteria, “Congrats, Lilah!” and I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.
And then, because the universe hates me, Tino walked in.
Of course he looked completely unfazed. His light brown curls were doing that annoying soft-bounce thing, his uniform tie was loose in a way that made him look effortlessly cool, and he smiled like he’d just been elected class president of the world.
The second he spotted me, he grinned. And waved.
Waved.
I considered dumping my orange juice on my own head so I’d have an excuse to run to the bathroom and hide there forever.
Instead, Tino made his way across the room like this was all perfectly normal. A couple people actually whistled and applauded as he came our way.
“I am in the ninth circle of hell,” I announced.
A tray clattered onto the table beside me. Tino slid into the seat next to mine like this was just another Monday.
“Morning,” he said, too casually. Then he put his arm on the back of my chair. I shoved it off. He put it back. I glared at him.
“I take it you’ve seen how much the news has spread?”
“I’ve heard the whispers, yes.”
“What about the fan edits?” I grabbed Poppy’s phone and slid it toward him with a little more force than necessary. It nearly slid right off the table until he grabbed it and watched, his eyes lighting up with every second. “You’re happy about this,” I accused.
