“Earth to Hailee,” Flick glared at me and I blinked, stuffing down the memories.
“Yeah?”
She popped a chip in her mouth and frowned. “You’re so weird.”
“And you shouldn’t talk with your mouth full.”
“Don’t look now,” she lowered her voice. “But Jason just walked in.”
So what did I do? I looked. Being told not to do something was like a red flag for me to react. Mom called me stubborn, but I preferred dogged. Jason didn’t even glance over in our direction though.
Weird.
“Huh,” I said, starting to feel a tad disappointed by his lack of retaliation.
“Don’t tell me you actually want him to come after you?” Flick gawked at me, as I pushed a fry around my plate, coating it in a delicious ketchup and mayo combo.
“I’m not saying I want him to...” My words died on my tongue as I felt eyes on me. Lifting my face, my gaze collided with Cameron’s.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say Cameron Chase has a crush. That’s the fourth time this week I’ve caught him looking over here,” she said, her lip twitching.
“Yeah,” I snorted. “And pigs can fly.”
“Would it be so strange? You’ve known him for years.”
“You’re serious?” It was my turn to gawk. “Did you forget that he helped my brother that time they stole my bike and clothes when I was swimming down by the creek and I had to walk three miles home in just my bathing suit and flip flops?” Granted we were only thirteen back then, but I’d had blisters for a week, and the sunburn had stung like hell. “Or the time in ninth grade when he and Asher snuck into the house when Jason was sick and decided to scare the shit out of me wi
th those freaky clown masks? Or the time—”
“So they like to get a rise out of you... You know, some people call that foreplay.” Her brows waggled suggestively.
“Oh my god, you are serious.”
Flick shrugged. “I’m just saying, he’s looking at you like you’re oxygen and he’s drowning.”
No, he wasn’t.
Was he?
I discreetly peeked over at the football team again. They always sat at the same tables; the ones next to the windows overlooking the athletic field. Cameron wasn’t watching me now. He was talking to a petite blonde thing—a junior called Kayla, or maybe it was Kylie. I wasn’t sure, because unlike most of the kids at Rixon High, I didn’t make it my life’s mission to know everyone. In fact, I could count my friends on one hand. But it was easier that way. When we’d started high school together, and people realized I was Jason’s step-sister, they looked at me differently and I quickly became a stepping stone to Rixon High royalty.
Something I had no desire to be.
Ever.
I watched them together. Cameron smirking, her practically in his lap, all doe-eyed and coy, in a totally obvious kind of way.
“Is that jealousy I see plastered on your face?”
I leaned across the table and pressed my hand to Flick’s forehead. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” We’d never talked much about Jason and his friends, let alone looked at them. But I’d caught Felicity’s eyes wandering in their direction more than once this week.
“Deny it all you want, but I know these things,” laughter filled her voice, “and I’m telling you Cameron’s into you.”
Into making my life hell more like.
I rolled my eyes at her, but found my gaze wandering back over to him. The blonde was stroking his stubbled jaw now, her chest pushed up against his. God, I wasn’t jealous. I was nauseous. The way girls threw themselves at them was disgusting. Raiders didn’t date. They screwed around. Rotated through girls like an all you can eat buffet. And the girls at school were all too willing to be on the menu.
“Remember that quiz we had to do at the job fair last year?” Flick said, her eyes darting to the tables the football team occupied. “How many girls do you think answered jersey chaser for the ‘where do you see yourself in five years time’ question?”