Page 53 of The Forever After Bet

Ty smacks my shoulder. “Come with me, and we’ll stop at McCaffery’s on the way back. My mom made food for you, too.”

“She did?” I ask.

“Uh—yeah. You’re basically her sixth child, and Jack is her seventh.” Ty smiles.

“Yeah, okay.” I nod.

“I’ll meet you guys at McCaffery’s. I want an energy Gatorade,” Jack says.

“Sounds good. We’ll see you in a few.” I wave as I get in the passenger side of Ty’s Jeep.

We spend too long at the grocery store, and we make it back to school just as everyone’s boarding the buses. I throw my basketball bag across my body and heft my backpack over my shoulder. Plus, grab the reusable grocery bag with all our snacks in it. I glance between the two buses, trying to figure out which one Hannah is on.

“That one.” Jack points to the second bus, and I nod at him.

“Ford! Ford, wait!” someone hollers at me. I pretend I don’t hear and pick up my pace. “FORD!” Bree screams at the top of her lungs, making everyone stop what they’re doing and turn and stare at her and then me. I stop walking and squeeze my eyes shut. “Hey,” Bree huffs, out of breath from running. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell that loud.”

I’m a hundred percent certain she meant to be that loud, but I don’t say anything. “No worries.” I give her a tight smile.

“Did you get my text messages?” She asks.

“Uh—My phone’s on silent, and I haven’t looked at it since this morning. School’s been busy today. Mrs. Gomez spent the hour reviewing our study guide for a test, and we did a lab in chemistry.”

“I don’t know how you handle AP classes and play sports. It’s like your Superman.”

“I think if I had my pick of superheroes, I’d pick Captain America.” Only because he’s Hannah’s favorite.

“You’d make an amazing Cap’.” Bree runs her hand down my arm and bats her lashes.

“Thanks. Are you here so late because you’re setting up the booth for the craft fair tomorrow?”

“Oh, yeah,” she says, looking at her nails.

I glance back at the buses. “Well, I’ve got to go.” I turn, taking a step, but Bree grabs my arm.

“I have something for you.” She steps closer to me, and I take a step back.

“Look I—”

“This is for you. In case the other one got ruined.” She leans in close to kiss me again. I hold up my hand to stop her, but Jack saves my hide.

He whistles. “Let’s go, Cross. We’re waiting on you!”

It startles Bree. She doesn’t kiss me, but she whispers, “You get what you work for, not what you wish for.” She takes a step back. “Good luck on your game tonight, not that you’ll need it.”

I turn on my heels and run for it, not saying anything else to Bree. What she whispered creeped me out. When I get on the bus, Leah is sitting next to Hannah. Leah’s glaring at me, and Hannah won’t look at me. I glance back at Jack for some help.

He rolls his eyes but gets out of his seat and comes up. “Come on, babe, let Ford plead his case.”

Leah’s eyes narrow at me. She turns to Hannah, whispering something I can’t hear. Hannah nods, and Leah stands up, taking Jack’s hand.

I plop down in the seat with a huff and take a deep breath. Hannah glances at the note I’m holding and swipes it from my hand. She opens it and laughs. “That girl is a piece of work.” She turns the note around, showing me. It’s a red lipstick kiss with Make it Matter written underneath it. She signed it killerpeaceleader#10.

“Are you mad?” I ask her.

“You were going to let her kiss you.” Hannah folds her arms with a humph.

“No, I wasn’t. I started to tell her no when Jack yelled. I promise I wouldn’t have let her kiss me.”

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