“Shouldnʼt you be holding court with Twiddle-Dee, Twiddle-Dum, and Twiddle-Moron over there?” I asked, referring to a table in the middle of the dining area where three of Jaseʼs teammates - Tyler Burkeen, Seth Roberts, and Jordan Daniels - were hanging all over a cluster of cheerleader types, occasionally tossing a french fry towards the back of James Kiplingerʼs head.

“I see those guys all the time.”

“You live with me. Our bedrooms are roughly five feet from each other.”

“Are you trying to say that you donʼt want to eat lunch with me, Scout?”

“Of course she wants to eat lunch with you,” Talley said. “Sheʼs just worried that youʼre going to make her have an actual conversation with someone other than you or me.” That wasnʼt entirely fair. It wasnʼt my fault I wasnʼt as affable as they were.

“You know, they really arenʼt that bad once you get to know them,” Jase said, watching as Jordan managed to get a ketchup coated fry to stick to Jamesʼ shirt.

“Jordan Daniels is not only a complete jerk, but heʼs also as dumb as a box of rocks.”

“He doesnʼt still call you Al the Albino does he?”

“No.” Not since Jase slammed him into a wall in the boyʼs locker room and suggested he quit. “That doesnʼt mean that he suddenly stopped being a half-wit. I overheard him asking one of the secretaries where to put a stamp on an envelope last year.”

“Okay, so Jordan is an idiot, but Tyler and Seth are pretty decent, and I think you would like some of the girls if you would just give them a chance.” Sure, we would become the bestest of friends. We could have sleep-overs where we braided each otherʼs hair and talked about how super-cute and hunky Jordan is.

Gag.

I was about to turn back to my table when a pair of steely eyes caught my attention. Alex Cole sat two tables away from us, once again staring. Only this time, it wasnʼt at me. Instead, he was looking at Jase with an expression which could have easily been interpreted as murderous. His eyes were hard and I could see the muscles in his cheeks jump as he clenched and unclenched his jaw.

I could also see Ashley Johnson babbling on like a ditz beside him. I briefly wondered if she was discussing possible honeymoon locations.

“Earth to Scout,” Jase said, pulling my attention away from Alexʼs table.

“Who are you looking at?” Talley glanced over and smiled. “Ah-ha. The new guy. I should have known.”

It occurred to me that it might have been a good idea to have mentioned Alex before that moment.

“What new guy?” Jase looked towards Alex and his face went blank. I was reminded of the time he came home to find that our little sister had decided to make his Star Wars figures

“pretty” by coloring on them with a red Sharpie. He had looked at them with this exact same expressionless stare before launching into the biggest temper tantrum ever. Angel had cried for hours.

“His name is Alex Cole, and he just moved here from Montana.” Talley said. “He is smart, attractive, funny, and madly in love with your sister.”

“What?” Two voices came out in unison -- mine incredulous and Jaseʼs furious.

Talley flinched slightly, but refused to be dissuaded. “Cʼmon, Scout. You said he was staring at you in Calc, and he was definitely flirting with you in Shakespeare. You could almost see the electricity in the air between you two.”

What the Hades was she talking about? I love Talley. Really, I do. But there are times when Talleyʼs world and the real world are two completely different places.

Jaseʼs lips were pressed so tightly together you could barely see them. “Stay away from him. I donʼt even want you talking to him. Do you understand?”

“Did you seriously just try to tell me what to do?”

Jase narrowed his eyes. “You do realize who he is, right? You remember what the other one said?”

“I remember.” Like that was the sort of thing that just slipped your mind. “But Alex doesnʼt seem so... intense. I think heʼs fairly innocuous.”

“I donʼt care what he is. I promised Iʼd keep you safe. I canʼt do that if youʼre hanging out with one of them.”

I could have argued the issue, pointing out that I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself, but I didnʼt. It wasnʼt like I actually wanted to hang out with the new guy. “No problem.

Really, I canʼt stand the guy. I would be perfectly happy if I never spoke to him again.”

“Good. Letʼs keep it that way.” Jase got up, shooting another glance in Alexʼs direction. “Iʼll see you at the car after school,” he said, grabbing half of my turkey sandwich.

“What was that all about?” Talley asked, watching Jase as he made his way out of the cafeteria.

“Iʼm not a hundred percent sure,” I admitted. “It has something to do with Alexʼs psycho brother. I think Jase is involved in something bad. I tried to ask him about it, but he just shrugged me off.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Iʼll just wait it out. Jase will eventually tell me whatʼs up.”

“I was talking about staying away from Alex.”

“I honestly donʼt think thatʼs going to be a problem.” Talley looked over at the table where Alex was now chatting away with Ashley. They were most likely going over baby names. I cringed at the mental image of little Ashleys.

“That may be a bit harder than you think.”

“Donʼt be crazy; itʼll be a piece of cake.”

And it was a piece of cake. I managed to avoid any and all contact with Alex Cole for two whole hours.

***

“There you are, Scout,” Mrs. Sole greeted me at the door of my print media class. “Editorial staff is at the table in the corner.”
I walked back to the table where Joi Fitzgerald and Meg Jamison waited for me. I took a deep, steadying breath as I sat in the only available seat, next to Alex.

Crap.

“We just keep running into each other,” he said as I began to consider becoming a sports writer.

“Yes, it seems karma is intent on us spending some time together. Obviously, I did something horrid in my previous life.”

“Or maybe youʼre my reward for being so good.” You would think that grey eyes would be dull and lifeless, but his seemed to glow.

I decided my best response would be silence. Unfortunately, he did not take this as a hint to end the conversation.