Reason and Romance (River Valley Book 1) (12 page)

Vaughn Mackintosh raised her hand. “I agree with Justin, sir,” she said to the teacher. She sounded friendly, but as always there was that twinkle in her eyes.

Adrian shot her a tight smile.
What’s your game, Vaughn?

When AP English ended, it capped one of the most uncomfortable classes she’d ever had, and that was saying a lot. Last week, she’d been a pariah, but now she was a pariah
and
an evil seductress.

Justin’s greeting was like a beacon of hope. “Hi, Adrian,” he said as he fell into step with her in the hallway. “You got home okay and everything?”

He sounded so genuine that her smile warmed. She hadn’t forgotten that it was Justin who had insisted she get a ride home from the party. It wasn’t his fault she’d stupidly slept with Alex that night. And besides, he’d turned her down when she’d drunkenly hit on him. That, right there, said he was trustworthy.

“Everything went fine,” she said. “Thanks for watching out for me.”

“Not a problem. Ah …” Justin glanced up and down the hallway. “You should be careful with Mandy. Uh, she heard the rumors about you and Alex.”

Adrian’s shoulders knotted. He was one of the two kids who had been nothing but nice to her. Oh, if only she could take back that night.

“Justin,” she began. “I want you to know—”

“Hey, I got your back.”

It was embarrassing how her throat tightened. “Thanks,” she managed. “Shouldn’t you run?”

Justin shrugged. “Nah. I’ll walk you to your next class.”

She was about to send him off until she realized he was deliberately escorting her in public view, so everyone would know he was on her side. Maybe Justin really was what he seemed like: a decent guy who just happened to be Alex’s friend.

“Yo, Passion Fruit!”

A little laugh escaped her when she saw Travis bouncing up and down on his tiptoes at the far end of the hallway. There were too many kids between them, so he hadn’t been able to get to her, but he was waving.

Some of the tension eased from her shoulders. Why had she ever worried about Travis turning his back on her? Strange to think how quickly she’d come to rely on him. Her friends back home would have looked askance at him, but they didn’t know what he’d done for her in that parking lot when she’d cried her heart out.

“Dude, you’re alive!” Travis said with obvious relief when she approached. “You gotta hear what they’re saying about you. They’re saying—”

“She knows,” Justin interrupted. “Mandy’s been screaming all about it. God, Alex should never have hooked up with her.”

Adrian looked at him sharply. It was perhaps the first criticism she’d ever heard about Alex from his friends.

“I’ll deal with Mandy,” she said.

“Dude, no. She’s like hydrogen.” Travis flung his arms open wide to demonstrate. “Every time you kill her, she comes back. You gotta stake her.”

“The Hydra, you mean? I thought you did pretty okay with that throwing thing.”

The reference to the party made him chortle. “Yeah, that was fun!” He nodded respectfully at Justin. “Hey, dude. Thanks for helping me get home on Friday.”

Justin smiled. “Not a problem. I’ll see you guys at lunch?”

“Someone’s got a crush,” Travis said after Justin had left them. But before Adrian could laugh it off, Travis pinned her with a surprisingly astute look. “But he’s not the big fish you’ve got your eye on.”

Something about that statement—maybe it was the inelegant way he said it—pierced her to the core. All of a sudden, she was so tired that she could barely stand it. The hallways were rapidly emptying, so there was no need to put on an act anymore.

She rubbed her eyes. “Travis …”

“You slept with him?”

Her shoulders slumped because, at last, this was one person she couldn’t lie to. Not after everything he’d done for her. If he wanted to stone her, she’d let him because he had earned that right, but oh God, she hoped he didn’t.

“Yes.”

Travis nodded. “Figured it’d be something like that. Come on.”

Her lips parted in surprise before she clamped her mouth shut. That was it? No criticism of her morals or even a reminder that Alex was her future stepbrother?

He stuck by her side even when it was lunchtime. He stood with her in the cafeteria line (or rather, he bounced up and down), and he found seats for both of them. As they were about to sit down, he frowned at something behind her back.

“Maxwell’s coming this way,” he said.

She just couldn’t seem to escape Quentin today. He flashed a smile and held his hands up. “I come in peace, Adrian. Why don’t you sit with us?”

“No, she won’t! You’re not throwing her body in the river.”

Quentin rolled his eyes. “You’re really hanging out with him?” he said to Adrian, a shadow of a sneer playing around his mouth. “I thought we’d talked about this, but apparently not …”

She put ice in her voice. “Like I said, one more word about him, and our conversation’s done. Do you want something, or should I buy some bug spray?”

Quentin’s mouth curved wryly. “Hey, you want him as your friend, be my guest. Bring him over to our table. Good enough?”

She hesitated, then nodded. Sitting with Alex and his friends was the last thing she wanted, but it would put some of the gossip to rest. Even if Mandy wanted to have it out right there, it would be better than this awful limbo.

Mt. Olympus was an elite gathering of athletes and cheerleaders, the kind of people who were talked about, but most of them presented Adrian with cautious, watchful expressions when she approached with Quentin and Travis. The only one who smiled was Justin, and once again she knew she’d found an ally in him.

“Hey Adrian,” Justin said, pushing away from the table. “Grant, come on, make some room for them. Travis, you can sit here with me.”

Grant Darlington moved down the bench. He didn’t say a word, but when his ice blue eyes flickered up to her face, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge.
You should be more careful, Adrian,
he’d said at the party. When he shifted his gaze from her to Alex deliberately, she knew he’d guessed the truth. And she knew he didn’t give a damn one way or another.

Mandy Fitzpatrick did give a damn, however. “Why is she here?” she spat, nearly rising from her seat. “And what’s
he
doing here?” From the sheer venom in her voice, it was hard to tell who she hated more: Adrian or Travis.

Travis grinned. “Don’t worry. I only have milk today.”

She shrieked. “Alex!”

Alex lifted his gaze from his lunch tray. He’d given no sign he’d noticed Adrian and Travis sitting down, a minor feat since it would have been hard to miss them, but now his green eyes focused on Mandy like a laser.

“Yes, baby?” he said.

His voice was so deceptively mild that Adrian stiffened. She might not have known Alex for long, but something wasn’t right here.

Mandy plowed ahead. “I can’t believe you’re letting them sit with us. Don’t you remember what Travis did to me? He threw beer at me!” She was going strong, breathing fire. Now people at the other tables were openly eavesdropping. “And her!” She pointed at Adrian. “How can you even let her sit here? Everyone thinks that you guys—”

“Are you saying you believe the rumors are true?” Alex said.

Dead silence.

Only Adrian’s rigid control kept her from flinching. Of course, he had heard the rumors, but for him to acknowledge their existence … oh yes, it would be so utterly like Alex to come out fighting. Did that mean he was going to tell the whole world that he’d slept with her? Was this how he would pay her back for brushing him off by annihilating what was left of her reputation?

Her hands curled under the table. Was it too late to get up from her seat and flee for the hills? Even as she thought of it, something inside her rebelled. If Alex wanted to destroy her here, let him! She would just have to think of a way to get him back.

Quentin’s mouth tipped into a definite smirk. He was watching Alex—and her—with the air of someone who didn’t want to miss anything. A line creased between Justin’s eyebrows, and because Adrian couldn’t bear to look at him anymore, she shifted her gaze. And that was when she spotted her sister down the table. Nicky’s mouth was in a tiny O.

Adrian’s nails cut into her palms. She’d barely given Nicky a thought since this morning, but her sister would have heard all the rumors. Would Nicky tell their father?

Mandy stilled. “Um. You wouldn’t … well, you wouldn’t do anything like that.”

Alex raised his eyebrows. “You don’t sound so sure.”

“Well … I’ve been with you …”

“I’m done.”

Alex said it so blandly that at first Adrian didn’t realize what he’d said, but when Nicky clapped a hand over her mouth, Adrian’s eyes widened just a fraction. All around them were the other kids murmuring and shifting in their seats.

Mandy’s mouth worked. “I don’t understand … what do you mean?”

His face was as striking as ever, but oh-so cold. “We’re done.”

Her lips curved into a trembling smile. “You don’t really mean that.”

“Get out.”

The girl sat there as if she’d turned into stone. And for once Adrian could sympathize because
she
had turned into stone too. She’d known Alex could be a jerk, but this was entirely something else.

Mandy still didn’t seem to understand. “Why would you do this to me? Things between us are good, aren’t they?”

Grant was the one who answered because Alex had turned back to his food. “He’s done hooking up with you,” he said. His impersonal words held no heat. It made Adrian wonder just how many times Grant had delivered the same news in the past. “You should leave.”

Now the tears came. “Alex,” Mandy said in a broken voice. “I thought …”

There was another silence yet more awful as everyone watched her flee.

“That wasn’t cool,” Travis said at last. He’d been quiet the whole time, but now he met Alex’s gaze square-on. “Not cool at all. She was mean, but she didn’t deserve that. Fuck you, Montgomery.”

“You threw a beer at her. How is this any different?” Alex said.

“Should have thrown it at you instead.”

Travis picked up his milk carton, and Adrian placed a restraining hand on his arm. Alex was clearly in an ugly mood, and she didn’t want Travis squashed like a bug.

“Are you done being an asshole?” she said.

Alex’s eyes met hers. He had gorgeous eyes, she’d give him that. They were a true green, but now they were veiled, so she couldn’t read him.

“Why, are you afraid of me? We’re practically family, aren’t we?”

She checked her sharp retort. If he wanted to fight that badly, she wasn’t about to oblige him. “Sure.” Her appetite had vanished, but she deliberately reached over and took a piece of beef jerky from his lunch tray. “Thanks.”

His mouth twitched. “You’re such a heartless carnivore, Adrian.”

She smiled sweetly. “Likewise.”

The conversation picked up some of its former life, but it was the most miserable lunch she’d ever had. Most of the kids were poking at their food, moving it around on their trays, but Adrian ate every single bit of her food. So what if his ego had taken a beating? Hell, as far as she was concerned, it could only be a good thing.

He would just have to get over it.

CHAPTER NINE

Adrian had it down to an art now. She just had to walk with her head high and her back straight. Pretend that she didn’t hear the constant whispers. The act was getting old, but when she emerged from her car, she saw that it’d be a little different today.

For one thing, no one could have missed the gigantic lion-shaped balloons roaring above the building’s front entrance. Or the half-naked Tarzan figures draped over the front doors. Or the red banners unfurling across the walls.

She pushed her sunglasses up until they perched on her head. “What on earth?”

Curious, she wandered closer. Some kids had gathered in small groups, but instead of backing away from her as they usually did, they didn’t even notice her. They had their heads together, buzzing excitedly.

“Who do you think will be nominated?” one of the girls wondered aloud. “We know who the king will be, but …”

They made absolutely no sense, but when Adrian’s eyes alighted on the main banner, comprehension suddenly dawned.

HOMECOMING WEEK

A soft, incredulous laugh escaped her. Shaking her head, she shouldered her backpack and resumed walking. She really was out of the social scene because no one had even told her. But back at home, she would have known instantly. She’d have the date circled on her calendar. She’d go shopping for the perfect dress—

—
and I’d go with Jason.

Her lips tightened. She still had the dress she’d bought last year, a gorgeous little number, but she would never wear it again.

“Do you think
she’s
going?”

The words meant nothing to Adrian, but when she stalked through the crowd, people cleared out. When they had done it the first time, she had been suspicious, but when they persisted, she didn’t question it. Maybe they were afraid she’d contaminate them if she so much brushed against them.

There was no understanding them. When Alex had said he was done with Mandy, they’d watched Adrian’s every move with an unnerving intensity. She couldn’t sit in the cafeteria without dozens of eyes boring holes in the back of her head. She couldn’t nod hello at Alex without having people gasp in excitement. And if she didn’t talk to him, they gasped anyway.

Actually, come to think of it, Homecoming could work in her favor. Now that they were talking about nominations and dresses, she was old news. She didn’t fight with Mr. Melbourne as much and she didn’t go to any parties. What was there to report now?

Cheered up by that thought, Adrian took her seat in the AP English classroom. As always, Justin gave her a little wave.

Mr. Melbourne came around to the front of his desk. “Since Varner High still insists on the antiquated tradition of nominating and voting for our Homecoming Court representatives, we might as well do this.” He handed the stack of ballots to the first student to pass them on. “Please nominate your top five female and male candidates. We’ll do final ballots later this week.”