“Is that the latest one?” Kyle grabbed the device and tinkered with the touch screen. “It shouldn’t even be out yet.”
“Connections.” Penny shrugged. “Daddy got it for me so I can stay connected during my internship in New York.”
My forehead met tabletop. “You Googled him,” I groaned.
“I’m sorry, it’s just—”
Seeing the guilt on her face, I headed her off with: “That’s why I keep you around. You supply all my TMZ needs.” I sat up and squeezed her thigh. “Speaking of His Highness…” I tilted my chin toward the cafeteria entrance.
A gaggle of girls in the orange, black, and white of Newcastle High’s cheerleaders stood around Dillan. That much pretty in one room should be considered against the rules. If I squinted hard enough, I knew I’d spot glitter and shine on the patina of popular coating their spotless skin. And too white teeth. And perfect hair. And…
I turned in disgust to see Penny gape before she said, “Our guy moves fast.”
“Wipe the drool off your face. It’s icky.” I threw a wadded up tissue at her, which she swatted away.
Kyle looked up long enough to acknowledge Dillan’s presence before going back to playing whatever new game Penny had downloaded from the App Store. When his inner gamer came out, nothing short of a natural disaster could distract him. I shook my head and couldn’t resist returning my attention to the popular crowd swarming the guy of the moment.
While walking toward an empty table, he said something that caused the swarm to laugh. The buzzing that had ruled the room died down. Heads turned toward him like homing missiles recognizing a heat signature. Then, of all places, Dillan’s gaze flicked toward me.
“What was that?” Penny glanced from me to him.
“What was what?” I asked back, acting nonchalant. I already knew what she’d meant. Not like I could escape it.
“Dillan just gave you a look.”
I blew a stray curl off my face. “Oh, you mean the ‘I’m-shocked-this-person-is-even-here’ kind of look?”
“No, more like ‘I-can’t-believe-I’m-in-the-same-room-with-this-person’ kind of look.”
“Really? To me, it looked more like an ‘I-can’t-stand-this-person’ kind of look.” Kyle smirked at his own cleverness.
“That just sounds like you’ve put words and hyphens together.” I nudged his shoulder, thankful for the comfort his addition to our conversation gave me.
Penny shook her head in dismay. “Go back to playing with your toy, Kyle.”
He blushed and returned his attention to the tablet, the friend that truly understood him.
“Boys. What can you do?” She sighed.
I sighed along with her. “Dillan gave me that look in algebra, too. You know he actually shocked me?”
“Shocked?”
“As in electrocuted,” I clarified. “I don’t know what happened. We shook hands, electricity zinged through me, then it’s like I have leprosy.”
“Maybe that’s how he normally looks at people.” Kyle reluctantly slid the tablet back to Penny. “Plus, it could just be static.”
“Oh, believe me, that look was definitely directed at Selena.” She slipped the device into the front pocket of her bag.
“Can we change the topic, please?” I begged.
“Are you ever gonna tell me why you broke up with Bowen?”
I gasped, completely forgetting that Kyle didn’t know. “You just got back yesterday—”
“Now’s as good a time as any,” Penny interrupted.
“Penny knows?” His brow wrinkled.
“I got back a week early.” She faced me again. “Come on. He deserves to know what that asswipe did.”
My shoulders tensed. Telling Penny was a thousand times easier than telling Kyle. I knew how he would react. Even if he got back from science camp as early as Penny did from her summer internship, I still wouldn’t have known how to break the news. I dropped my gaze, gathering my courage. He did deserve to know. Despite her matter-of-fact declaration, Penny slid closer. She hugged me and didn’t let go.
“Selena?”
The worry in the way Kyle said my name ripped my eyes away from the remnants of my lunch to meet his gray gaze.
“A month ago…” I swallowed. “Bowen cheated on me.”
He slapped the table and got up. Penny let me go so we could both grab an arm. We yanked him back down.
“That fucking asshole.” He growled. Remember the Labradoodle?
I shook my head. “He’s not worth it.”
“Yeah,” Penny backed me up. “Don’t get suspended and ruin your perfect record for that pond scum.”
“Just because he won State doesn’t give him the right to put his dick in someone else.”
“More like tongue.” I blushed. I couldn’t help it. “Just let it go, please? We’re over.”
Closing his eyes, Kyle puffed out a breath. Penny and I maintained our hold in him. When he opened his eyes and they were less stormy, we removed our hands from his arms. Penny returned to hugging me.
“You saw your break-up a week after you started dating freshman year.” He tugged on the stubborn copper curl by my ear, telling me he let his anger go…for now anyway. “I don’t understand why you keep thinking your visions won’t happen. They’ve been proven time and time again.”
“Call me stubborn.” I gave him my Oscar-worthy, determined expression.
“I, of all people, should know your dreams come true. I learned that the hard way.” He flexed his left hand self-consciously.
Of course he’d say that. In the fifth grade, I had a vision where Kyle broke his arm on the jungle gym. Even after I’d told him about it, he insisted on hanging from the metal bars. Five minutes later, he was rushed to the emergency room, a bone fragment sticking out of his wrist.
Guilt ate at me. Even now, years later, I still felt like I should have done more to stop him. I’d have reached for him if Penny’s arms didn’t pin mine down.
“Well, it wasn’t really about the vision.” My eyebrows pulled together. “I had to see where our relationship would go. He was my first real boyfriend.”
“Yeah, I know where he went, straight down another girl’s throat.” Penny squeezed me tighter. “He doesn’t deserve someone like you.”
“It’s been hardest on Grams. She’s always been Team Bowen.” I felt my face crumple. “She found out through the town gossip line. I literally had to stop her from stabbing him. And forget about Gramps. He totally doesn’t know, and we plan on keeping it that way.”
“You know what they say about breakups…” Penny finally let me go. I didn’t like the way she smiled when she added, “The best cure is a great rebound.” She gave Dillan an oh-so-obvious glance.
“Not gonna happen.” I wagged a finger at her, thankful the object of our conversation was looking in the other direction.
She took an exaggerated breath. “Oh, but smell the tension in the air. It has potential.”
“Leave it alone.” I did my own eye-rolling when she pursed her lips. “Anyway, Maggie’s Diner after school?”
The bell rang. The buzzing morphed into chair scraping and shuffling.
“I have to get back to Hay Creek early today. Sorry, babe.” Penny bounced away. “I’ll text you tonight, promise.”
“Kyle?” I brought out the puppy-dog eyes.
“Not today. Sorry.” He placed his arm around my shoulders. My consolation prize.
“But we always go to Maggie’s after school.”
“I have an errand to run.”
“You’re not going to corner Bowen somewhere and beat the crap out of him, are you?”
He hugged me tighter. “You know I’d bury a body for you, right?”