Rival Revenge Read Free Page A

said. “Dickon felt familiar to Mary and her old life in India, so that’s a great observation about her comfort with him.”
    I listened as the rest of the class discussed the book and how lonely Mary was until she had friends. The class debated about whether or not Mary would have wantedto run away from the mansion if she’d been the only kid and hadn’t found Colin and Dickon.
    I took a quiet breath. Even school was beginning to remind me of my current state of friendlessness.

TEMPORARY QUARTET
    I WENT STRAIGHT TO THE LUNCH LINE, NOT looking into the caf. All morning, I’d avoided thinking about lunch and where I’d sit. For a minute, I thought about hanging in the bathroom, but I couldn’t. Then it would look as if I felt bad about what I’d done. And I couldn’t give off that vibe. I had keep up my fake Yeah I tried to steal a boy act.
    I never wanted Callie to question even for a second that I’d lied about what had happened with Jacob. Callie needed to hate me so she didn’t look at Jacob and start to wonder about the truth. But, like Paige, Callie knew me well. Eventually, she’d start to think about Friday night and maybe she’d start to wonder about who to trust—her boyfriend or her ex-best friend.
    I stepped forward in the line, still deep in thought. Paige would definitely want to eat with me, but I wanted more time on my own to think and not to have to answer any potential questions. I still worried that not eating with Paige would hurt her feelings.
    â€œHon?”
    I looked up at the lunch lady, her hand hovering over the choices of salad dressing. “Yeah? Sorry?”
    She smiled. “Ranch or Italian dressing?”
    â€œRanch, please.”
    I moved through the rest of the line and lifted my chin as I stepped into the cafeteria. I tried to channel Heather as I walked. She always looked confident and as if she didn’t care what anyone thought. Maybe I needed to take secret lessons from her because that was exactly the feeling I needed to project right now.
    Eric sat across from Rachel, her friends and Troy and Andy—Eric’s friends. His back was to me.
    I waited for jealousy to burn in my chest that Eric was sitting with Rachel, the pretty seventh grader who’d been openly crushing on him for a while. But nothing came. Not even one twinge of envy at seeing them together. I’d hurt Eric so much—he could sit with any girl he wanted—he deserved to have whatever he wanted.
    Eric threw back his head, laughing. He must have felt the same—he didn’t look as if he wanted to try and find me to talk anytime soon. He sat there smiling and laughing as if nothing bad had ever happened. As if we’d never happened.
    That hit me.
    Hard.
    I choked down a sob and composed myself. I was on my own—the way I was supposed to be. I had to put my attention back on the things that mattered—school and riding. I was done with guys for a while.
    At a table in the back of the caf, Jacob and Callie sat together. Jacob’s eyes were on his plate as he picked through his curly fries. Callie’s eyes flickered over, her dark brown eyes turning almost black when she glared back at me. I glanced away and hurried forward, almost tripping on a chair leg. I went to the back of the caf and let my tray clatter onto the table. The noisy chatter of the caf seemed unusually subdued today. For once, I actually wished for it to be louder so that I didn’t have to hear my own swirling thoughts for one more second.
    I sat down and saw Paige looking at me a few tables away. She motioned to me and mouthed Come over .
    I half-smiled and shook my head. I’m fine, I mouthed back.
    Paige stared at me for a second before turning back to her friends. She was sitting with Geena and a couple of girls from classes we didn’t share.
    My phone vibrated.
    Ur prob not up 2 sitting w every1. Want me 2 come sit w u?
    It was