Empire High Untouchables

by Ivy Smoak

  I nodded.

  “Save me a seat at your table. I’m going to go get something with tons of beef.”

  I laughed and his hand slipped out of mine. Felix had only ever sat with me at lunch that one time to ask me to his party. But he probably knew that saving him a seat wasn’t really necessary. The only person I ever sat with was Kennedy. Speaking of which…she had been avoiding me all day a lot better than I had avoided Felix and Matt yesterday. I grabbed my salad and sat down across from her.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hey.” She was staring at the display on her camera instead of at me. “Look, I’m sorry about yesterday. I was just trying to help.”

  “Trying to help? You were trying to get my uncle to lock me away like Rapunzel.”

  She slowly swallowed the green beans she’d just put in her mouth and finally looked up at me. “No. I was trying to push you toward Matt instead of Felix. Because…you two make more sense.”

  “Yeah…no. He’s still not speaking to me in public.”

  She put her chin in her hand. “But he’s staring at you.”

  “He’s not staring…” my words died away when I turned around to look at the Untouchables’ table. Matt was still staring. Directly at me. I swallowed hard and turned back around. “Random coincidence. But it doesn’t matter anyway. Because my uncle calmed down and now he wants to meet Felix.”

  Kennedy spit water out all over the table. “He what?”

  “Geez. Watch it.” I grabbed a napkin and started blotting up her mess.

  “What do you mean he wants to meet him? Why would Uncle Jim want to meet Felix?”

  “Because I told him how much I like him.”

  “But…that’s…that’s not…but…”

  “Hey,” Felix said and sat down next to me. “Thanks for saving me a seat.”

  Kennedy closed her mouth. And then opened it again. Closed it again. And then a smile spread over her face. “Hey, Felix. So great that you could join us.”

  “It is?” he asked. “Why do I feel like this is some kind of trick?”

  “What?” She laughed but it came out way higher than usual like she was pretending to be someone else. “I was just saying how fun it would be if you ate lunch with us today.”

  She most definitely hadn’t been. I watched as she started eating again without spitting anything anywhere.

  “Uh…yeah,” Felix said. “I was kinda hoping to make it a normal thing.”

  Kennedy swallowed the food in her mouth. “Awesome. We can be the three amigos. Amigas? Probably amigas since there’s only one boy.” She reached across the table and lightly flicked Felix’s hand.

  “Sure. Are you feeling okay, Kennedy? You’re acting all…well…more like you used to freshman year.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Like…nice to me.”

  “Psh.” She waved her fork in the air.

  The other day I would have been worried she’d stab him with it. But she didn’t look murderous today.

  “When have I ever acted mean toward you? We go way back. We knew each other before Brooklyn even started going here. Before she even moved to this state. We were already a twosome. The first twosome.”

  “Right.” Felix gave me a weird look. “Well, great. I’ll even be part of your awesome girl group if that’s what you want.”

  “Definitely. The three of us can hang out all the time. Like…always together all three of us. Speaking of which, what are you guys doing Thursday night? I was thinking we could all hang out.”

  “Kennedy,” I said. “I just told you Felix was going to meet my uncle on Thursday. We’re having dinner...”

  “Great! What time? I’ll be there.”

  Felix glanced at me again and then back at her. “Actually, Kennedy it was more of a date kinda thing.”

  “The three amigas classic date night! Plus Uncle Jim. Awesome! Can’t wait.” She shoved more green beans in her mouth.

  I didn’t know what I was supposed to say. I was glad that Kennedy was being nice to Felix for a change. I didn’t want her to go back to being mean by uninviting her. Not that I’d invited her in the first place. But having her at dinner would make Thursday night less awkward. I was worried my uncle was going to go all Spanish Inquisition on his ass. Or maybe that was what Kennedy was doing in some weird twisted way? Why was she being so overly nice?

  “The three of us are going to have so much fun,” Kennedy added and gave Felix a big smile.

  I shrugged. “Yeah. Dinner Thursday’s going to be great.”

  “Yeah. Great,” Felix added. Although neither of us sounded quite as excited as Kennedy.

  At least she was speaking to me again. Her weird behavior was better than her avoiding me altogether and berating Felix. So lunch was kinda sorta a win. I think.

  ***

  I pulled my notebook for my entrepreneurship class out of my locker and a piece of paper fluttered to the floor. What the hell? I bent down and lifted it up.

  We really need to talk. I’ll be waiting for you in the auditorium after class.

  Matt. Again it wasn’t signed, but I knew it was him. And again he was pleading with me to meet up in the auditorium. But why not just talk to me in class? Was he too embarrassed to let Rob hear what he had to say to me? Was he worried stupid Charlotte would be jealous? He clearly didn’t want a paper trail or he’d sign the notes. And meeting in a dark auditorium away from the scrutiny of the elite pricks in our class? Screw him. I wanted to crumble the paper up and throw it on the ground. Instead, I folded it and shoved it into my pocket. I was such an idiot.

  I walked into Mr. Hill’s class, trying to ignore the note burning a hole in my pocket. Matt wasn’t there yet. He always strolled into class at the last minute looking devastatingly handsome. I tore a blank page out of my notebook, wrote “NO” in big bold letters, and slapped it onto his desk before anyone else entered the classroom. A few minutes later Matt and Rob walked in and I stared at my blank notebook like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

  “What the hell is that on your desk, Matt?” Rob asked as he sat down. “Still haven’t learned that no means no?” He laughed at his own joke.

  Instead of laughing it felt like I couldn’t breathe.

  I heard Matt lift the paper up off his desk. “It’s nothing.”

  I continued to stare at my notebook, waiting for the sound of him crumpling the paper in his fist. When it didn’t come, I looked up. He’d folded the note and was stuffing it into his blazer pocket. The same place I’d put both notes he’d given to me. Why didn’t he throw it out?

  “We’ll be working in our teams today,” Mr. Hill said. “I want the topics finalized and handed in by the end of class.”

  Charlotte raised her hand.

  “Yes, Miss King?” Mr. Hill asked.

  “Will these projects be completed in class? Like…we won’t be working on them at all outside of class, right?”

  Mr. Hill shook his head. “These projects are to be treated like homework. The majority of the work will be done on your own time.” He turned his attention back to the class. “Which means the sooner you hash out the topics, the sooner I can go back to teaching. Break up in your groups.”

  “But…” started Charlotte.

  “Now, Miss King.”

  Charlotte sighed and headed over to her group.

  “I wonder what’s eating her,” Rob said and turned around. “Probably no one, that’s the problem.” He held up his hand for a high-five, but Matt ignored him. “Geez, you’re no fun today. What about you, Sanders?” Rob said. “You won’t leave me hanging, will you?” He put his hand up in front of me.

  “I didn’t get your joke,” I said.

  Rob lowered his hand and leaned forward. “You know…I meant no one was eating her out.”

  “Oh.” I laughed even though I had no idea what he was talking about. “Right.”

  A smile spread across Rob’s face. “You’re adorably naïve, Sanders. It me
ans when you stick your tongue in…”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Matt said.

  Rob gave him a sideways glance. “What? I was explaining the dual benefits of oral…”

  “I said shut up.”

  “And someone’s not getting any head.” He nodded toward Matt.

  I laughed. And then I immediately blushed. Because now I understood Rob’s joke. And the fact that he’d mentioned Matt’s penis didn’t help my flushing cheeks either. I cleared my throat. “So we’re running on the fitness topic?” I asked. My voice came out weird and high-pitched.

  “We said we’d do whatever you want,” Rob said.

  I didn’t like all the pressure being on me. “It’s a quarter of our grade. I don’t want you blaming me if we fail.”

  Rob laughed like that was the most entertaining thought in the world. “We never fail, Sanders.”

  Again, I felt like I was out of the loop on a joke. “Okay…but what do you want to do that’s fitness related? Fitness itself isn’t a topic.”

  “We could make a website,” Matt said. “With different workouts.”

  “Oh, like what workouts to get you on the football team,” Rob said and gestured to Matt. “And the soccer team,” he gestured to himself. “And the…” he moved his hand in my direction. “Whatever you’ve got going on seems good. The…shy scholarship student hot body workout. Boom. Project done.”

  I was pretty sure my face couldn’t get any redder. Robert Hunter had just called me hot. Kind of. No, he definitely did. Or maybe he was making fun of me. He was always joking around. But he hadn’t laughed. I stared down at my notebook, hoping to hide my face. “Okay, well, we have to film workouts then. And design a website to upload them to. And we have to have a way to monetize it so that we’re actually creating a business.”

  “We can charge a monthly fee to access the videos,” Matt said. “Mr. Hill will love that it’s a recurring revenue stream. It’s the business model dream.”

  “That’s good.” I jotted it down. There was no need to write down the football, soccer, and hot body workouts. That would be seared into my mind for eternity. “But do either of you know any coding? I definitely don’t know how to make a website.”

  “My brother can help us,” Rob said. “He’s a computer genius. Pretty sure he can just do most of it for us.”

  “But…we’re supposed to do it ourselves.”

  “Success is all about delegating, Sanders,” Rob said.

  “But…”

  “How about we all get together at Rob’s one night this week and we can ask James for help?” Matt asked.

  “I thought we agreed that we could just split up the work,” I said.

  “You heard Mr. Hill. He expects us to work together outside the classroom. So, what night works best for you?”

  Mr. Hill had said that. Crap. I started scribbling on the side of my notebook, hoping Matt couldn’t see how much he affected me. “Any night but Thursday.”

  “Why, what are you doing Thursday?”

  I placed my pen down and stared right at him. “I have dinner plans.”

  Matt lowered his eyebrows slightly. “With who?”

  I was very aware of the fact that he seemed desperate to know who I was hanging out with, not that it was any of his business. At all. “Felix.” I could have added the fact that Kennedy and my uncle would be there too. But for some reason I found myself biting my tongue.

  “So a date?” Matt asked. “You have a date with Felix?”

  “Yeah…I guess you could call it that.” Or a three amigas classic date night if you were asking Kennedy.

  His eyebrows lowered even more. “Cancel. We have to work on this.”

  “We can do it another night,” Rob said. “What about…”

  “Cancel your plans with Felix.” Matt was staring at me so intently it was hard to find words.

  So I just shook my head.

  “Please, Brooklyn.”

  I swallowed hard. “Can’t we just do it another night?” It was hard to say no outright to him when I couldn’t just write it down and slap it on his desk without him looking. How was I supposed to say no to that perfect face? To those eyes that were begging me for…what exactly? What the hell did he want from me?

  “No, Thursday is the only night I’m free," Matt said.

  “But you just asked me what night was best for me…”

  “I forgot that I’m booked the rest of the week. It has to be Thursday. Which means you have to cancel your date.” The way he said date made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

  “Dude, what the hell do you have to do the rest of the nights this week?” Rob asked. “I thought we were just hanging out tonight anyway. Can you come over tonight, Sanders?”

  The thought of going to Rob’s house tonight made my stomach churn. But I was technically free. I found myself nodding.

  “No,” Matt said. "It has to be Thursday night. I forgot that I have football practice late every other night this week to prep for the game this weekend. She has to cancel her plans.”

  “You’re being unreasonable,” I said.

  “I’m being unreasonable? I can’t change my practice schedule. But you can cancel your plans with Felix.” He bit out the name Felix as he glared at me.

  What was his problem? I felt like I was shrinking under his gaze. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to disagree with him when he was staring at me like he was going to bite my head off.

  The bell rang, saving me. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “We’ll just do it next week then,” Rob said as he stood up. “Later, Sanders.”

  “Auditorium,” Matt whispered as he pulled his backpack over his shoulder. “Five minutes.” He walked away without waiting for a response.

  “No,” I said to the empty classroom. I was beginning to think that Matt had never heard that word before.

  Chapter 15

  Thursday

  Two more notes demanding a secret auditorium meeting. Two more instances of whispered words in class when no one was looking. And as if Matt knew I wouldn’t come for the fourth day in a row, there was another note staring back at me in my locker. It was placed so perfectly I was pretty sure he hadn’t stuffed it through the slats. He’d opened up my locker and put it right where I’d see it. He knew the combination to my lock. He was officially being creepy. And disrespectful.

  I lifted up the note and read his words.

  Please tell me I’m not too late.

  Too late for what? It was the weirdest note yet. And even though it didn’t say to meet him in the auditorium at the end of school, he’d said he’d keep waiting in another note. He’d be there. I slammed my locker closed. Enough was enough. I didn’t care if this was some weird hazing the new girl thing. Or a prank I didn’t understand. I wanted to have a good night with Felix. And I didn’t want to spend any more time thinking about these stupid freaking notes.

  Felix was supposed to walk home with me and Kennedy today. But neither had stopped by my locker yet. I’d just quickly tell Matt to leave me alone and have a great night.

  I opened the heavy wooden door of the auditorium. The lights were off, and when the door closed behind me with a thud, everything was bathed in darkness.

  I was mad at Matt for making me come here of all places to talk. Pissed that he kept trying to make me cancel my plans with Felix. Furious that he thought these notes could make up for the fact that he just sat there while Charlotte tore me apart in class last week.

  But I was also a tiny bit scared. Maybe a lot a bit scared. I’d never been to the auditorium and my thigh bumped into one of the seats. Ow. “Matt?” I whispered.

  No answer.

  “Matt, this isn’t funny.” God, this was definitely a hazing thing. Any minute now Isabella would show up and throw red paint on me or something worse. Charlotte’s words about making me disappear came back to me. “Matt?” My voice trembled this time.

  A floorboard creaked behind me and
I turned so quickly I almost ran right into him.

  “You came,” he said.

  I was breathing hard, trying to hold back the scream that had wanted to come out a second ago. “What the hell?” I shoved the note into his chest and ignored the fact that his pecs were so hard that the action hurt my hand. Well, I tried to ignore it. Because I kept my hand there, splayed on his chest. I felt the rise and fall of his breath.

  “Brooklyn.”

  Him saying my name finally brought me back to reality. I pulled my hand away, hating how cold it felt. “You’re infuriating. You know, I actually thought you liked me when you followed me into the bathroom at that fancy party. But I get it now. You came to my rescue in the bathroom so no one would see you helping me. Because I was the help. I’m not good enough to be seen with in public. Isn’t that right?”

  “Brooklyn…”

  “And the silent treatment in the halls? You only ever talk to me when you have to in class. Or when people are too drunk to remember the night. Or when no one else is watching.” I threw my arm out, gesturing to the abandoned auditorium.

  “Brooklyn…”

  “You’ve made it perfectly clear that I’m beneath you.”

  His Adam’s apple rose and fell at my words and for a second I forgot that I was mad. Because everything about him was so beautiful. And I hated that I could see how beautiful he was when all he could see about me was that I wasn’t good enough to be with him. I’d never fit into his life. He was one of the Untouchables. And I was just…untouchable.

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked. “What the hell do you want from me?”

  He stepped even closer. “I want you to tell me I’m not too late.”

  “For what?”

  “This.”

  His lips crashed against mine before I had time to realize what was happening. He buried his fingers in my hair, angling my face up to his.

  And my body felt alive. Like I was truly breathing for the first time in a month. Like my heart wanted to keep beating again.

  His tongue slid between my lips. He tasted like cinnamon. And I wasn’t a huge believer in desserts, but I had also never tasted one quite like this. God, I wanted more.