"I've always cared," I argue. "She's just really good at doing what little bratty sisters do-annoy me. But... we came to an agreement today."

"An agreement with a five-year-old? This I gotta hear."

"I told her she can have Haden when I'm done with him," I laugh just as we reach everyone. Luka looks up and smiles at me, but Braxton sits next to her on the bench.

"Hey Luka," he says, pulling her to his lap, "why don't you be my girlfriend? I'm nicer than Haden."

Cole pipes up, "The h.e.l.l-heck-you are." He sits in the seat Luka left. "I'm cuter than all three of these fools."

Joey looks at me and shrugs. "I guess I better make my pitch. Luka, I'm smarter than all of them."

She glances my way and I throw my hands up, but Haden squats in front of her and asks the question I want to know myself: "Why me?"

"Because you got all the pretty bracelets and you got Lala flowers for her birthday last year. I like flowers," she says shyly.

"Speaking of birthdays," Joey interrupts. "Someone's birthday is coming up."

"No. Joey, I mean it. No."

"You only turn eighteen once," Cole argues.

"Party," Haden laughs, knowing that I'm staunchly against it.

"We can do it at my house," Braxton offers. "I'm sure my parents won't care."

"Guys, I'm serious. Can't we hang at the quarry, just us? I don't want to make a big deal about it. Besides, you four are my only friends, remember?"

"Too late." Cole pulls out his cell phone. "I'm going to start texting people to make sure they save the date."

"If y'all want a party so bad, just throw one-you don't need my birthday as an excuse."

"Lai, if we want to throw you a party, we're going to throw you a party. And you're going to smile and have a good time, because it's your d.a.m.n birthday." Joey points as if it's the final decision.

"Can I come?" Luka asks.

"I think it may be past your bedtime, but we'll talk to your mom and dad," he answers.

We all turn when we hear laughing and carrying on, realizing that my parents have arrived. I take Luka's hand and walk her to Mom and Dad, and they give us both a hug before taking her off my hands.

Chapter 9 ~ Finding Rumors.

"You ready for this?" Braxton asks when we get out of his car.

He came by to pick me up for school since we both have early tutorials, so I'm not sure what he's asking about.

Am I ready to study?

Am I ready for people to find out about Haden and me?

Am I ready to get the day over with?

It's a loaded question.

Instead of any of the questions running through my head, I say "Yeah, let's do it." I toss my bag over my shoulder and walk through the parking lot. There aren't many people here yet, but the few that are stare a little more than necessary.

"So you and Haden," he says, throwing an arm over my shoulder. "It wasn't so weird."

"Yeah, me and Haden," I agree. "What about you, Brax? When are you finally going to choose someone?"

"How do you know I haven't?" he challenges.

"Have you?" I ask with wide eyes. "Is there someone catching your attention?"

"Maybe." He c.o.c.ks his head to the side and smiles. "Maybe not."

"You are one frustrating guy. You know that, right?"

"So I've been told."

Most people around here have Braxton and other starters-football starters, that is-on a pedestal, and no one dare talks anything about or to them. There are a few who've been known to cross that line, but for the most part, there is a strange sense of respect among them.

Usually.

"So you finally tappin' that, Braxton?" someone from behind us calls out.

Braxton's not stupid. He knows the things people say about and to me, but he isn't exactly privy to the constant barbs hurled my way on a daily basis. He stops mid-step and turns around to see two of his teammates laughing and carrying on. He looks at me and I shrug my shoulders and give him a what are you gonna do look and try to continue walking, but he tugs at my hand and stops me.

He is the only one who stands back to let me take care of myself and I relish the confidence he has in me.

"Tappin' what exactly?" He starts to walk toward them with an eerie calm.

"C'mon, man, don't get all p.i.s.sy about it. It was just a joke," Jason Cannon, the second string quarterback laughs.

"I'm not p.i.s.sy." He turns to face me with a confused look on his face. "Do I look p.i.s.sy, Nixon?"

"Nope, not at all. You look downright relaxed, Brax. It must be from all that tappin' you're doing," I say with a straight face.

"I suppose so," he agrees and then turns back to the two roided-up jerks in front of him.

His teammate is not amused and decides not to back off. "d.a.m.n, Jameson. If you can't get the job done, maybe you wouldn't mind if I took Laila out."

I can't help but laugh and walk over to tell him exactly what he can do with his idea.

"Just in case you can't understand me, I'll speak in terms you might recognize." I nod at him, still smiling. "You will never make the team, Cannon. You will always be second string and will never even get to suit up. Got it?"

His grin fades and the guy standing next to him, Marcus Taylor, slugs him in the arm and starts laughing. Cannon isn't as amused with my rejection as the other guy and takes a step toward me, but Braxton places a hand on his shoulder and stops him.

"I didn't know you had a incriminating plate," he says.

I try to stifle my laughter, but it doesn't work because Braxton lets out a gut-busting laugh. I join in and watch confusion cover Cannon's face.

"It's a dis-cern-ing pal-ate," I correct, breaking the word up in explanation. "And I do, I have a very discerning palate-and illiterate a.s.sholes don't make the cut."

"Oh d.a.m.n!" Marcus shouts before walking away, laughing the entire time.

For his part, Jason looks at me with wounded pride while he tries to think of a witty comeback-something to put me in my place-but when he remains at a loss I walk over and pat Braxton's shoulder.

"Thanks for the ride, I'll see you before cla.s.s-I need to get to Mr. Garcia's for tutoring." He gives me a nod of approval, all the while Cannon tries to stare me down. I can feel his eyes burning into me when I walk away.

I hear Braxton lay into him when he thinks I'm out of earshot, but I'm not interested in the exchange. I said everything I needed to, so I know Brax is backing me up. He's one of the good guys.

Thankfully, I have a few minutes to stop by my locker on the way because my bag is heavy. I make quick time of stuffing everything in there and grab my notebook so I can go over the notes from the other day.

Physics is not my favorite subject and I'm already struggling to maintain a B average. While my grades aren't low, if they continue to drop I'll have a hard time keeping my cla.s.s rank, and thus getting into my first choice for college. Joey has helped when he can, but he's been tutoring several students in other subjects and I don't want to overload him. Mr. Garcia is a decent enough teacher, so maybe he will be able to explain projectiles to me.

As soon as I enter the room the thought that I wish I were struggling in a different subject crosses my mind. My legion of fans is very small, and my haters-well, I'm staring at three of them spread across the room.

Kasey Daniels is the senior cla.s.s it girl. Every girl wants to be her and almost all of them hate her. But of course they follow everything she does because that's what you do-follow the b.i.t.c.hiest girl and try to be just like her. Right? Kasey has been interested in Braxton for years-part of the reason for her scathing attack on me at the football game. She's gone out of her way to get closer to him, but he's never showed her any attention. Since she can't be a jerk to him-you know, because it would ruin her potential chance of ending up with him-she lashes out at me. Whatever.

Cate Landry is not your typical popular girl. She's pretty, average smarts, and a star athlete who has already lettered in three sports. I think that's why she and Cole were drawn to each other. They dated for a few months at the end of junior year and into the early summer. I really liked her and I thought they made a pretty cute couple. She and I actually got along well, and for a moment I let my guard down and thought that I might actually have a female friend. It didn't last. Rumors started to spread mid-June that Cole had cheated on her and suspect numero uno was one of his oldest friends-moi. Needless to say, she's not spoken to me again and makes sure to let me know how much she hates me.

And then there's Bailey Butler, Joey's girlfriend. She has that all-American girl-next-door thing happening. Her naturally blonde hair is cropped just below her shoulders and has a cute wave to it. She's not the type Joey has dated in the past, Bailey is curvy with a great sense of style. I've had to listen to him endlessly drone on about her electric blue eyes as if they hypnotize him.

It's funny because Bailey and I haven't talked much, but I know more about her than I care to. She's one of the few trust-fund kids in town, and when she and Joey started to date everyone wondered why. They are complete opposites, so I suppose that's the draw. When he told me that they were going out on a date, my first thought was how much is he paying her? But then I remembered the fund and realized that she must really like him. That is all I need to know. She must be good people to see the awesomeness that is Joey Parker the third. Yet, she won't hang out if I'm around, so I've made myself scarce.

It would be cool if we could actually talk and maybe she'd realize I'm not the enemy.

"Ms. Nixon," the teacher calls when I take my seat, "glad you could make it. What is it that you need help with this morning?"

"Life," Kasey mutters under her breath, but I ignore her.

"Projectiles," I answer, turning to the page in the cla.s.s textbook.

"Excellent, that's why Bailey is in here, too. Why don't you two get together and I'll be there in a few minutes?"

Great.

I glance back at Bailey, who seems to share my unease at the pairing, but I get up and do as instructed and she moves her bag so I have a place to sit.

"How's it going?" I ask her with a small smile.

"Could be better," she answers. I'm not sure if it's a jab at me, but I choose to overlook it.

"Why isn't Joey helping you with this?" I point to the page in the book.

"Dunno." She shrugs.

"You realize he'd drop-pretty much everything-to help you out, right?"

"I didn't ask," she responds as she keeps her eyes trained on her paper. Her cheeks turn slightly pink and it looks like she's fighting a smile.

"Well, you should," I tell her, looking at my own paper. "He's really into you."

"You think?"

"Don't play that game." I shake my head and turn to face her. "You know he's into you, and I know you're into him-so no games. Okay?"

She slowly turns to look at me and narrows her eyes because I know I came off harsher than I intended-but I don't sugarcoat.

"I don't like you much," she says.

Apparently she doesn't sugarcoat either.

"You don't know me, and I could say the same thing about you," I challenge.

"Fair enough."

"So tell me, what have I done-to you-that makes you not like me?"

She taps her pen on the top of the desk and I know she's trying to rifle through a list of my rumored offenses.

"That's what I thought. So why don't we do the clean slate thing?"

"Ye-yeah," she stammers. "Okay."

We don't have time to talk more because Mr. Garcia walks over and begins to explain the lesson we have been working on. I got lost somewhere last week in cla.s.s and haven't been able to catch up. He hands us each a sheet with examples of projectiles and continues talking animatedly about the subject.

Gotta love teachers who are pa.s.sionate about what they teach, even if it's the most uninteresting subject ever.

He walks away to help another person and leaves us in silence looking over the information.

"Look, Joey is one of my best friends, and since you are dating him, I would really like to see if we can get along. You good with that?"

"Yeah, I think I'm good with that." She smiles somewhat timidly.

"Then I am extending an invitation to the party," I say.

"Your eighteenth?"

"Yeah," I exhale and cover my face with my hands. The guys have started putting it out there that I will be having a party. One I want no part of and they are handling completely.