“Are you calling me a stupid lemming?”
Evan nodded. “Yeah. Back then. But come on, you’re going to the school where a student killed another student and a teacher. And some other chick was like, on the run from the FBI or the German mafia or her parents kidnapped her or something. Drugs? Lame. So what was it? Oxy, Spice, Adderall, Lady X?”
Brynna sat back, a mixture of surprise and sudden comfort washing over her. She smiled. “Doesn’t matter. It was lame and I’m over it. Now I’m addicted to cheap nachos, so can we please just get to this game?”
???
Brynna’s good mood was short-lived. For every inch of comfort she took knowing that Evan was cool with her past, a needling fear poked in: He doesn’t know the real story. He doesn’t know about the dare. About Erica.
She struggled through the football game, remaining seated when everyone jumped to their feet, cheering, her head a churning mess of Erica’s tweets.
No, she told herself. Not Erica’s.
Erica was dead.
Maybe not…
The thought flashed through her mind before she could stop it, and Brynna gritted her teeth, trying to keep the memory on her periphery, out of her mind. But it crept in—the sound of the water as it broke when Erica and Brynna crashed into it. The feeling of Erica’s fingers gripping hers tightly, then slowly, slowly slipping through her palm, then slipping away. Brynna thrashed, salt water floating up her nose, dripping through her teeth as she smiled. She spun, looking for Erica, feeling through the water.
But it was silent.
Dead calm.
“Hey, ow!”
Brynna blinked as Teddy pulled his hand from hers and began massaging it.
“You’ve got a hell of a grip,” he said, his blue eyes playful.
Brynna’s heart began to pound. Had she been holding Teddy’s hand? Oh god, had she grabbed it?
“I’m—I’m super sorry,” she said, her ponytail bobbing against her cheek as she shook her head.
“No.” Teddy’s hand found hers again and squeezed gently. “I like a girl who makes the first move.”
The embarrassment Brynna should have been feeling was zapped, replaced by electricity that shot up her arm the second Teddy’s hand settled into hers. Their bare arms touched, and the connection was there again—a hot, wonderful zing that shot through her, making every single inch of her body spark.
Evan leaned over from Brynna’s other side. “Can you stop beaming for, like, fifteen seconds? I’m getting a third degree burn over here.”
Teddy rolled his eyes and nudged Brynna’s shoulder. “Want to get a drink?”
She felt her face redden, felt her mouth go suddenly dry. She was on probation. She didn’t drink—she couldn’t drink. She thought of the doctors and Woodbriar Rehabilitation Center where she stayed for six weeks and where they called the patients “clients.” She thought of her mother, wringing her hands while her father lectured her about why “kids” shouldn’t drink, his own eyes red, his breath tinged with the unmistakable scent of bourbon.
“Uh…”
“The Snack Shack only has Pepsi stuff, but there’s Coke and Red Bulls in the machine in the quad.”
Relief flooded over Brynna. “Oh, yeah. A Coke would be cool.”
They stood up and edged through the crowd on the bleachers. As Brynna crossed in front of Evan, he yanked her down by her jeans pocket. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” he hissed in her ear. “And if you do, I want to hear all about it.”
Brynna waved him off and fell in step with Teddy. They crossed the back forty, talking about teachers and school and everything topical until they reached the main part of campus. It was darker there, the flood lights of the stadium bright in the distance.
“This place is kind of creepy at night,” Brynna said, her hackles going up as they made their way through the darkness.
Teddy turned and held out a hand. “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”
Tentatively, she slid her hand into his. There was something different about holding Teddy’s hand while they were walking, while there was no one else to see them. It was tender and sweet, but secret too.
???
The game ended—the Hawthorne Hornets came up short in the fourth quarter—and Evan, Teddy, Darcy, and Lauren pressed in on Brynna in a tight huddle.
“Let’s just go to Brewsters,” Lauren said. “I’d kill for a burger.”
“No.” Darcy shook her head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Brewsters is crap. Isn’t there somewhere else to go?”
Evan frowned. “Have you met Crescent City? It’s Brewsters, the mall parking lot, or Taco Time.”
“I could do a taco.” Teddy was still holding Brynna’s hand, and she loved the warmth but had no idea what happened next. Did she drop his hand? Keep holding it until he dropped hers?
“Oh, oh, oh! I know what we have to do. Darce, Teddy, what time do you have to be back?”
Teddy shrugged. “Midnight curfew.”