Gideon ignored me and went back to his trigonometry homework. As soon as I reached for my book, he captured my hand and gave it a long squeeze. This small measure of affection and solidarity from him was as comforting as a dozen hugs from anyone else. Thank God for Gideon. I would be lost without him.
I was scared to admit it out loud, but I couldn’t see the line in the sand anymore. If there was a boundary I wouldn’t cross to get what I wanted, I wasn’t sure what it was. And that, more than anything else, terrified me.
* * *
I finally received a text message from Haley just before French at the end of the day.
Haley: ur excused from class
Haley: come meet me
I was tapping out a reply when a third message came through.
Haley: now
My spidey-sense told me Haley knew about Chase. I took my time making my way to the theater room, a dead woman walking. The lights in the performing arts wing were already shut off for the day, shadowing the stairs down to the basement in horror film darkness. For what I thought was about to go down, the whole tableau fit.
The door to the theater room swung open before I lifted a finger to open it. Haley’s sneer welcomed me into the dim room, the emergency light near the exit casting us in shades of blue.
“What are you doing?” she snapped.
After a week of silence, I was in no mood to justify my actions to her. The things she’d done, that I’d done with her, left zero space for moral superiority between us.
“What do you care?”
“I care because what you do reflects on me. We’re a team. We’re supposed to trust each other if no one else.”
How could Haley expect me to trust her when I knew she was lying about the girl from the carnival? She must be important if Haley valued that secret over our partnership. I’d already asked once; I didn’t think I could again without revealing how much I suspected this girl was the Queen of Hearts.
“I don’t want Chase’s attention. He’s seeking me out. Probably because I shot him down.”
Haley looked shocked. “He asked you out before?”
“Before Homecoming. I blew him off. It doesn’t matter.” I scrambled for purchase in my mind. A safe place where I could tell her something true. “He just asked me to grab coffee with him during my off-hour. It’s not exactly a candlelit dinner. I know you don’t want me drawing attention to myself, but wouldn’t it be more conspicuous if I keep shooting down one of the most high-profile guys at school?”
This hard logic set the gears turning in Haley’s head. I watched as she processed my words, looking for fault, and—with a resigned expression—finding none. Triumph.
I couldn’t resist throwing in another layer of rationale for good measure. “He’ll hang out with me a few times at most before he realizes I’m boring and safe. A guy like Chase wants someone dynamic and exciting. We both know that’s not me, not the good girl everyone knows.”
Finally, Haley nodded. “You’re probably right. He might talk more about you if you turned him down. You go out, he decides you’re not right for him, he moves on. It’s a lot cleaner and far more plausible.”
That she felt so confident about my impending dumping stung just enough for me to stick my tongue out at her. “I’m glad Chase ditching me brings you comfort.”
She cracked a cheeky grin. “I didn’t say that. Only that it was the likely outcome, like you said.”
Like I said. Why did the thought bother me so much? I hardly knew Chase outside his drive to be the best. And his humor. And the unexpected streak of goodness that underscored everything he did. Maybe that was it. I wanted someone like Chase—not popular or cute or smart, but good—to see something of value in me. I’d devoted so much time to my grand revenge plan, it didn’t leave a lot of room for other admirable traits.
Her expression sobered. “While I agree with you, you need to be careful.”
“I wouldn’t give anything away, if that’s what you’re concerned about. As far as anyone knows, I’m a dedicated student and nothing more.” How could she think I would blab to the first handsome boy to catch my eye?
“That’s not what I mean. Don’t forget that Chase has an admirer who likes him enough that she contracted us to dismantle his last relationship.”
I did forget. I was so worried about the Red Court’s eyes watching me that I failed to remember there might be someone else, someone desperate, who kept a close eye on Chase.
The warning felt different from the last one Haley gave me about Chase. It was more immediate, which raised the hair on my arms. Warning bells rang in my head, sounding eerily similar to Gideon’s words telling me to be careful. There was no time to heed any warnings when I was hurtling down this path at the speed of vengeance.
“Is that all?” I asked.
“We got a hit request today from the same girl who had us set up your little meet-cute with Chase. It was for you.”
A cold sweat broke out across my forehead. Someone wanted to take me down for talking to Chase. All we did was talk. What if they knew I agreed to go on an almost date with him? Would they have taken me out themselves?
“What did you say?”
Haley rolled her eyes at me. “That I’d be the one to do it.” Her snarky attitude served the words with a side of sarcasm. “You’re safe, remember? Rule number one. I take our rules seriously, but in this case we broke rank to tell her that she’d be getting no more favors until we get a return from our initial investment. I’d be careful, though. From the sound of it, she might take matters into her own hands.”
“That is both reassuring and terrifying all at once.”
Haley continued, “It should buy you enough time to ensure that Chase loses interest in you. He will lose interest, right?”
“Maybe?”
Haley produced her most threatening glare. It worked.
“Yes, I’ll make sure he thinks I’m a waste of his precious free time. Why would he take even a minute away from his vapid fangirls to spend time with a nobody like me?”
“Thank you. Was that so hard? Now, let’s talk business.”
The mention of a project brightened my mood. It meant the opportunity to make my next move in the chess game between me and the Queen of Hearts.
“We have an assignment,” Haley said.
If I was working for the Red Court, I could at least have fun with a few harmless jobs.
At night, when I couldn’t sleep, I would indulge myself by thinking about the possibilities for Haley and me to get our hands dirty. The winter formal was coming up, and there were probably tons of options for us.