Page 69 of Enemy Crush
I stood in front of the lady at the desk ready to say my name, when she said brightly, “Quinn Devereaux?” She shuffled through some papers, “How are you?”
“Fine,” I muttered, suspicious of her cheeriness.
“Mrs. McLean wants to see you after school today,” she said, handing me a note.
I glanced at the paper, directing me to meet in the Coach’s office and tucked it in my tote bag. I was pretty sure I hadn’t taken a training shirt or any equipment so couldn’t imagine why she wanted to see me. Did I somehow owe money even though I hadn’t made the team?
“You know, it’s amazing to see your mom back at the salon,” the office lady said, “I love my new hair cut.” She smiled as she gave a little flick of her shoulder length bob.
“Oh yeah,” I said like a well-rehearsed actor, “she wanted to keep busy after the divorce.”
“Oh, and I heard—”
I stiffened, hearing the words in my head already—that your family lost all its money—but she carried on, “that you did a wonderful job at the Spud Harvest. Did you enjoy it?”
I managed to nod, relief flooding through me.
“Good for you, it’s such a terrific experience.”
I kept nodding as I turned away and headed to class. I kept my eyes fixed on the floor, avoiding all eye contact, and managed to get to my classroom with no human interaction. I glided intomy seat and minded my own business, a strategy that worked well until my final class. I’d forgotten Blanche Coburn took Psychology too.
I was forced to acknowledge her after she called to me from across the room, slinking into my seat with a shy wave. If anyone would’ve heard the rumors about my family, it would likely be Blanche, having a connection to the Country Club and Brizendine Prep. No doubt it was rampaging through both of those institutions.
“Quinn?” Suddenly Blanche was in my ear and definitely not pleased about something.
“Wha—what?” I pretended to be completely engrossed in my open book. “Oh, hi.”
“Isn’t your phone working?”
“Wh-what? My phone?” I stuttered.
“Yeah. You never replied to my texts.” Concern replaced her initial exasperation.
“Oh yeah,” I said, scratching my eyebrow that had become extremely itchy. And the back of my neck. “Uh, I’ve been so busy, I did the Potato Harvest at the farm. Uh, yeah.”
“Yeah, I heard you did that,” she said.
“Uh yeah,” I said with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, it was real busy, like it was really long days.”
“No, it’s okay, but I was just worried when I didn’t hear from you,” Blanche said, touching my arm, “Hey, nice shirt.”
“Oh?” I ignored mention of Miller’s flannel shirt.
“Yeah. I thought you’d disappeared off of the face of the earth.”
“No, not me. I’m fine. Absolutely fine,” I said with a fake chuckle, holding my breath as I waited for her to divulge the gossip. Any second now all of Snow Ridge High would be ready to pulverize me.
Blanche crouched down to be more at my level and spoke in a hushed tone. I swear my heart stopped beating, waiting for the total annihilation of my life.
“What’s Miller’s deal with Ronan?”
I blinked, my ignorance genuine. “Huh?”
“Miller,” Blanche said crisply, “he was going off on Ronan.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, and I truly didn’t. I was clueless, like completely in the dark.
Blanche’s eyes narrowed. “You really don’t know?”
