“Cool,” Evelyn echoed.

“Mon dieu.” Jasper chuckled, nudging me with his elbow. “Is it just me or is there some tension in here?”

I was too distracted by his knee pressing against mine under the table to answer and—okay, that was hard to ignore, maybe I did care a tiny bit. When a few seconds had passed and Jasper was still looking at me waiting for an answer, sitting so close that I could smell his cologne—because of course the pretentious bastard wore cologne, and not a cheap fragrance, either, but one that actually smelled good—I abruptly got to my feet.

“I, um . . . I think I forgot something in the library. I’m going to get it and then go back to my room. Good night, guys.”

I turned on my heel before anyone could open their mouth to question me, forcing myself to walk at a pace that didn’t give away what I was really doing—which was fleeing the scene.

Still, with Jasper’s gaze burning holes into my back and a sound like sirens ringing in my ears, I couldn’t shake the feeling I had already been caught red-handed.

10

Evelyn

The gym had completely transformed since I had been there with Noelle for our self-defense lesson. Where the hall had been empty aside from some equipment standing around, the court was now cleared and the stands were packed. Instead of heavy silence, the air was filled with loud chatter and a tinny voice crackling through the speakers, announcing that there were only ten minutes to go until the game began. The vast majority of the audience was clad in white and navy, Seven Hills’ colors, but there were also a few flashes of red here and there where students from the opposing team’s school sat.

“I didn’t expect this to be such a big deal!” Seth called over the racket, one hand holding onto mine so we didn’t lose each other in the crowd.

“Me neither!” I responded.

The players weren’t on the court yet, but the cheerleading squad was already busy riling up the crowd from the sidelines, Amelia giving an enthusiastic wave of her pom-pom when she spotted me.

Seth squinted, searching for free seats to sit, when I spotted Jasper in the first row. He beckoned us over and gathered the coat he had draped over the two seats next to him in his lap.

I tugged at Seth’s hand. “Over there.”

He followed me, somewhat reluctantly, as I made my way towards Jasper. I deliberately left the seat between us free so that Seth had no other choice but to sit there.

“Hey,” Jasper said, a broad grin on his face. “Have you talked to Noelle today? How is she?”

“On edge,” I replied. Noelle had been like a walking storm cloud all morning, the atmosphere in our room charged like a summer afternoon that promised a thunderstorm. Not like that part was much different any other day. “Is she always like this before her games?”