A Good Boy Is Hard to Find (The Naughty List #3)(40)
Author: Suzanne Young

“Listen,” Leona said quickly, stepping in front of Kira and motioning to the rest of the squad. “Class is about to start, so let’s head into the locker room and draw up the blueprints for the Midas Murdock investigation. I’m sure Tessa will be there in a second.”

She glanced over at me, and I nodded, putting my hand over the phone. “I’m sorry. This will only take a sec.”

Leona turned, leading the girls toward the heavy double doors as if it were no big deal, but Kira wouldn’t look my way at all. She even gave me a hair flip.

Chloe paused in mid court, glancing my way with a hitched eyebrow. “If it makes you feel any better,” she said, “I would’ve answered, too.”

My expression faltered, and she shrugged, trotting toward the rest of the squad. Yeah. Of course, she would have. Argh! This was becoming such a bad day, and the first bell hadn’t even rang yet!

I took a second to compose myself and then put the phone to my ear. “Aiden, I’m not sure I have the emotional stability to deal with this right now. Is there any way—”

“Just meet me one more time, Tess,” he said softly. “And if you don’t want to see me after that, I’ll understand.” Somehow the thought of never seeing him again made my heart hurt.

“When?”

“Tonight. I’ll come by at seven.”

Excalibur! This was such a bad idea. But I really wanted to hear his explanation. I almost felt like I needed to. “Fine.”

He sighed, sounding relieved. “Fine. Oh, and, Tess, you probably shouldn’t mention this to your boyfriend.” And he hung up.

“What are we doing here?” I whispered to Kira as we squatted down on the carpet in the back of the deserted public library. And it wasn’t easy to squat with a giant cast on my leg!

“Shhh …” She put her polished finger to her lips. “Midas is in that study carrel with Carnie Trinadad.”

“The girl from his English class?”

“Yep.”

“Are they studying?”

Kira glanced over at me sharply and held out her phone. There was a message from Carnie to Midas—it was about her underwear. Or lack of. Gross!

Ugh. After this morning, the rest of my day had been just as awful. Blaze Harmon’s cronies had stuck maxi pads all over the front of my locker—which I didn’t even understand. What was he trying to say?

Then Joel wasn’t around during lunch because he’d gotten called to the office for skipping school last week. I’d planned on asking him why he told Kira we were going out, but I didn’t get a chance. Instead, I got five minutes with him in exchange for a quick peck on the lips.

Immediately after class, the squad practiced my new routine, which I had to admit looked stellar. And finally, at 4:45, Kira and I hightailed it over to the library to catch the cheater. I was a busy Kitten!

“So do you want to snap the pics?” I asked, quietly unzipping my backpack to take out the camera.

“I probably should.” Kira paused before seeming to waver over something. “I want to apologize,” she whispered. “I was mean to you at practice today. I’m not even sure why.”

Kira saying she was sorry was enough to make me jump for joy—if I could jump at all. I hated fighting, and now that Joel and I were a couple (and Kira knew about it), we should try to bury the hatchet. Preferably not in my back. “K, that means so much to me. You have no idea how—”

“Wait, that’s not true. I do know why.”

“Oh.” I shifted uncomfortably, needing to sit down to take the pressure off my good leg. I stretched out my cast in front of me on the navy carpet, and Kira joined me on the floor. “Why?”

Kira’s lips pulled into a pout. “Joel told me that you two are going out now. And he told me that you kissed.”

My stomach flipped. I felt a little grossed out that she knew that. Not that I hadn’t told her plenty about Aiden and me, but that was different. She didn’t have personal experience with him. “He told you that?”

She nodded, her face pale. “He’s in love with you, Tessa.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure if I should be happy, or feel offended that he told Kira personal information about us. Lady and the Tramp! Love?

She shook her head, her curls bouncing over her shoulders. “I didn’t even want to bring it up. Have every intention of sucking it up and moving on.” She stopped, looking away as if she might cry.

“I’m sorry,” I said, touching her shoulder. “I didn’t want to hurt you. I wanted us to be friends again.”

Kira closed her eyes before opening them to glance over her shoulder at me. “I want that, too, Tess. I really do. But … I just can’t. Not when you’re with him. It’s too hard for me.”

It was like a dagger in my chest. I basically had to choose. My new boyfriend or my former best friend. Just then, my phone beeped a text message alert in my pocket. Kira motioned for me to answer it.

MR. AWESOME IS ON HIS WAY

I laughed despite myself and deleted the message.

“Who is Mr. Awesome?” Kira scrunched her nose.

My smile faded as I looked up at Kira. “Oh, that’s Aiden. He programmed it into my phone as a joke when I forgot it in his car after Rick’s party.”

Kira’s eyes widened. If she were a cartoon, a lightbulb would have illuminated over her head. “I see.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Like what?” she asked innocently. “I’m sure you have a perfectly good reason to be exchanging texts with Mr. Awesome.” She swallowed with a click and put her hands on the ground, pushing herself up. “And it’s none of my business. Joel chose you.” She paused, taking the cap off the camera lens. “He deserves whatever he gets.”

I wanted to explain why I was meeting with Aiden, but really, what was the point? Kira was firmly on Team Aiden, and that was only because she wanted Joel for herself.

Grabbing my crutches from the carpeted floor, I pulled myself to a standing position. I would end this ridiculous Aiden situation tonight. I needed to know why he did it, not for the squad, for me. I deserved the explanation.

I started crutching forward, determined to get on with this investigation and on with my life. Kira was close behind me, camera poised in hand, as we got to the other side of the study carrel—silent as ninjas.

She tugged my sleeve from behind and we both crouched down. She got in position and zoomed in, clicking off frames.