Hannah pointedly ignored that last curve thrown to her. She straightened in her chair, arched her neck out, and sent another flirty glance over her shoulder as the edge of her shirt slipped down to bare her arm. She didn’t pull it back up as she muttered to us, “I’m more in the mood for Club T.”
I glanced over. Beth was sitting next to me and she froze at the club’s name. I’d gone back a few more times with them to learn that someone was there, someone that Beth searched for and disappeared with for an hour each time. Hannah would go to the dance floor, grind against guys. I would hold down the base at a table nearby with our drinks on a tray, ready for Beth and Hannah to grab. When Beth was done with whatever she did, she’d return and keep me company. I had been told that Beth had an itch to scratch when she went there, but it was more than that. Beth was seeing a guy, who was always at Club T, who was only at Club T. I could imagine Hannah in my place as she’d pump her cousin for information, and when none was given, she’d smirk as she taunted, “Growing more and more curious. Who’s the dick you crave?”
But Beth didn’t rise to the bait. She slunk back in her seat and Hannah’s disappointment was noted. She snapped, “Jeesuz, you are pissing me off. I never took you guys for being nerds.”
Beth sent her cousin a dark look. “Do not start quoting your sister at me.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
So Tiffany called Beth a nerd? I wasn’t surprised.
“Alex.”
Hannah had turned her mission my way. I glared at Beth, who gave me a smug look back. “What?”
“Wanna go to Club T?”
“No.”
“You’re just like my cousin! Losers.” But the grin Hannah was sporting negated what she said. “Fine.” Standing up, she winked at the guys one more time. “I’m going to roam. See you two in a bit.”
As she left, one of the guys darted behind her. They disappeared around the corner to the restrooms.
“Great. I wanted to go to the bathroom.”
Beth had been watching too. She nodded in the opposite direction. “There’s a bathroom in the back section of the library. I use that one sometimes. No one goes back there so no one knows it’s there.”
“Yeah, all right.”
Our library had six stories with crooks and crannies all over. To be honest, it could be a scary place to walk around. People could hide for days if they wanted and I heard stories where people did. So after I found the bathrooms Beth had been referring, I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear Jesse’s voice behind a bookshelf in the very far section.
We hadn’t seen much of each other over the past week, both of us studying for midterms coming up. A thrill went through me as I started for him, but when I heard a soft feminine voice, I careened to a stop. There were two bookshelves between us and I hunched down. I was eavesdropping. I wasn’t ashamed.
I heard the girl saying, “I just saw my sister in the front section. And guess what she was doing?”
Jesse murmured, distracted, “Studying?”
She snorted. “I wish. She was flirting with an entire table of guys. Can you believe that?”
Oh. My stomach settled with a crash. Tiffany Chatsworth. And she was alone with Jesse, in a very private corner of the building. A rollercoaster started inside of me, but we weren’t exclusive. I had to keep reminding myself. But still. After Jamie had asked him not to touch her.
“Yeah.” Jesse didn’t sound riveted.
The rollercoaster stalled, coming down a slope and it waited before it would swoop back up.
Tiffany sighed from exasperation. “I’m just so sick of how she sleeps around. I get it. She’s heartbroken. Dylan fucked her over, but she has to stop spreading her legs for any guy. It’s so hard to sit and watch her do this to herself. And my cousin doesn’t help. She lets Hannah go off and do whatever. What if my sister gets sick? What if she gets AIDS?”
He yawned as he replied, “I’m sure she uses protection.”
“Yeah, if she’s sober enough. They go to Robbie Haskill’s house, you know. All three of them. You know what kind of a crowd he runs with. And I know Hannah sleeps with him. I’ve gotten threatening texts from his girlfriend. She’s always warning me to rein my sister in and keep her away. I think they even got into a physical fight.”
“Wait. What?”
My stomach lurched. The rollercoaster went back at the interest in Jesse’s voice now. He was more alert now as he repeated, “What’d you say?”
“About Robbie Haskill’s girlfriend?”
“No, all three of them go to his parties?”
“Yeah.” A thick moment of silence before she asked, “Why?”
“Who’s the three of them?”
“My sister. My cousin. And that weirdo girl that’s always hanging around them. Do not tell me you have a thing for her? She’s been hooking up with Cord. She’s why he dumped Chandra.”
I shook my head. All of that was news to me.
“I didn’t think Chandra and Cord were dating.”
“Hooking up. It’s the same thing.”
“Not for Cord.” I could hear the amusement in Jesse’s tone. “Chandra knew that.”
“It was exclusive for her. She wasn’t seeing anyone else—”
“She should’ve been. Cord doesn’t date. Chandra knew that.”
“What’s your problem? Why are you harping on Chandra’s heartache? She really loved him.”
Jesse snorted, yawning again. “And that’s the problem. Cord’s not been quiet about who he is. Chandra knew that going in and she decided she could change him. She couldn’t. No big shocker there. What is it with you girls? Why do you always think you’re going to change the guy you’re with? He’ll only change if he wants to. You can’t do a thing about it.”
She grew quiet again, but asked a moment later, in a timid voice, “Are you talking about Jamie?”
“What? No.”
“You are, aren’t you?” She grew more insistent. “Are you trying to tell me something about him? Is there something I should know?”
“Tiffany, stop.”
Her voice grew muffled. A sob hiccupped from her. “I know he texts my sister, you know. I pay for his phone and I see the records. I’ve tried to search in it, but he’s got it password protected. Are they hooking up? You can tell me. I won’t say anything. I just need to know.”
He groaned. “Come on. We’re supposed to be studying.”
“Are they?” Her tone rose again, sharp now. “I don’t know if I could take that, my sister and my boyfriend.”
“Your whole thing is messed up. If you want to keep Jamie, an open relationship is not helping you.”
“It’s not open on my end.” She paused again. She said now, a husky laden promise, “But it could be.”
My eyes snapped open. The rollercoaster went flying again and I waited, my heart pounding, for his answer. I knew a proposition when I heard one.
“Stop, Tiffany. I didn’t agree to study with you for this.”
And this hadn’t been the first proposition. Judging by Jesse’s wariness, this wasn’t even the second or third. He sighed again. Books were closed. A chair was pushed back. His voice sounded again, more authoritative, “You’ve been a great study buddy, but our friendship needs to cool off.”
Another chair was shoved back. “That’s not what you said this summer.”
A knife went into my chest. My insides were gaping out now.