The Secret Life of Emily Blu

Chapter Twenty-One

The day that Hardy stopped talking to me he sat on the other side of the room in music, and he's sat there ever since. Luckily the work Ms. Jefferson assigned since was all singles work. I've been keeping to myself but today she puts us in pairs for the assignment.

I half expect her to make me pair up with Hardy even though we're on opposite sides of the room, but instead she selects a girl I can only describe as 'popular'. She's blond and blue eyed and has a nice figure. She doesn't seem to have any friends in this class, but I've seen her in the halls, and she's always surrounded by people. I think she's dating Kegan.

She has the same vibe as Bethany, but unlike Bethany this girl smiles when she sits down next to me.

"I'm Claire," she says with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"Emily," I say, trying to give her a smile back. I don't know what look my face makes but she doesn't seem offended.

"You're really talented," Claire gushes, sincerity dripping from every word. "I've been dying to work with you since you came here, but Hardy always snagged you. I'm so excited he's finally let you work with someone else!"

I blink, a bit confused by her enthusiasm. "Well, he's mad at me right now, so today's your lucky day."

Claire blinks before shrugging and saying, "He's a drama queen. He'll get over it eventually. And if not, that's his loss."

"Aren't you dating Kegan?" I ask.

Claire beams. "I am. We've only been dating six months, but you know high school – we're basically an old married couple at this point."

I pause before asking, "As Kegan's girlfriend, shouldn't you be on his friend's side? As in Hardy's?"

She blinks at me and then laughs. It's throaty and raw and very genuine; I love her immediately. "I can think for myself. Besides, if Jonas makes you happy he makes you happy. Hardy can get over it."

I blink, surprised.

"I am going to warn you, though. Jonas has a reputation as a womanizer, so just make sure you keep him in his place."

I nod. "Thank you."

"No problem. As much as I want to continue talking to you, we should annotate this piece before Ms. Jefferson says something."

I nod and we get started. We're the first group to finish in the class and Ms. Jefferson shoos us back to our seats to converse among ourselves.

"So where did you live before you moved here?" Claire asks.

I know the question is innocent, but it still makes me panic for a second. "I lived in Montana." We'd only been there three months, but Claire doesn't need to know that.

"Oo!" she squeals. "Is it anything like 'Yellowstone'?"

I shake my head. "Maybe some places, but not where we lived. We lived in the city."

Claire nods, deflating slightly. "That's fair. Why'd y'all move?"

I shrug. "My mom moves a lot for work. She's a corporate person but don't ask me what she does. I have no idea."

"I'm the same with my dad. I honestly have no clue what he does. He's tried to explain it to me, but I still don't get it."

I half expect Claire to ask about my dad, but she doesn't. "I hope you know no one blames you for what happened between Hardy and Bethany. On the team, I mean. She wore her welcome out years ago and the only reason that the team put up with her is because Hardy is the team captain and such a great guy."
It hadn't occurred to me yet to be concerned about what the other football players thought. "I didn't know I needed to be concerned about that," I admit.

Claire giggles. "You don't, not really. Hardy might not be talking to you right now, but he made it clear to the team that they can't go after you. In any way."

I raise my eyebrows at this. "What? Why?"

"He has the hots for you, for sure," Claire declares, tossing her long blond hair over her shoulder. "I don't even think he liked Bethany this much when they started dating. It's been a confusing couple of weeks for him."

"I never wanted to break anyone up."

Claire shakes her head slowly. "No one thinks you did. But sometimes people come into our lives, and everything changes and there's nothing you can do about it. That's how it was with Hardy. He's just hurt right now. He'll get over it."

"I don't think he will," I say slowly. I've only just realized I considered Hardy a friend, so his attitude is really painful for me.

Claire pulls out her phone and texts someone. When she's done she looks up at me. "That's Kegan. He wants to know if you can ask Jonas to double his order for Friday night."

I stare blankly at Claire. "Order?"

Claire frowns at me. "Yea, you know, the pot Jonas is getting Kegan. I'm not sure how much he ordered, but Jonas always comes through."

My mouth falls open and I gape at Claire. Finally, I stutter out, "What?"

All the color drains from Claire's face and she leans forward. "Are you telling me you don't know about Jonas' side hustle?"

"What?" I gasp.

Claire swallows. "Jonas should have said something to you before this. He's the dealer for the school. Did he really not tell you that? That's how he paid for his motorcycle and everything!"

"But his mom's a teacher here!" I hiss. The panic is rising in me and I'm trying to tamp it down.

Claire shrugs. "She either doesn't know, doesn't care, or doesn't believe the rumors. But like, Jonas is the guy. He can get you whatever you want. I don't know how he does it. Did you really not know?"

I shake my head slowly, reeling. "I had no idea."

"Oh," Claire says.

I count backward from 10 once, focusing on my breathing. I don't have anything against pot; it'd been everywhere when I lived in California. But other drugs? What if Agent James finds out my boyfriend is dealing drugs? Everyone would be in so much trouble. One of the key rules I was given is to never do anything illegal.

"Are you upset?" Claire asks.

I nod, not sure how to put my panic into words without telling her too much. "I feel a bit betrayed. He never said anything to me about this."

"Maybe he's scared to tell you?" Claire says, but it doesn't sound like she believes it either.

I nod absently. I pull out my phone and shoot him a quick text.

Me: Hey can we talk after school?

Jonas: Sure. What's up?

Me: We'll just talk later.

I put down my phone.

"Are you going to talk to him about it?" Claire asks.

I nod. I just hope this is going to turn out okay.