Pretty sure the rumors of Theo and me have spread school wide by now, so I’m not looking forward to confronting the Queen Bee herself about it. She will no doubt see me as a rival.
Just as I’m about to enter the classroom, Paige appears next to me, all smiles. “Hey, Chrissy.” Something is up, her tone is way too friendly, and she never called me by my name before.
“Uh . . . hi?” I say, unsure of how to process this yet.
As soon as we walk in together, I spot Theo sitting at my desk, chatting with Rick, and when he sees me walk in with Paige at my arm, his brow raises in shock.
That makes two of us.
Paige proceeds to her desk, and as I approach mine, Theo gets up.
My voice drops low. “What were you guys talking about?”
“Nothing,” Theo says. “Just catching up with my buddy here.” Then he takes his seat.
I never knew he was friends with Rick. But then again, I never socialized with Theo until last week.
As I yank my textbook out of my bag, Paige calls my name again.
“I’m having a party this weekend,” she says with a bright smile. “You should come.”
What is going on here? Invitation to party with the Queen Bees? Yeah, right—that’ll be the day. I bite my lip, searching for a polite way to decline. “Thanks, but I don’t believe—“
“Come on, it’ll be fun. We can get to know each other better.”
Okay—did aliens take over her body and mind, or is she pranking me?
“Give it some thought,” she says and begins to admire her manicured hands.
My eyes find Theo, whose shrug tells me he’s as confused as I am. This is officially the weirdest day of my life. It’s like the world has flipped upside down.
Classes move along without any trouble, and a sense of oddity comes over me, like things aren’t how they’re supposed to be. Even during lunch, people greet us, and Paige waves at us from her table, which freaks me out. What did they put in the chocolate milk today?
I tell Stephanie and Ian about the invite, and I’m not surprised they think we should attend.
“We’ve never been to a high school party before,” Stephanie argues. “It’s a big step-up from our slumber parties andPride and Prejudicemarathons.”
“I doubt going to the Queen Bees’ hive is a good idea.” The feeling that something bad could happen lingers in my chest. “Sorry, Steph, I’ll skip this one.”
“I’m with Steph,” Ian chimes in. “Maybe she turned over a new leaf?”
Well, at least I know Ian’s crush on Paige is as strong as ever.
After school, as the three of us head back home, Theo catches up to us near the gate.
“You guys want to go to Hungry Arcade later?” he asks.
It’s not a spot I’d go to—full of neon lights, loud music, and popular kids—but the idea of spending time with Theo is hard to resist.
I glance at Stephanie, who’s already nodding, and I know Ian is a gamer, so he’s in. “Yeah, sure. Why not?”
“Great!” Theo says. “We’ll meet up later.”
***
We arrive at Hungry Arcade at 6 p.m. It’s a place I’ve only heard about in passing. The smell of buttered popcorn fills the air, loud music blasts from speakers suspended from the ceiling, and the flashing lights of the arcade games illuminate the faces ofplayers. There’s even a small snack bar offering cherry slushies and vanilla milkshakes.
Theo orders a round of sodas, and Stephanie and Ian dart off to play air hockey, leaving Theo and me alone at last. We stroll through the rows of games until we come across one of those retro basketball hoops with a scoreboard overhead.
