In My Skin

CH 36 || Spy Stuff

"I get that," Suz said. "But you're not a burden, Tay. And I'm pretty sure Killian would agree."

I grimaced and let out a bitter laugh. "Yeah, but then again it's just my skin that's the problem, right? As if these pranks weren't enough to deal with."

Suz stared into space until her dark eyes focused on something behind me. "Wait, what if it's Alicia? Do you think?"

"But I barely know her. Why would she?"

"Well, she clearly has a thing for your man," Suz reasoned.

A wave of heat rose to my cheeks, and I shot her a glare. "Very funny. But that reminds me. Don't you know her from before?"

Suz fiddled with her pen. "I've seen her around, but I didn't know her well. She used to hang out with Cody's ex. I don't know what happened there, but things got awkward, and Killian stopped hanging out with them. Wait, what if she's a psycho? Then everything fits."

"I don't think she's a psycho, Suz. That's a bit extreme."

Suz shrugged. "You never know. I think you should ask Cody about her to be honest."

"But won't that kind of, I don't know sound like I'm jealous or something?" I cringed at the thought.

"You're overthinking. Just say you're curious, and you want to make sure everything is okay. It's Cody. He won't judge."

"Yeah, I mean, but it sort of defeats the purpose of me and Killian staying friends, doesn't it?"

"Please." She waved her hand at me. "Friends ask about each other. Killian asked me several times about you in the past. You can ask Cody this one time."

"He did?"

"Yeah. I told you before, didn't I? That's why I asked if you were dodging him. He's pretty subtle about it but he can't fool me," she announced smugly.

"You said Killian and Cody asked about me."

"Please. Killian just dragged Cody along so it wouldn't be suspicious."

I gave her a look full of disbelief. "Or that's what you think."

"It is! Killian has never asked me things like this before," she insisted. "Besides, I think we should let them know anyways. It's always good to have another set of eyes and ears." Her eyes fixed on a point above my shoulder.

"I'll think about it..." I followed her gaze to see what caught her attention.

Alicia was walking over the Campus, her arm slung around a girl with short brown hair. I had a vague sense that I'd seen her somewhere before. But where?

The girl kept glancing over her shoulder and even from this distance, I saw that her face was red like she'd been crying.

"Speak of the devil," Suz muttered. They entered the campus café and disappeared from view.

"Did you know the girl next to her?"

"I don't think so. Why?"

"I think I've seen her before..."

A chair scraped across the floor and we both jerked around. Jules took a seat and paused as he met our gaze. "What," he asked. "Did I come at the wrong time? Am I interrupting or something?"

Suz beamed at him. "No, you came at the perfect time. Jules if you would think of anyone holding a grudge against Tay, who comes to mind?"

"Against Tay?" he repeated, shaking out his brown hair.

"Yeah. It's um...girl stuff, we have to prepare."

"I have no idea what that means, but sure. Maybe the drama duo?"