“I highly fucking doubt that.” I glare at Lucas like he doesn’t even know me at all, which he doesn’t. Of course. Sure, he saw me when I was a kid. We go to school together now. We’ve had glimpses of each other over the years, but that doesn’t mean that any of these fuckers actually know me.
Sometimes, I’m not even sure I know myself, to be honest. What I do know is, I am the furthest thing from being Stone Jacobs, pretentious asshat extraordinaire.
Fuck that notion.
17
Stone is in most of my morning classes, and we manage to ignore each other. His fan club hovers around him. Most of them ask about teaming up with my family... Well, just me, I guess. More than a few girls giggle snort like teaming up with my family is the worst thing his could’ve ever done. Stone, though, unlike the other days, doesn’t seem to be in the mood. It’s not just me he’s ignoring. It’s everyone.
During lunch, I stand in line to get food when a body hovers behind me. I know who it is, but I don’t acknowledge him until that rich voice of his sends a blast of heat through me. “Hey,” Lucas says.
I turn my head, and he offers me a tray. I take it with a small smile. “Hey.”
“I thought maybe we could take our food outside.”
“You want to eat with me?”
The smile on his face grows. “Don’t sound so surprised. I would’ve bothered you more over the weekend if I hadn’t thought you needed time to process things yourself after the press conference.”
I groan and turn back to the cafeteria line, telling the food servers what I want. At the end of the line, I hold my student ID up, so they can take the meal off my plan. Lucas is right behind me as I turn to find a seat.
“Come on,” he says when I go to sit at a vacant table. He motions toward the doors at the far end of the cafeteria that lead to a sitting area. “Let’s sit outside.”
Lucas is an enigma to me. I’ve read so many books in my short years of life. Books that have every type of person you can imagine, yet I can’t quite make him out. He’s the quiet one, but not really. He can be an asshole. He’s pulled the “You’re mine” bullshit just like Stone did, but from him, it didn’t sound as bad as when Stone said it. It seemed like something else entirely.
“Well, I—”
A girl bumps into my shoulder and the pizza on my plate slides. I try to save it, but she hits me again, “Oh, sorry.” The plate and the tray hit the floor, clattering over the tile, silencing the room for a second before the closest table bursts out laughing. Lo and behold, Meghan is front and center, giggling into her friend’s shoulder.
“I didn’t see you there,” the girl says. She bats her eyes at the seething hunk next to me. “I couldn’t keep my eyes off Lucas here.”
Lucas rolls his eyes, and the girl smirks like this is all a part of a mating ritual. She trails her fingers up and over his shoulder while Meghan watches, sticking her chin in the air and glaring at me. The girl, who is one of Meghan’s cheerleader friends from high school, flicks her gaze over to the table, and it erupts again. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out this was all pre-planned.
“Wow. You went to school with these bitches?” Lucas asks.
The girl, Lucille, rears back. She fights for control over her astonished smile. “Bitches? I think you may have mistaken me for someone else.”
“No, what you’re mistaken about is that you think I have the temperament to sit here and watch you fawn all over me.”
Behind the girl, Wyatt strides toward our group. My cheeks blaze. We already have the attention of the entire room, but Wyatt’s appearance only makes it worse. I bend over to pick up the mess on the floor since it certainly isn’t any of the cafeteria workers’ responsibility. Plus, it’ll hide my flaming cheeks.
“Maybe you can find a clue somewhere down there,” Lucille mocks. She kicks my silverware back toward me.
“Stand. Up.” Lucas growls the words like he’s having a hard time restraining himself.
When I glance up, Wyatt’s wearing a huge smile. He places his hands on Lucille’s shoulders. When she jumps and looks back at him, she automatically melts into his touch like he’s just made her whole day. See? The guys in Clary are severely limited. I don’t fault her reaction to them, but I loathe that they belittle me to get their attention. “Hey,” she says, batting her eyelashes again.
His smile thins, and her mouth drops into a pout. He moves around her, gesturing toward the floor. “I see you dropped your tray.”
“It’s not mine,” she says. “It’s Blue’s Clues’.”
Lucas steps up to her. With their height difference, she has to tip her head back. “Say that again.” His voice is a warning if I’ve ever heard one. A skitter crawls up my spine.
She smiles. “You guys are fucking with me, right?” She looks around, her gaze landing on all of us, even her table of cronies.
Lucas grabs my hand and pulls me to a standing position while Wyatt places his hands on his hips, tipping his head down low, so he can give her his cowboy stare. “Did no one ever teach you that it’s the worst kind of shame to be someone’s bitch?” he asks, tipping his head in Meghan’s direction.
Meghan stands. She wobbles on the short heels she has on and then takes short little steps to greet us. She has on a short, jean skirt, her makeup meticulously done. “What’s going on here?”
“What’s going on here,” Lucas says, “Is that you’re so transparent, you’re practically glass. If you even want Stone to look at you again, I
