When the bell rang and we all got up to leave, the guys were still laughing and chatting together, and it continued as we moved out of the cafeteria. It gave me hope this might actually pay off.
“Don’t forget, I want to see you all making an effort to spend time with your teammates, today and all week!” I raised my voice to be heard over their chatter as everyone filed out of the room.
Owen appeared beside me and handed me a bracelet. “Couldn’t leave without giving you one too.”
I frowned down at the bracelet. “GYB?”
“Got your back,” he replied.
“Thanks, Cleaver.”
As he walked on ahead, I smiled and slid the bracelet into place on my wrist with the others.
A few of the other guys nodded as they passed or flashed their colorful wrists at me, but not Mackenzie. She left quickly, keeping her head down. And while the air fizzed between us as she moved beyond me and out the door, it wasn’t the electric zing I’d gotten used to. It felt like the beat of an icy wind, which quickly seeped into my bones and left me on edge. She’d spoken to me earlier like everything was fine, but now something was clearly wrong. Was this about last night?
I followed after her, pushing through the growing crowd of students making their way through the school corridors. “Hey, Mackenzie!”
Either she couldn’t hear me over the throng of the crowd, or she was ignoring me, because she continued forging on.
“Mackenzie, wait up!”
Again, she didn’t stop, so I jogged to catch up, and when I fell into step alongside her, she kept her eyes looking straight ahead.
“What’s going on?”
Silence.
“I know it may seem like I know everything. But, funnily enough, sometimes I don’t. If I do something wrong, you need to tell me.”
“It’s nothing,” she said, still marching down the hallway. “Everything’s fine.”
“Then why are you ignoring me?”
“I’m not.”
“Good, so youwilltalk to me.” I gently took her arm to stop her, and she reluctantly turned to face me.
“I have to get to class,” she said.
“Just for a minute.” I could see the nearest classroom was empty, so I waved toward the door. “In private?”
She gave a small nod and allowed me to guide her into the room. I closed the door behind us, and she went to lean on the teacher’s desk. She folded her arms and glared at me. It was far sexier than any girl had a right to look, especially at school.
“So…” I said.
“So?” she shot right back.
“Clearly you’re annoyed about our kiss…”
She scoffed and shook her head. “I’m not annoyed about our kiss. Like I said, it was just a way to get you out of my system. Mission accomplished.”
Not for me.
“So, if it’s not the kiss then…”
Her eyes lowered to the floor. I waited, knowing she’d have to break eventually. I’d happily wait all morning for her to tell me the truth.
Finally she sighed and looked back at me. “Is being myfriend really such a terrible prospect?” she asked. “Do you really despise me so much?”
