The next morning, I tried to put it out of my mind as I settled into a Waffle Country booth and inhaled the sweet smell of syrup. A minute later, Ethan and Margot walked in. Good. They’d distract me from my Jude-obsessed brain.

“Mrs. Sorenson said you and Jude are, and I quote, ‘hot stuff,’” Ethan said as he sat across from me. “Care to comment?”

Never mind.

“When did she say that?” I said, opening a menu and pretending to be captivated by Waffle Country’s Bangin’ Breakfast Specials. “At choir practice? Weird.”

“Note that she did not deny the original statement,” Ethan said as Margot slid in beside him.

“Nobody’s noting that,” she said, dragging off her trapper hat.

“It was not at choir practice,” Ethan said. “She was talking to Mrs. Tipman about musical stuff when I was passing by the teachers’ lounge. You’re a topic of conversation in the teachers’ lounge, Alina. That’s huge. They could talk about anything in there, but they were talking about you and Jude.”

“Maybe Mrs. Sorenson and Ms. Langford are going through, like, a second puberty,” Margot said. “Maybe that happens when you’re middle-aged, and you get all hormonal again.”

“Margot—” Ethan said, looking irritated.

“Once is bad enough. I know I’m supposed to be at the end of it, but the other day I saw a commercial for lipstick, and all I could think was ‘penis.’ I don’t even—”

“Good lord, Margot! What’s wrong with you?” Ethan snapped. “Alina and I were talking about the Vamp rehearsal.”

“No, you were trying to talk about the Vamp rehearsal, but Alina clearly doesn’t want to. And aren’t you always going on about how you don’t gossip, blah, blah, blah?” Margot closed her menu with a smug smile.

Ethan threw me a shrewd look. “It’s not gossip, it’s information.” Ugh. Why did I say things people could throw back in my face later?

Ethan sighed and put a hand out in front of him, like a truce. “Look, I’ll just say one thing and then I’ll drop it, okay? As you know, Jude’s been through a lot lately, and—”

“So has Alina,” Margot jumped in.

“That’s what I was going to say, Interrupter.” Ethan rolled his eyes. “Jude’s been through a lot lately, and so have you. It’s safe to say that the fear of being hurt again is high. Maybe that’s the reason all these secret talks and hot dance rehearsals haven’t produced Eagle View’s most elegant couple yet?”

“Shhhh!” I frantically looked around to see if Jude had come in.

“Oh my God!” Ethan pointed at me. “I’ve never seen you this dorky!” He turned to Margot. “Have you?”

She looked at me apologetically before shaking her head.

Ethan leaned back triumphantly. “Now I definitely know something’s going on.”