Rival Revenge (18 page)

ELEVATOR TO AWKWARD, PARTY OF THREE

I FINALLY LEFT MY SPOT ON THE BENCH
and headed back to Winchester. While I walked, I decided not to tell Paige about the tape. Julia and Alison hadn't
texted me and I wanted to wait until I was sure—either way—before I told Paige what had happened with Jasmine.

When I opened the door to my room, Paige was sprawled on her bed watching a movie.

“Hey,” I said. I kicked off my riding boots and peeled off my socks.

Paige paused the film. “How was your ride?”

“Awesome,” I said. “Charm and I had a really great workout.”

Paige smiled. “Good. Want to get cleaned up and finish
High School Confessions
with me?”

“Absolutely. Be out in five.”

I grabbed jeans and a blue T-shirt with capped sleeves.

By the time I showered and towel-dried my hair, Paige had produced two sodas and a bowl of buttery popcorn.

“Thanks,” I said, accepting the can of Diet Coke that Paige handed me.

We settled on her bed, the bowl between us, and watched the movie we'd seen a hundred times and could quote lines from. It was one we watched whenever we couldn't decide what to pick or if there was nothing
on TV.

When the credits rolled, we looked at each other and laughed. “When she trips down the stairs and drops her tray,” Paige said. “I know I'm not
supposed
to laugh, but I can't help it. It's too funny.”

“What does that say about us if we laugh at things like that?” I asked, grinning.

Paige got up and stretched. “That we're kind of mean, but we own it.”

“Ex-actly.”

We laughed and I loved how things felt right at that moment. It was what I'd needed—time by myself to think and then zero weirdness from Paige.

Paige looked over at her desk, then back at me. “Ugh,”
she said. “The rest of our homework. And I have to study for a history quiz.”

I looked over at my own desk. “I've got a lot to do too. And I'll probably have to even study tomorrow.”

Paige nodded. “Same.”

“Let's go to the library and get it done there,” I said. “I saw Jasmine at the stable and if I run into her now in our common room, it would be
way
too soon.”

“Gotcha. And there are too many distractions in here. Let's go.”

I slid my feet into black flip-flops and grabbed my book bag. When I put it over my shoulder, I almost tipped to the side. I was kind of surprised that the handles hadn't torn off yet from the crazy weight of everything I was carrying.

Paige got her bag ready and we left.

“I was thinking,” Paige said. “What if we go out to dinner after we study? Now that we can order food—we could get something fun and maybe eat at the media center?”

“Sounds good to me,” I said. “We'll have to get something we haven't had in forever—like Chinese or Mexican.”

“Perfect,” Paige said. She looked at me for a second, then at the sidewalk.

“What's wrong?”

Paige shook her head. “Nothing's wrong. I just feel bad about asking you this and you can say no, but would you mind if I invited Ryan?”

“Paige! Of course I don't care. Text him the second we get to the library and see if he wants to meet us. It'll be fun.”

Paige smiled. “I think so too. I just didn't want to make you feel weird or anything.”

“It's
not
weird,” I said. “I want him to hang out with us. Unless you guys want to have dinner alone?”

“No way,” Paige said quickly. “I want you there and if Ryan can come, then it's a bonus.”

We reached the library and started up the thousand stone stairs that led up to the entrance. Okay, okay. It was more like twenty—Paige and I had counted one day when we were bored—but my heavy bag made it feel like way more. We walked through the glass-and-gold revolving doors and stopped in the lobby.

We looked at the stairs, then at the elevator. “Laziness all the way,” I said.

“Done,” Paige said. She pushed the button and we waited for the elevator doors to open. Out of habit, I pulled out my phone to check if I had any texts. Not that
I would—Paige was my only friend and no one else was texting me right now. The door dinged and without looking up, I stepped into the elevator, following Paige.

The doors closed and I realized there were three of us in the elevator.

Paige.

Callie.

And I.

Paige, standing between Callie and me, looked over at Callie and gave her a friendly smile.

“Hey,” Callie said, obviously saying it to Paige. She'd pulled her long black hair back with a skinny white headband that looked amazing.

“You here to study too?” Paige asked.

I kept my eyes on the elevator buttons, willing the elevator to move faster. It shouldn't take so long to get to the seventh floor!

“Yeah,” Callie said. Her voice was calm and friendly toward Paige. None of her words were directed to me—it was completely a conversation between them. “My English teacher gave us so many pages to read over the weekend—he should have just assigned the entire book.”

Paige laughed. “Been there. But you'll get it done.”

I hated every second of this.

My best friend and forever ex-best friend were having a conversation as if I weren't inches away from them. I wasn't mad at Paige—she had every right to talk to Callie. They'd been friends pretty much since I'd met Callie.

Callie and I didn't look at each other once. The elevator door opened and all three of us stepped forward at the same time. I dropped back, letting Paige and Callie out first.

“See you, Paige,” Callie said. She smiled at Paige—like she used to smile at me—and walked away.

“I'm sorry,” Paige said, turning to me and touching my arm. “I'm still trying how to figure out what my relationship is with Callie. It's—”

“Don't,” I said. “Really. You guys are friends and you should be. So don't even apologize for talking to her.”

Paige nodded, not saying anything. I started walking—not wanting to continue the conversation. We walked past dozens of dark wooden bookcases until we reached our fave table. Luckily, it was empty.

“We should just hang a ‘reserved' sign on this table,” Paige said. “And maybe people would think the librarians did it or something.”

“I love it. This is
the
only table where we do our best work.”

“It's because no one ever comes up here and the librarians aren't stalking us like we're going to eat something or try and smuggle in a drink.”

“They have been more stalkery than usual,” I said. “They should know that the only reason we come here
is
to work. Why would we be up here on the ancient, musty book floor anyway?”

Paige grinned. “So. True.”

We unloaded our book bags and sat down. Paige took out her phone and started texting. After a few seconds, she closed the phone.

“Okay. I texted Ryan. We'll see what he says.”

Paige put the phone on the table and had barely moved her hand when the phone buzzed. She grabbed it so fast, she almost knocked it off the table. She flipped it open and the second I saw her smile—I knew.

“He said yes,” Paige said. “He said to text him whenever we're done with studying and he'll meet us here and we'll walk over together.”

“Awesome,” I said. “We can grab a room with a giant flat screen and watch something we'd all like.”

Paige wrinkled her nose. “Like … what? Football? What do boys watch? I don't want to pick something that's girly that he'd hate.”

“He'd feel the same way about watching something for guys,” I said. “He'd probably be uncomfortable if he was watching sports and you weren't into it. So we'll channel surf and find something for all of us—something funny and easy to watch. No worries.”

“Okay.” Paige let out a breath and opened her book.

Then she closed it. “Should I go change my clothes or something?” she asked.

I eyed her black keyhole top, vintage jeans, and red ballet flats. “Nope. You look great,” I said.

“Okay,” Paige said again, smiling. She reopened her book.

Paige was getting more and more comfortable with Ryan, but she was still awkward around him just like I'd been for months with Jacob. I was glad she trusted my advice and that this was something I could help her with.

We started on the rest of our homework and I tried to shake off our—well,
Paige's
—interaction with Callie. I'd made my choice to lie about what had really happened with Jacob to protect Callie's feelings and I had to stick with it. I'd never tell Callie the truth and that meant she'd never be my friend again. But in a way, I felt like I deserved it. Eric had been the perfect boyfriend and I'd
been confused about my feelings—thinking I liked Jacob. I didn't deserve either guy.

I directed my attention back to my homework. This was what things were going to be like for a long time. But sometimes, all I wanted was for things to go back the way they used to be. Eric and I—so happy and building our relationship. Callie being my best friend and the only person I wanted to talk to the second I got to the stable. I wanted Jacob and I to be … friends. Right? Friends. But most of all, I wanted a complete do-over at my birthday party.

Stop thinking about it,
I told myself.
It's over. Done. Just keep focusing on riding and school.

I pushed the thoughts out of my brain and for the next two hours, Paige and I worked. Paige lifted her head and put down her pen.

“We're done, right?” Paige asked. “I mean, we can stay longer if you want, but my brain is overloaded.”

“Mine too. It
is
Saturday and look—we're, like, the only ones here. Text Ryan and tell him we're done.”

While Paige texted him, I cleared off my side of the table. Paige's phone buzzed and she nodded at it.

“He'll meet us out front in five minutes,” Paige said. “Should we gloss first?”

I smiled. “You're asking
me
that question?”

We took our stuff into the bathroom and I pulled out my lip gloss bag. The zipper would barely close on the purple-and-white-striped bag—it was so full. I picked up a new flavor—vanilla cherry—that I'd found a few days ago in my old makeup bag. I carefully applied my gloss and Paige did the same. I handed her my purse brush and after she ran it through her red-gold hair, I brushed my hair and pulled it into a low messy bun—pulling out pieces to make it look less balletlike and more beachy.

“Ready?” I asked.

Paige nodded. “I think so. Let's go.”

We left the library and walked down the steps. Ryan was waiting on the sidewalk just like he said he would be. He smiled at us, but his grin got wider when he looked at Paige. He was the perfect guy for Paige—sweet, smart, and cute. But he didn't act like he knew he was hot—that's what made him even better. His short, dark brown hair contrasted with his fair skin and his eyes were an intense bluish-green.

“Good idea about eating out,” Ryan said. “My roommate said the caf was serving something gross tonight—meatloaf?”

We shuddered collectively.

“Yep, it was definitely the right choice,” I said. “Paige and I were just saying that we were in the mood for something different tonight. Chinese or Mexican?”

Ryan nodded. “Ooh, Chinese sounds awesome—it's been a while since I've had it.”

“Me too,” Paige said. “I haven't had it since I got back to school and I ate it, like, once a week all summer. My mom always tries to order from this fancy place, but whenever she's not home I order it from a tiny restaurant a few blocks away that serves it the best.”

“We'll probably end up getting an order of everything,” I said, smiling. “You're making me hungry.”

Ryan nodded. “I'm in.”

Tonight was going to be fun. Paige and Ryan would be together and I didn't have to do anything but relax.

F-LIST CELEBS AND CHINESE FOOD

TOGETHER, WE WALKED INTO THE ALREADY-
crowded media center. It was packed, like it was every
other Saturday night, and the busyness of the place made me want to escape to one of the quiet rooms. I had a feeling that Eric, Jacob, or Callie could be here, and I didn't want to be standing in the lobby if they walked through.

“I'll go get the Chinese food menu,” Ryan said. “Be right back.”

Ryan went over to the media center monitor and came back with it, and we headed away from the concessions and theater and toward the TV rooms. At the end of the carpeted hallway, we found an empty room. The sand-colored walls made it feel relaxing and it was one of the smaller rooms with a couch, single recliner, flat screen, and coffee table.

“This okay with you guys?” Paige asked. Her eyes darted from mine to Ryan's. I had a feeling the look she had in her eyes was the same as when I'd met up with Jacob at the media center for the first time.