Page 15 of Class Clown

“Ladies, you two aren’t playing it very cool,” I chided playfully as I tore open my bag of chips. They both snapped up so quickly I chuckled. “Staring might scare him away. Dreamy eyes are going to make him skittish. Lesson one, Nico is shy. You’re going to have to treat him like a cornered dog until he learns to trust you. Approach slowly and quietly.”

They nodded and focused on eating as Kristy said, “Right. Be casual.”

“Street dog.” Gina agreed.

Street dog? This was gold.

Casual worked for about five minutes until Cole slid in next to me and - you guessed it - Nico slid in next to Cole. Both Kristy and Gina looked momentarily starstruck before they became incredibly fascinated with their food. I tamped down on a smile and pushed my shoulder lightly against my brother’s.

“You guys really roll out the welcome mat with this luxury food,” I said, waving the last of my soggy ham sandwich at him. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to go back to my regular fresh-baked bread when the summer is over.”

Cole took an overly large bite of his sandwich and turned to me, purposely talking with his mouth open. “What do you mean?” He chomped, allowing bread crumbs to fall on his lap. “It’s exactly like mom used to make.”

At that I cackled. Our mom was not a sandwich maker, and as kids we’d been embarrassed about showing up with a home lunch box full of chow mein or tofu. We’d wanted peanut butter and jelly like everyone else.

Gina, appearing to gather her bravery, piped up. “I think the sandwich is good.” She paid for it with flaming red cheeks, but she held Cole’s eyes before allowing a quick dart in Nico’s direction. “I’ve had worse.”

“Haven’t we all,” Cole replied with an uptick of his mouth.

I crunched loudly on my chips. “You know, you can buy a lot of loyalty by feeding people well.”

“The way to a man’s heart, and all that?” Cole asked me once he’d finally swallowed.

I shook my head, my long, dark hair shifting around my shoulders, and grinned. “The way to anyone’s heart.” I threw him a teasing look while batting my eyelashes. “Besides, I don’t need to feed a man in order to get his attention.”

Kristy and Gina smiled and Nico kept his head down, focusing on his sandwich. He was still wearing that ball cap that shaded his expressions, but Cole was watching me with a smirk that signaled trouble.

He held his sandwich mid-air and put on an innocent look. “I thought you just broke up with someone. Maybe you should have at least tried feeding him.”

Sorry world, looked like today was going to be the last day that Cole Jenkins breathed. I seriously considered challenging him to a duel to defend my honor, but one quick glance at all the people around us and I choseto kick his foot under the table – hard - to alert him to the fact he’d entered a warzone and should watch his back.

“Knowing when to keep quiet is an important skill,” I mumbled. Then, I cheerily looked at Gina and Kristy. “It just means it wasn’t true love. Not every love affair can be like Elizabeth and Darcy.” I pressed a hand to my chest and sighed dreamily. “Love at first sight is so precious.”

“Who?” Cole asked.

I frowned. “Elizabeth and Darcy.”

Cole shook his head. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Jane Austen?Pride and Prejudice?”

“Is this a book?” Cole asked with a laugh.

“It’s notabook, it’sthebook,” I gasped. I clasped my hands to my chest and looked upward. “And I quote: ‘In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you’.”

Gina and Kristy were smiling when I dropped my head back down, but Cole was simply chewing his food and looking at me strangely, as though I hadn’t spoken words in a language he understood.

“Was that English?” he asked.

“Pride and Prejudiceis more enemies to lovers than love at first sight,” Nico said so quietly we almost didn’t hear him.

But we did hear it, and all glanced at him. He shrugged, looking back at his hands before putting some chips in his mouth. I leaned around Cole to point at Nico.

“Bam. Nico has heard of this. He’s got a small point about the trope . . . although the only true enemy was Darcy who was battling himself because he’d fallen in love at first sight, and Elizabeth was simply responding to his negative nelly attitude. But that’s not what I’m getting at here.” I shook my head. “Reality may have found me single again, but not all is lost. There’s a Darcy out there waiting for me. In the meantime, I’m taking a break from love to find myself.”

Was I laying it on thick? Yes. Was I lying? Sort of. I did need to do some soul searching probably, but I was never on a break from watching out for love. Still, Gina and Kristy didn’t need to know that about me. I could not be seen as competition if I was going to play matchmaker. And I had always wanted to play matchmaker.

Kristy and Gina giggled, Nico watched me with his unreadable eyes, and Cole groaned. “Let’s drop the love talk, okay?”

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