Running Away

chapter eighteen: frenemies in the making

I nodded, shuffling to the desk in front of Spencer as quickly as possible. She looked up briefly as I approached, a pair of clever brown eyes meeting mine for just a fraction of a second. But it was long enough for me to place her: She was the same red-haired girl who'd spoken up at the party Nick had brought me to. The party at Magnolia Kaye's mansion, out by the beach, where I'd left Paul's gleaming yellow Lamborghini.

Hopefully she either didn't remember me, or didn't know that I'd just rather suspiciously abandoned a very expensive sports car.

Mrs. Hunt excused herself to run to the bathroom then, and I watched as she tottered out the door, paused for a moment to catch her breath, and then hurried down the hallway. As soon as she disappeared from view, a swarm of chattering rose like the buzzing around a beehive. Suddenly, I was the center of attention.

The boy in the row next to mine beamed at me, holding out a broad hand. "I'm Kyle, quarterback for the football team—"

"—backup quarterback for the football team, he means," another voice piped up from behind him, the boy with the crooked smirk and long dark lashes, chuckling good-naturedly, "he hasn't played in a single game yet."

The girl sitting in front of Kyle giggled, maneuvering in her seat so that she was turned toward Kyle and me. She rolled her catlike hazel eyes, "Kyle, first period isn't even over, and you're already hitting on her?"

My heart stammered. What did she mean 'hitting on her'? I hadn't gotten the impression that Kyle was doing anything but introducing himself, no ulterior motive involved, but judging by the smug expressions on his friends' faces, I'd been wrong. I felt blood rush to my cheeks for the second time since I'd walked into Advanced Placement English.

"I'm Juliana Gutierrez, by the way," the other girl, the one with the striking eyes like a jungle cat's, said, a pretty smile curling her mouth. "Julia for short. And that's Max," she waved a hand in the dark-haired boy's direction, "he's been in love with Kyle since freshman year."

I gasped, but evidently I was the only one surprised by this information. Both Max and Kyle snorted, obviously in on the joke. But I didn't miss the patches of color that appeared around Max's ears at Julia's words. He worked twice as hard to appear cool after that.

"So, why did you switch to Tucker Newman?" Julia asked, absentmindedly twirling a chocolate brown curl between her thumb and forefinger.

I straightened up in my seat, mentally practicing the story I'd concocted the night before. I'd dreamt it up on the small bed crammed in the guest bedroom of Derek's apartment, still rattled from my encounters with Nick and Miranda, and fretting over the imminent start of my first day at an actual high school. Isabella had helped a little too, my extensive observation of her expert lies over the years coming into use.

"I just moved here to live with my aunt and uncle. I want to go to UCLA, and living in California for at least a year means instate tuition." The words came out vaguely muffled, but Julia nodded.

"Oh, really?" A third voice demanded slyly from behind me, and I stiffened. Julia, Kyle, and Max raised their brows in amusement as Spencer leaned forward, inviting herself into our conversation. Tapping a finger to her chin as though pondering something, she drawled, "You moved here because you want to go to UCLA with cheaper tuition? I'd think your parents had plenty of money to pay your way through college."

So she did remember me. And she knew that I'd left Paul's Lamborghini behind.

Thankfully, before Spencer could press the subject, Mrs. Hunt hastened back in the door. Within another minute, the bell dismissing us rang.