She chuckles. The more I see of Natalie, the more I notice how beautiful she is. Her face is—I can’t believe I’m saying this—heart-shaped, and her skin is flawless. What’s most attractive about her, though, is her constant smile, and her funny/kind/warm personality, which is seriously top tier.
“So where’s Juliet?” asks Natalie. “This is the first time I’ve seen you apart in, like, forever.”
“Bathroom.”
She smiles knowingly, and scoops a piece of sliced carrot into a low-calorie avocado dip. “Seriously, funny guy, what’s the deal with you and her?” She bites down, and the carrot crunches loudly.
“What do you mean? We’re friends.”
She rolls her eyes. “Please, you can tell me the truth. You two are so obvious. I mean, you guys got mugged yesterday, and yet today both of you are all smiles. It’s weird.”
“Did she say anything about me?”
“Nope. But Juliet isn’t the type to talk about what she feels. Here she comes now.”
I turn my head and see Juliet walking across the courtyard. She raises one hand and waves, then points to the water fountain. She walks to it and joins the small line that’s formed in front of it.
Natalie gives me her best death stare. “I don’t need to tell you that if you hurt her I’ll end you, do I? I’m a black belt, just so you know. I could crush your neck with one punch if I wanted to.”
“That’s oddly specific.”
“Because it’s specifically what I’ll do to you if you hurt her. I’ll crush your neck.”
A guy stops in front of our table. He’s got black hair that tumbles over his forehead in pressed-down curls. His face is long, making his eyes look slightly dopey. “Natalie? Who’s this?”
He sits down beside Natalie and instantly places his hand on her thigh. He’s got a huge, bulky body, easily double the size of hers. Even sitting, I have to tilt my head up a bit to meet his brown eyes.
“Trevor,” says Natalie, “this is Caden. Caden, this is Trevor. He’s my boyfriend.”
She slides across on the seat to get closer to him, her slim body nestling against his gigantic torso. His hand moves up her thigh. Do they even know I’m here? They’re a note of bad music away from a porno. “I was saying I think Caden and Juliet are a thing.”
“About time,” says Trevor. “I thought Jules was going to end up an old spinster at the rate she was going.”
Natalie slaps his arm. “Trev, you’re embarrassing him. And besides, Caden was telling me that they’re just friends. And I totally believe him.”
Juliet reaches the table and sits down beside me. I mouth the word “hi,” and she smiles and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. She does that a lot. I wonder what she’s thinking about when she does it.
“What’re you talking about?” she asks.
“Spinsters,” I say.
“That’s oddly specific.”
Natalie smirks. She tilts her head a fraction to look past me, and the smirk fades. Juliet is also looking in the same direction. Her eyebrows narrow.
I spin around and get a good look.
It’s Dyl.
He’s wearing the school uniform, but it’s at least one size too big, as the white shirt hangs off his lanky frame and the gray slacks rest low on his hips. The top button is undone, and his hair is a dark, spiky mess. His cheeks are still covered in rough stubble, even though the school dress code prohibits facial hair. Actually, he probably avoided shaving because it’s against the dress code. Either way, it suits him.
He strides across the courtyard like he owns the place, with his head up high and his arms level with his shoulders. He finds an empty seat in the shade of a tree and sits down, then he reaches into his backpack and pulls out a small book with a pale-blue cover. He opens it to a bookmarked page and starts reading.
Trevor glares at him. “Is that poetry? Who the fuck reads poetry?”
I stifle a laugh. Then I notice Juliet. She’s leaning slightly forward, her chin resting on her fist. Her eyelids are drooping slightly. “Lots of people do. Hundreds of poetry books are published every year. Someone must read them.”
“I’m telling you,” says Trevor. “There are only three types of people who read poetry for fun. First, English teachers or majors. Second, people who want to be poets themselves. Third, people who want to seem impressive. Seeing as that guy is obviously not in category one or two, I declare him three. Caden knows what I’m talking about.”
Do I ever.
Natalie nudges him again. “Just because you’re shallower than a Michael Bay movie…”
“Have any of you heard what happened to him?” asks Juliet. “Everyone in the bathroom was talking about it. If that happened to me, I’d probably read poetry too.”
Dyl turns a page of his book.
I turn back to Juliet. “What happened to him?”
“It’s awful, Caden. His house burned down, and his parents were, well, they didn’t make it out. So his rich aunt adopted him, which is why he moved here. He lives in a big mansion on the coast, the one fenced off from everything. I think it’s really brave of him to be at school so soon after it happened. So maybe we should be nice to him.”
So that’s his backstory. Classic, painful, and effective at generating massive amounts of sympathy. No one would get through that without being tortured, and even though I know it’s all a lie, I can’t look at Dyl the same way. He’s acting like he’s hurt, and him hurting hurts me. Good job, Judy.
“Let’s stop talking about it,” says Natalie. “It’s making me feel bad. And I didn’t get to finish boasting to Caden about my stunning boyfriend.” She rubs Trevor’s chest. “He’s going to the Olympics. Everyone in the know says so. It’s been expected of him ever since he was a kid.”
He raises his hand. It’s almost the size of a dinner plate. “I’ve got big hands. And even bigger feet.”
My eyes flit to the side to get a glimpse of Juliet. She’s still staring at Dyl. My heart starts to thunder.
Get the attention away from him!
“The Olympics?” I say, a little too loudly. “That’s interesting.”
Natalie grins and grabs Trevor’s hand. “Yeah, Trevor’s a swimmer, and he’s one of the best in the country. Freestyle’s his specialty, which means he’s the fastest of the fast. He’s totally going to the Olympics. Actually, the school’s swimming carnival is coming up. It doesn’t count for anything, that’s so beneath him, but he’s still going to swim.”
“Aw, babe,” he says, and he plants a firm kiss on her cheek. “I love it when you get all proud. But yeah, I mean, the carnival isn’t much, seeing as I’ve already qualified for nationals. Oh, and hey, just so you know, nationals are in DC this year, so you’re totally welcome to come and watch if you’d like. I’d like to get a little cheer squad going. Anyway, enough about me. Do you swim, Caden?”
“I prefer running. There’s less chance of drowning. Also, fewer old guys in Speedos.”
He chortles. “That’s very true. But you should get used to it, because like Nat said, the carnival is coming up. You can watch if you like—it’s all these girls do—but it’s more fun to be in it.”