Eliza’s fingertips brushed against my arm, warning me not to get too close. I instinctively glanced at Carter. He had his back to us.

“You wish.” But she wasn’t pushing me away. If only Carter were not, literally right behind us.

A little old lady somehow managed to shove herself into the middle of the action. “Damn kids,” the woman swore as she reached for the shelf between us. “Move out of the damn way. It’s not rocket science.”

Eliza took that as an opportunity to step back. “Whatever, Maguire.” She flipped her ponytail and pushed their cart into her brother. “Let’s go! Olivia needs her chocolate chips.”

Whatever, Maguire. If there were a Chick Code, this would be one of the rules: at all times, a chick must be harder to read than War and Peace written in Dothraki.

When it came to the secret language of the Chick Code, I liked to think I was an intermediate. Not a total novice, but there were things I’d never be able to understand. Such as the obsession over pumpkin spice. I mean, it’s cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and sugar. Why is that so special?

“Lates.” Carter clapped me on the back. As quickly as they’d appeared, the O’Connor siblings vanished into the crowd of dads with strollers and moms carrying two gallons of milk.

“Haven’t liked anyone since the second grade?” Madison mused. “Yeah, right.”

“That’s correct.” Suddenly the list of ingredients on whatever loaf I’d picked up to mess with Eliza (which turned out to be quinoa, tomato, and spinach—not my best cover) was the most interesting thing in the world.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire.” Madison crossed her arms.

For half a second, I debated whether to play dumb. Even if Madison told the whole school, or performed whatever trick she was about to blackmail me with, everyone knew that Eliza and I were just friends anyway, and Madison was blatantly dramatic—there’s no way Eliza would pick up whatever nonsense Madison was throwing down. Carter on the other hand . . .

“What do you want?”

Madison grinned like a cat trapping a mouse, plus extra Cersei Lannister vibes. Like, right now we were just shooting the breeze, but in a few moments she would burn the place to the ground.

“Spill,” she said.

“Fine.” I pulled her to the corner of the store where they sell flowers. The floral section? Not sure its technical name.

“You can’t tell anyone.”

“Not sure you get to set the terms here, Maguire.”

“Madison.”

“Fine, fine.” Her dark hair perfectly framed her evil smile. “Fine. What’s the deal with Carter’s little sister?”

“Before you get any ideas,” I said, “I’m not like—I don’t.”

Madison tapped her shoe on the floor, emphasizing every clack. She was going to make me say it.

“It’s not a big deal. She’s . . . cute.”

Really stinking cute.

That was the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I wasn’t going to admit to Madison any more than that, because I wasn’t going to admit to myself more than that. Carter would . . .