Four of Clubs

17

Ian was in charge of bringing the smoke bombs to school the next day, so he loaded them all into his backpack. The four of us went over the plan one last time, making sure everything was taken care of before leaving Jade's house.

"Hey, you think I could bum a ride?" I asked Ian as we closed the door behind us. Roy was already at his car, raising a hand in goodbye as he unlocked the door.

"Yeah, no problem," Ian said, waving back as we walked to his truck. We climbed in and I reached for the seatbelt, smiling as I watched Roy drive away.

"So... Roy and Jade," I started, nearly laughing again at the thought of Matthew grilling him about the kiss.

"Roy and Jade," he repeated, nodding his head. "You think they'll actually end up as a couple?"

"I'd say a kiss on the cheek means they're headed down that road, yeah. But then again, who knows." I shrugged. "Relationships are weird."

"What about you and Daniel?" he asked. "How'd you two get started?"

"We worked on a group project together in one of our classes, and he asked me out. He asked me to be his girlfriend not too long after."

"So how long have you been together?"

"About a year," I answered, brow furrowing slightly at the question. "Why?"

"No reason," he said, keeping his eyes on the road.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to get a read on him. He looked over at me, noticing my stare.

"Okay," he started, sighing. "I just... I don't want to offend you."

"So don't say anything offensive," I countered, nerves starting to settle in my stomach as the conversation veered into potentially uncomfortable territory.

"My reason for asking definitely falls into the 'offensive' category."

"Let me guess-- you don't like Daniel, and you're curious why I do?" I wasn't stupid-- I could see that everyone was getting a little fed up with Daniel's lack of participation. If they didn't like him, it wasn't hard to understand why. 

"Well... no. But also yes, if you want me to be honest."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Daniel's okay, but... he never wants to do anything. And he can get a little snippy, too, which I don't appreciate-- it's like he's working against us half the time."

"Look, he's doing the competition for me-- if it wasn't for my situation, he probably wouldn't be paying this thing any attention at all, so I'm not going to be mad if he doesn't want to jeopardize his future just to win. You, Roy, and Jade have only seen Daniel's bad side-- The Seven bring it out of him."

"That's fair. I guess I kind of figured as much-- I don't take you as the type of girl who dates assholes."

"Not intentionally," I said, mind trailing to Kendall.

"So when Daniel asked you out, what made you say yes?"

I hesitated, eyeing him again. "You're just full of questions, huh?"

He shrugged, smiling at my comment. "Just curious. But we can drive in silence if you prefer. Or I could turn on the radio, although I gotta warn you-- I'm a native Texan, and I do like country music."

"Hmm, so that's where you're from," I noted, finally able to place his accent. "To answer your question, I said yes because we had things in common."

"You both hate The Seven," he gathered.

"Yes." I looked away, knowing the reasoning probably sounded dumb to anyone else but me. But in a school full of people who followed The Seven's every move, it felt like such a breath of fresh air to finally find someone else who wasn't interested in the group. "Obviously it's not the only reason we're together, but it is the reason I said yes to the first date. And it was probably the first time since starting high school that I hung out with someone and didn't have to hear the words 'The Seven'."