Page 27 of We Shouldn't Be Together
As Jamie flees the locker room, it hits me that Kai might be the reason Cammy turned on me in the hall. She changed the conversation, talking aboutme against Mrs. Field, to dodge Kai as a subject. This is a wrong I need to right. I can’t let Kai think his intimidations have me beat.
“How does that girl even go to this school?” Cammy asks in frustration. “Tabby, you were so right. How she ever weaseled her way into a scholarship is beyond me.”
I throw my curls back into a ponytail. “I thought this was supposed to be an elite private school. But they’ll let anyone put on the blazer and tie.”
“And skirt, apparently,” Cammy says with a snort. “Ah, I can’t stand it.”
“Speaking of that Jamie girl… You know what I heard, right?” Yvie says, leaning in with a glint in her eyes. “About her mom?”
“Her mom abandoned her, didn’t she?” Camila asks, flicking her hair off her shoulder like she’s bored with the old news.
Yvie bites her lip, salivating from a juicy piece of gossip she hasn’t revealed yet. “I mean, what she did before she skipped town.”
She has me on the hook. “What did she do?”
“Oh my gosh, out with it,” Cammy says, still bored.
Yvie bounces in place, giddy before the words leave her tongue. “She was astripper.”
“What?” Cammy and I gasp in unison.
Still bouncing, Yvie nods emphatically.
“How… How…” I can’t even form a sentence. This is mind-blowing. A stripper? In our town? No way.
“We knew Jamie West was a broke chick from Logan's Point.” Cammy’s grin grows as a sparkle dances in her eyes. “Butthis. Ah, I should’ve known.”
Yeah, maybe she should have. I’m actually surprised Cammy hadn’t already accused Jamie’s mother of this profession. But, I guess, because she skipped town so long ago, she’s been off the radar.
“Do you think that’s why she ditched her daughter?” I ask. “She was too embarrassed by her career choice to be in this town?”
“Imagine being abandoned by a stripper,” Cammy says, barely containing her laughter. “How disappointing of a child do you have to be?”
“Well, she does just stand there on mute all the time,” Yvie adds. “I’d get super annoyed if my baby acted that way.”
Cammy smirks. “And just when are you planning on having a baby?”
Yvie yelps like a frightened puppy, taking a quick step back. “No, no, no. I wasn’t saying that.”
“Oh my gosh, Yvie,” I swoop in, relieved the attack isn’t pointed at me. “Just which footballer are you trying to make your baby daddy?”
Cammy sniggers. “Or is it the baseball team these days?”
Yvie sucks in a breath and points at me. “She’s the one trying to steal Hayden from Cindy!”
Cammy slides in next to Yvie, pointing her laughter toward me.
Perfect.
That lasted about two seconds.
Cue Coach Oliver screaming at us to enter the gym for another forty minutes of hell.
6
AshworthAcademyiswaystrict about what students do outside school grounds while wearing our uniforms. They especially don’t like the image of us skateboarding around Main Street, popping ollies in our blazers and ties.
Fine by me. This private school uniform is way too constricting. After the last bell of the day, we all change into our normal clothes. Me and the guys seem to always be waiting for Jamie the longest. If she was a regular girl, I’d blame her for brushing her hair or doing her makeup. But it’s Jamie, so those don’t apply.
