Jolene should know I don’t. I got to know her and her whole posse of boys from living in the trailer park, but since I moved out, I’m not really one of them. Still, we’ve known each other since we were kids, and she knows I’m only one unpaid bill from being right back there with them. I consider fucking with Jolene and telling her I know the Dolces just for kicks, but it might give her a stroke, so I resist the urge.
“Why would I talk to them?” I ask. “I don’t even know who they are.”
“They live in the same town as us,” she says, pouting. “It’s not impossible.”
The same town, sure. The same universe? Not even close.
“Yeah,” I say with a snort. “It is.”
“Then why’d you ask about them? Usually only the popular girls here worry about the Dolces.”
“Why would they worry about the rich Willow Heights boys? Don’t they have enough guys here to knock them up?”
“Yeah, but they’re Willow Heights guys,” she says. “And they’re the Dolces. Come on, Harper. Even you’ve heard of them.”
“Not really,” I say, dropping my flavorless burger onto my plate.
“Yeah, you have,” she says. “That’s why you asked. That’s why all the popular girls want to get with them. Whoever dated one of them would be the queen bee of this school by default. Theyownthis town. Can you imagine what that could do for your reputation?”
I can imagine exactly what they could do for my reputation. One leaked picture, and I’ll be a lot worse than a poor nobody. I’ll be a social pariah.
“Everyone knows they’re trouble,” Shiner says. “I heard they been arrested like ten times, but their dad paid off the cops.”
“I heard they didn’t just pay off the cops, but the judge,” Earnhart says. “They made a deal so nothing they do goes on their permanent record, no matter how bad it is. Can you imagine what we could get into with that kind of immunity?”
“See?” Jolene bugs her eyes at me, as if I should be impressed by this disgusting behavior, while the guys go on talking about what they’d do if there were no consequences.
“If they got arrested, I’m sure they deserved it,” I say, thinking about my record, which isn’t exactly squeaky clean. I’ve avoided going to juvie, but I’ve been picked up by the cops more than once myself.
“They’re so fine, though,” Jolene says, leaning back in her seat with a sigh.
“Dude, I’m right here,” Earnhart says.
“Oh, whatever,” she says, swatting his thigh. “Don’t even pretend you don’t spin around so fast you get whiplash every time a Willow Heights girl walks by in her little plaid skirt.”
“Carry on,” Earnhart says, going back to his fries.
“Is anyone going to the game tonight?” Jolene asks.
We all look at her.
“What game?” I ask. “And since when do you care about sportsball?”
“The game tonight,” she says. “Thefootballgame. Hello, it’s the first game of the season, between us and Willow Heights. It’s kind of a big deal.”
“To who?”
“To everyone,” she says, gesturing around the cafeteria. “The first game of the season will set the tone for the rivalry all season. We play them again for Homecoming every year—either theirs or ours.”
“How do you know all this?” Dodge asks.
“Everyone knows,” Jolene says.
“Why would we go to this thing again?” I ask.
“You just don’t get it,” she says, rolling her eyes.
“Have you ever gone to a game?” I ask.