Kaia could see what he’d been thinking, of course. A girl like Beth would be easy to push around-she wasn’t “trouble in a miniskirt.” He’d probably guessed that she would jump at the chance to play his dutiful concubine for the year, rescuing him from boredom and then sweetly and quietly disappearing when the time came.
Kaia almost laughed-apparently, he’d guessed wrong. She was about to enter the room and blast Powell for spurning her, taunt him with what she knew. Then she stopped, considering his stooped figure-chin resting on his fists, staring into the distance, maybe wondering how to clean up the mess he’d made for himself if it ever came to light. If.
Kaia guessed that he was probably congratulating himself for picking a girl like Beth, who would likely lack the backbone needed to get him into any trouble. He probably figured that by steering clear of Kaia, by refusing to indulge in any “inappropriate fraternization” with the troublemaker, he would at least be safe on that front. At least he’d dodged that bullet.
Kaia shook her head in pity, and this time, she did laugh.
They ran into each other at their lockers-they were next to each other, of course. Midway through last year, Adam had bribed some sophomore to switch with him, so that he and Beth could be side by side. Sometimes Beth slipped little love notes in through the ventilation cracks at the top, and once in a while, Adam had even thought to make a romantic gesture of his own. On Valentine’s Day he had papered the inside of her locker with cut-out construction paper hearts and left a bouquet of roses waiting for her. It had always been a good thing, having the same home base to come back to, an easy meeting point, a safe refuge in the busy chaos of the day. But having neighboring lockers also meant there was no escape, and so here they were, side by side, at the worst possible time.
Still wet from swim practice and still steaming from his run-in with Kaia, Adam slammed his locker open and grabbed his bag, accidentally knocking down the photo of Beth he’d taped to the inside of the door on the first day of school. A spasm of guilt shot through him, and he snatched the picture off the ground, trying to stick it back up, but it was no use. The tape was too dried out, and he was forced to lay the picture atop a pile of junk; he swore to himself that he’d bring in more tape the next day and make things right. He’d make everything right.
He slammed the door shut, giving it a kick for good measure, and cursed Kaia under his breath, not for the first time.
The soulless, manipulative bitch.
And he’d let her ruin his life.
Enter Beth.
Tearful, replaying the moment in her mind again and again, and yet still unable to believe it had actually happened.
And had she wanted it to happen?
He saw her first-and had almost enough time to shrink away. But not quite.
“Beth!” he said forcefully. “I’ve been looking for you all day.”
“Adam?” Beth, who had walked right past him without noticing and began slowly spinning the combination lock on her locker, looked up hesitantly. It was as if she didn’t recognize him, didn’t quite believe he was real. Maybe because she’d already been imagining him standing there, because right now there was no one in the world she wanted to see more-or less.
She closed her eyes and took a moment of silence to shut out the world and regroup-but when she opened them, he was still there, waiting.
“Adam, I, uh…” her voice trailed off. What was she supposed to do, forget about their fight, tell him the truth about what had just happened, send him off to beat up Jack Powell and then get thrown out of school? And, of course, he’d never look at her the same way again. The Beth he knew didn’t go around seducing teachers-no, if she was going to make this work, she had to remain the girl he’d fallen in love with, and that girl was innocent, trustworthy, and above all, loyal. She didn’t need anyone other than her boyfriend, even in her fantasies.
“I’m sorry,” he finally said, breaking the silence.
“I want to apologize,” she sputtered at the same time.
And that was all it took.
They spoke at once, the words spilling out hesitantly, their words overlapping, their voices growing in speed and strength as they decided where they were going, drowning each other out in their eagerness to get there.
“No, I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“I’ve been horrible.”
“I should have called-”
“I just wanted to say-”
“I missed you-”
“I love you-”
They stammered, and babbled, and then, finally, they embraced.
Adam held her tight, breathing in the fresh, clean scent of her hair. Thinking,
Beth dug her fingers into his flesh, wishing she would never have to let go. Deciding,
They stayed like that, frozen in the empty hallway, for several long minutes, leaning on each other. Two minds with a single, desperate thought:
She was lying in bed, stumbling haplessly through her math homework, when she heard it. His car, pulling into the driveway, a loud rumbling and clinking that could belong to no one but Bertha the beat-up Chevy. She would know it anywhere.
Harper flipped the book shut and leaped to her feet, creeping over to the window-there was nothing wrong with taking a quick look at him, she told herself. Just because she wasn’t speaking to him (not that he’d seemed to notice-it probably didn’t even count as the silent treatment if she hadn’t actually seen him face-to-face yet and had the chance to snub him) didn’t mean she couldn’t watch from afar, just to see what he was doing.Who he was with.
The car pulled to a stop and Adam jumped out, walked slowly around to the passenger’s side, and held the door open. A blond head appeared, and he put his arm around her waist.
Harper couldn’t actually make out the girl’s face from her perch, but who needed to? She should have guessed this would happen. Adam and Beth walked together up the pathway toward the front door, his hand still resting on her back, her head against his shoulder. Harper couldn’t bring herself to look away. He unlocked his front door, but they paused before stepping inside-Adam cradled Beth’s face in his hands and turned it up toward him. And they kissed.
That was more than enough.
Harper shut her blinds in disgust and flung herself back down on the bed.This was getting ridiculous. First she had to watch Adam getting it on with Kaia in public, right in front of her-on
Was Adam hooking up with everyone in town but Harper?
It was beginning to feel that way.
Chapter 14
“Remember when we used to play GI Joes out here?” Adam asked lazily, lying back on the large, flat rock and staring up at the stars.
So he hadn’t apologized. So what? After a few days Harper’s anger had burned down to a low simmer, and with Beth back in the picture and Kaia up to God knows what, Harper didn’t have time to waste sulking in a corner. If she was going to win Adam, she was going to have to get in the game.
