“I’m sorry,” she says to him before turning to me. “It was stupid. My parents were on me about dating and how I need to move on et cetera et cetera and I was trying to deflect, so I kind of accidentally mentioned that Salem has a girlfriend so I could get the heat off me.”

“And how did I become the girlfriend in this scenario instead of, you know, his actual girlfriend?” I demand, posing the question to Sabrina but narrowing my eyes at Salem.

“Jenna’s parents took her away for the weekend, but even if she were here, uh, you just met my mom; you think Jenna would’ve managed so much as a fake smile for her? Besides”— he slides his finger under his knife and pops it up, twirling it seamlessly before carving lines into the tablecloth I don’t think he realizes he’s even drawing—“Jenna’s not my ‘girlfriend.’ It would’ve been weird.”

“Okay, but I’m even less your girlfriend. This is much weirder.”

“Except you have a vested interested in making me look good to my parents,” Salem reminds me in a low voice, his gray eyes flashing silver. “Remember?”

That stupid pact. God. It feels like a million years ago.

“And why’s that?” Sabrina asks.

Crap. I’d forgotten that she was even here, and that she has no idea what we’re talking about. “Just a stupid bet,” I mutter, and I guess we’re just weird enough for that to be sufficient. “Anyway, what happens when Jenna finds out?”

Salem shrugs. “She’ll probably think it’s funny. Or stupid. Or both. You really do not have to worry about Jenna London.”

Every girl on campus has to worry about Jenna London, I think, and then Mrs. Grayson is calling to us, gesturing for us to get in line. We stand to meet them, but as Sabrina moves forward, I grab Salem’s elbow and hold him back. “I’ll play along this weekend,” I tell him, “but that’s the end of this pact. All right?”

He opens his mouth, and I brace myself for mockery, but instead, he lapses into a flash of a smile. “Deal. But you better fill up your plate. Mama Grayson likes a girl with an appetite.”