“Guess what!?”

“What?”

“I made a new one—one with a stronger foundation—and it survived!” I grab his jacket sleeve, leading him to the back room. “Look!” I say, pointing at it.

“Wow, that’s really cool. I love the design. All the scrolly pieces. You know what this means, don’t you?”

“That I’m amazing at ceramics?”

“It means if you can’t take the heat, stay out of the kiln.”

“I don’t get it.”

He runs a fingertip across the top of the bowl, then grabs my hips, pulling me close. “It means we’re going to survive the kiln, too. No matter how high the heat.”

Slightly exaggerated.

Lunch

Annie plops down next to me at lunch. “I’m breaking up with Ace.”

“What?! Why?” I ask in shock.

“Because he’s an idiot.”

“Why’s he an idiot?” Aiden asks, leaning toward Annie and putting his hand on my knee.

I try to ignore the effect his hand has on my knee. Actually, on my entire body.

“I don’t know; maybe I’m the idiot,” she says. “Because I know that something happened when he was home. He hardly called or texted me. And since we’ve been back, he’s been different.”

“Did you ask him about it?” Aiden asks.

“Yes, and he had no answer. Just sort of shrugged like it was no big deal. I’m sorry, but if you love someone you don’t ignore them for four days!”

“Maybe there’s an explanation?” I offer.

Jake sets his tray down at the table and says to me, “Did you get in trouble in ceramics?”

“No, she just wanted to show me that my new bowl survived the kiln.”

Jake puts his hand up to high five me, so I smack it. “Did she put my sculpture in the kiln?”

“No, but it was just lying there. She hadn’t destroyed it.”

“I think she wants me.”

I laugh at him. “You’re silly.”

“What’d you make, Jake?” Dallas asks.

“A mold of my dick. Teacher was hot for it.”

“Nice,” Dallas says.

“If that huge thing was a mold, I wanna sleep with you too,” I tease.

Aiden’s grip on my knee tightens for just a second. Like a flinch.

Jake rolls his eyes and laughs. “Fine, it may be slightly exaggerated.”

“Ha! I knew it!” I laugh with him.

“Can we have a serious conversation?” Annie pleads. “I’m freaking out!”

“What are you freaking out about?” Jake asks her.

She gives Jake the eye. “Do you know what Ace did over Thanksgiving break?”

“Went home?” Jake replies.

“Well, then let me ask you this, Jake. Would you have texted your girlfriend over Thanksgiving break?”

“Uh, sure?” Jake says, not very convincingly.

“What if you didn’t? What reason would you have for not texting her?”

“Maybe my phone was dead?”

“What else?”

“I was busy?”

“Exactly!” she says, pointing at him. “That’s what I thought! But busy with what—or whom—is the question.”

“Annie, do you really think Ace cheated on you?”

“I don’t know but, as you can see, he’s not sitting with me today. Look where he’s sitting.”

“I don’t see him.”

“He’s sitting by Chelsea.”

Aiden’s eyes get big and his hand finches against my knee again.

And I know.

“Aiden and Logan,” I say, “did Chelsea text either of you over break?”

Aiden nods.

So does Logan.

Maggie’s eyes get big. “She what? What did you say? Did you reply?”

“Yeah. I told her not to text me again.”

Maggie narrows her eyes. “That’s all?”

Logan pulls out his phone and shows her.

Maggie reads it. “Oh, nice. She said, and I quote, We should hook up. You know you and Maggie are never going to work. That little bitch.”

Logan leans his head against hers. “Did you see what I wrote?”

Maggie doesn’t read this out loud, but her smile tells us all we need to know.

I turn to Aiden. “What did she say to you?”

“Can we talk about it later?” he says.

“Uh, sure,” I say, but I’m not at all sure. In fact, I’m pissed. Because if he said something like Logan did, he would’ve shown me now.

I move my knee out from under his hand, crossing my legs and turning toward Annie. “It sounds like she is up to her old tricks again.”

“I bet she just sent them to Aiden and your friends’ boyfriends to get back at you.”

“You’re probably right.” I turn and say, “Bryce, did she text you, too?”

“Yeah, I told her to fuck off. She made a sexual comment about that to which I didn’t bother replying.”

Katie grins at him and runs her hand down his arm. They’re so cute together.

I know I should trust Aiden. I have no reason to doubt him. But it’s killing me.

Feasting on my stomach.

I can’t eat.

I can’t stop wondering what Aiden said to her.

And why he won’t tell me.

And I can’t even look at him. I just look straight down at my food and pretend to eat.

This is another reason why I shouldn’t have come back here. I can’t take any more drama in my life.

About halfway through lunch, Aiden reaches under the table, putting his hand back on my knee.

I was pretending to be absorbed in a conversation Jake and Bryce were having and his touch makes me jump.

I bolt upright, grab my tray, and say to the table, “I have to get to class early. See ya later.”

I throw my lunch in the trash, deposit my tray, and avoid Chelsea’s table.

Whitney says, “Keatyn,” as I walk by hers.

I sit down with her, Dawson, Brooke, and Peyton.

“Hey, how was your break?” I ask her politely.

She doesn’t answer my question. “Did Chelsea text Ace over break?”

I nod sadly. “Yeah. Logan, Bryce, and Aiden too.”

“She wants to get back at you.”

“Probably.”

“It’s because we’re divided, so she thinks she stands a chance. In fact, I was thinking . . .”

She leans over and whispers in my ear.

And what she says makes me smile. “You’re right. Tomorrow night, it is.”

A weird match.

French

I get to French class early, and Miss Praline says, “Keatyn, would you mind missing class today?”

“Not at all!” I practically scream. I really don’t think I can stand to sit here with Aiden, wondering the whole time what the heck Chelsea said to him.

“Great. I need someone to go to The Market and choose the picnic basket assortments for the French club to sell. Would you like to take Aiden or Annie with you?”

I shake my head. “Neither one of them is doing very well in class. I’d hate for them to miss it.”

“Yes, you’re right. You don’t mind going by yourself?”

“Honestly, it’d probably be easier to have just one person choose.”

“All right,” she says, writing out a pass for me. “I’ll call them and let them know you’re on your way.”

I practically skip out the door.

When I get to the office, Dawson is just leaving.

“Whatcha doing?” I ask him.

“Just dropping off something for my math teacher. What are you doing?”

“Going to choose the picnic basket assortment for French weekend.”

“Take me with you? I didn’t do my math homework.”

“Sure, why not?” I look down at the note. “She didn’t put my name on it.”

We check out with the office and he offers to drive.

“I saw Brooke was sitting with you today.”

“Yeah, and, surprisingly, Whitney was really cool about it. But I guess she’s all into Shark. Is it me, or is that kind of a weird match?”

“Shark gets a lot of girls. He’s cute.”

“Yeah, but . . .”

“I agree. It’s kinda surprising. But he complimented her Court dress, and I watched her blush. Shark has charisma. And he’s super smart. He’s the kind of guy that will go places in life.”

“True. And Whitney would like that.”

“I don’t think that’s what they’re about though. I think he turns her on.”

“Shark kind of reminds me of her dad,” Dawson laughs.

“I’ve never heard about him.”

“She doesn’t talk about him much. Her parents went through a nasty divorce sophomore year. Her mom told her that her dad never wanted to see either of them again.”

“So the guy at Homecoming that looked perfect. That wasn’t her dad?”

“Stepdad. Her mom was remarried within six months.”

“I didn’t care much for her mother. Or her bitchy sister.”

“They think their shit doesn’t stink. They aren’t very nice to Whitney. I always felt bad for her.”

“It would suck.”

“Speaking of suck,” Dawson says with a laugh. “Is it me or does that night at the Cave seem like so long ago.”

“A lot has happened since then.”

“I’m glad we’re still friends.”

“I am too. Dawson, did Chelsea text you over break?”

“No.”

“Did she text Riley?”

“No. And I think he would have said something because it would’ve pissed him off.”

“She texted Aiden. At lunch, he wouldn’t tell me what she said. He said we’d talk about it later.”

“And you’re freaking out, assuming it’s going to be something bad?”

“Kind of. Logan told us what Chelsea said and he let Maggie read what he said back. It made her happy. Aiden didn’t tell me that she texted him. And that bothers me.”

“Maybe that’s why he didn’t tell you. Did you have fun together on your trip?”

“Yeah, it was really nice. And it felt like we figured things out. How to communicate better. How not to jump to conclusions. How not to get mad and walk away.”

“Does he still speak to your soul?”

“Yeah. And that’s why he scares me.”

“Keatie, don’t let it.”

“Does Brooke speak to your soul?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. She’s fun to kiss.”

I roll my eyes at him.

He smirks. “But, then, you were fun to kiss, too. That’s what I loved about our relationship. It was fun and easy. No drama.”

I raise an eyebrow at him.

“Okay, there was some drama. But it was outside drama, not drama with us. Until the Whitney thing.”

“More like Whitney things. Do you think she’s changed?”

“I actually think she has. What she did for you was pretty cool. And, today, she didn’t say anything bitchy about Brooke sitting with us.”

Dawson parks in front of The Market.

“I already asked Brooke to be my date this weekend. I want to impress her with a kickass picnic. You’re going to do some extravagant options, right?”

“I am now,” I laugh.

Not as fun without you.

Dance

“What’s wrong, Maggie?”

She’s putting her pompoms in her locker slowly and staring at them like she’ll never see them again.

She sits down, slumps her shoulders, and drops her head. “I think this will be my last semester at Eastbrooke. I don’t know where I’m going to go or what I’m going to do.” Her voice cracks. “I haven’t told Logan and it’s killing me. And I half hoped he would’ve said something to Chelsea so I could get mad and break up with him. That way it will be easier when I have to leave.”

I sit down next to her and put my arm around her. “Maggie! You can’t leave! Why would you want to?”

“I don’t want to. You know how I went to Logan’s for most of Thanksgiving break?”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t tell him why.”

“What happened?”

“You know that my mom got remarried a few years ago?”

“Yeah, you’ve mentioned that.”

“When I go home, I feel like an outsider. Like I don’t belong. Last summer was horrible. I was so desperate I wanted to go live with my dad.”

“Why would that be desperate?”

She looks down again and starts crying. “My mom comes from a pretty well-off family. She fell in love with my dad but her family never liked him. Said he was worthless. I think eventually he started feeling that way. I remember when we’d go to my grandparents’ for holidays. They were never really nice to him. And my dad would always drink a lot. He started using drugs. My mom found out. He was spending a lot of money on them, I guess. I was only eleven when they divorced. Mom got full custody of me, and I’m hardly allowed to see him.”

“Did he show up at Thanksgiving or something?”

“No. I don’t like her new husband and I’m pretty sure the feeling is mutual. It’s all about them and their baby. Their family. Apparently their families have known each other forever and my grandparents love him. I don’t know why. He’s a lazy ass when he’s at home. Mom has a nanny for my little brother, so she doesn’t have to deal with—and I quote—the dirty parts of raising a child. So, of course, I go home and the nanny is off for the holiday. My stepdad was on my ass the entire time. Like it was my job to take care of him. And I was glad to help. I adore the kid. So I fed him, rocked him to sleep, and was right in the middle of texting Logan when he woke up and started crying. When I didn’t jump up to get him, my stepdad grabbed my phone out of my hand and blew up. He told me I was lazy! While he was sitting on his ass! He decided I was grounded from my phone. I told my mom it was bullshit. She took his side, and I lost it. I got my little brother out of his crib, gave him a kiss, handed him to my stepdad, took my phone back, and marched out the front door.”