Be Mine (18 page)

“This is it,” Violet whispered, squeezing Jennifer's arm and crossing her fingers on both hands.

“The first couple competing is Claudia Monroe and Chase Stewart.”

Duh. No surprise there. Jennifer looked across the cafeteria at Claudia's table. As expected, Claudia had a smug smile on her face. Chase was sitting by her side, holding his arms up in victory.

“The second couple is Celia Armstrong and Freddy Keenan.”

Now that made sense. Everyone at North Ridge High knew the story of Celia and Freddy's romance. Freddy had been crushing on Celia for months, and when he pulled her name for the Secret Santa exchange, he thought he had the perfect opportunity to show her his true feelings. Until he found out that Celia was crushing on Jake Morrisey. Because he wanted Celia to be happy, he asked Jake to pretend to be Celia's Secret Santa and take credit for the gifts he'd been leaving. But on the night of the Christmas dance, Celia figured out the truth, went straight to Freddy's house, and told him the only Secret Santa she wanted was
him
. They had been a couple ever since.

“The third couple is Noelle Kramer and Ryan Grant.”

No surprise again. Noelle and Ryan had been living next door to each other for years. While Noelle had a crush on Ryan's older brother, Charlie, Ryan had a crush on her. It had taken the Secret Santa exchange to show Noelle that she had been crushing on the wrong Grant brother.

“Only two more couples to go,” Violet whispered.

“I know,” Jennifer nervously said. “What if he doesn't call our names?” She could just imagine the way Claudia would rub it in. Ugh!

“The fourth couple is Jennifer Harris and Will Sinclair.”

Jennifer couldn't help it. She screamed. She and Will had been nominated.
They had been nominated!

“You did it!” Violet happily cried, tossing her arms around Jennifer.

As Jennifer hugged Violet back, she stared across the cafeteria. She couldn't help it. She wanted to see the look on Claudia's face. As she expected, it wasn't happy. Claudia looked mad.

What's the matter, Claudia?
Jennifer wanted to call out.
Afraid of a little competition?

“And the last couple competing for Most Romantic is Natalie Bauer and Tom Marland,” Principal Hicks finished. “Good luck to all the nominees. Let the voting begin!”

Natalie was in shock.

How had she and Tom been nominated?

She hadn't submitted an essay.

Unless . . .

Unless Tom had?

“We're in! In!” Tom exclaimed, rushing up to Natalie's side. He pulled her out of her seat and lifted her up in a hug, whirling her around in the air.

“Tom!” Natalie laughed. “Put me down! You're making me dizzy.”

“Your wish is my command,” Tom said as he put her feet back on the ground. “Are you surprised?”

“Uh . . . yeah! Did you submit an essay?”

“Of course I did. You didn't think I was going to let Chase walk away with another victory, did you?” He punched Chase in the arm playfully. “Get ready for a fight!”

“You're going down!” Chase exclaimed.

“Why didn't you tell me you were writing an essay?”

Tom shrugged. “If we got nominated, I wanted it to be a surprise,” he explained. “And if we didn't, well, you never would have known what I'd done.”

“Do you have a copy of the essay?” Natalie asked, curious to see what Tom had written. “I'd love to read it.”

Tom reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

Natalie read the essay. It was sweet. A little too sweet. Tom made it sound like they were the perfect couple who never had fights or disagreements. He made it sound like they were joined at the hip and spent all their time together, and when they weren't together, they were constantly calling or text messaging each other because they couldn't stand to be apart. He also mentioned Claudia and Chase, saying that he and Natalie were best friends with them, and because of that friendship, they had been friends with each other first and then started dating. He finished the essay by saying he hoped they'd be together as long as Claudia and Chase.

“What do you think?” Tom asked.

Natalie didn't know what to say. This wasn't them. Maybe this was how Tom saw their relationship, but she didn't. She pulled him off to one side so they'd have some privacy.

“Are we a couple?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“We've never used the word boyfriend and girlfriend. We've never said we were exclusive.”

“Yes, we're a couple! Why? Is there someone else you want to go out with?” Tom asked, his voice filled with panic.

“Of course not!” Natalie shook her head. “I guess I'm having a hard time taking all this in. You caught me off guard.” She held up the essay. “I didn't know you felt this way. It's kind of intense.”

“Okay, I'll admit I laid it on a little bit thick, but I had to if we were going to get nominated. And it worked! We made the final cut!” He glanced over Natalie's shoulder at Chase. “Now all we have to do is win!”

“In your dreams, Marland!” Chase hooted before Tom went running after him.

He had laid it on a little bit thick?
Did that mean Tom
didn't
mean the things he wrote
? Natalie wondered.

Was this just another competition that he was determined to win?

She also wondered something else.

If Tom had asked her to write their essay, what would she have said?

Because when she thought of them,
romantic
was the last word that came to her mind.

At the sight of Will standing at the entrance of the cafeteria, Jennifer raced over to him. “Will! Will! Did you hear? We've been nominated!”

Will made a fist and pulled his arm down. “Yes!” He gave Jennifer a smug smile. “Guess that essay worked, huh?”

Jennifer ignored his gloating. “Now that we've been nominated, all we have to do is win!”

“I don't know about that,” Will said, loud enough for the students around them to hear. He closed the distance between himself and Jennifer, wrapping his arms around her waist.

“What do you mean?”

“It doesn't matter if we're voted Most Romantic, because I'm already a winner.” He pulled her closer. “Want to know why?”

Jennifer sensed Will was up to something, but not sure what. “Why?”

“Because you're my girlfriend.”

And then before Jennifer knew what was happening, Will leaned his face into hers and gave her a kiss. Automatically, her arms wrapped around him, pulling him close as their lips melded together. Behind her, she could hear students hooting and hollering. There were shouts of “More! More!”

Will broke the kiss and placed a finger on Jennifer's lips. “See you after school.”

A dazed Jennifer watched Will leave as Violet rushed up to her side.

“What was it like?” she frantically asked. “What was it like?”

“Incredible,” Jennifer whispered.

His kiss had been unlike any kiss she'd ever had before. She'd
felt
it throughout her entire body. His lips had devoured hers and she'd loved every second of it.

“Did you guys discuss kissing?” Violet asked softly.

“It came up once, but we never talked about it again.”

“Well, correct me if I'm wrong,” Violet said, “but I think it just became part of the deal!”

When Natalie went back to her lunch table, she found an angry Claudia waiting. Great.
Just
what she needed.

“Aren't you full of surprises?” Claudia said, her voice dripping with acid. “Keeping more secrets from me?”

“Okay, Claudia, withdraw the fangs,” Eden said, coming to Natalie's defense. “There's no need for your special brand of venom. Didn't you hear Tom? He's the one who submitted the essay. Natalie knew nothing about it.”

“So she says.”

Natalie found herself getting angry. “Are you calling me a liar?”

“This wouldn't be the first time you've lied to me.”

“I've never lied to you!”

“You didn't tell me about Jennifer and Will.”

“Because Jennifer asked me not to! That's not lying!”

“You're supposed to be my friend, not hers!”

“I
am
your friend!” Natalie exclaimed.
Although sometimes I wonder why!
“What do you want me to do, Claudia? Tom and I have been nominated. I can't change that.”

“Don't expect to win,” Claudia said. “Chase and I have been together since freshman year. We're the most romantic couple at North Ridge High. No one is going to beat us.”

“I'll be the first one applauding when you get crowned,” Natalie said before leaving to buy her lunch.
Unless I bash you with your crown because you're so obnoxious!

“Congratulations,” Leo said as they both grabbed a lunch tray and stepped into the hotfood line.

“Thanks,” she said glumly.

Leo frowned. “You don't sound too happy.”

“Tom didn't tell me he was submitting us for the contest. I was totally surprised when our names were announced.”

“Don't think you're romantic enough?” Leo joked as he started loading his tray.

“If you want to know the truth, no, I don't.” Natalie selected a veggie burger. “And then there's Claudia.”

“What's her damage?”

“She's having a major hissy fit because Tom and I are competing against her. Even though she didn't say it, I know she thinks I stabbed her in the back.”

“Don't feel bad. Lots of people would
love
to do that.”

As they approached the cash register, Natalie couldn't help but notice how much food was on Leo's tray. She opened her mouth, but then closed it.

“Did you want to say something?” Leo asked.

Natalie shook her head.

“Come on,” Leo urged. “You can say it.”

Natalie pointed to his lunch tray. “It's none of my business, but are you really going to eat all that?”

“What can I say? I'm a growing boy. I'm hungry.”

“There's nothing wrong with eating a lot, so long as you're eating healthy,” Natalie said. “You've got
a lot
of carbs on your tray. And a lot of fried food. Some veggies wouldn't hurt.”

“Any other suggestions?”

“You could exercise a little.”

Leo made a face. “Exercise and I don't go well together. I'm sure you can figure out my least favorite class of the day.”

“Gym?”

“Always chosen last no matter what we're playing. Can't say that I blame them, I'm so out of shape.”

“You could change that.”

“How?”

“It's always easier exercising with a friend. Why don't you come jogging with me tomorrow morning.”

“Me? Jog? Are you crazy?”

“Just try it once. If you don't like it, I'll never ask again.”

Leo thought about it as he put back the two slices of pizza that were on his tray and replaced them with a bowl of steamed baby carrots.

“Okay, I'll try it
once
. Tomorrow morning in front of my house?”

“Great!” Natalie exclaimed. “It's a date!”

After school, Eden was waiting for Dexter in the school library. As she flipped through her SAT study guide, she couldn't help thinking of Claudia and Natalie and how they were both going to be competing for Most Romantic Couple. She wondered if Keith hadn't broken up with her, if they would have also been competing. She probably would have written an essay for the contest and done nothing but talk about how great she thought he was.

Eden slammed closed her study guide, angry with herself. Why was she thinking about Keith? It was over between them! And he wasn't great. He was a jerk!

Looking around the library and seeing all the decorations that were up — all the pink and red hearts and cupids with arrows — she knew why she was thinking of him. Valentine's Day. Everywhere she turned, inside and outside of school, she was reminded that
love
was in the air. There was no escaping it.

This Thursday everyone was going to have a valentine but her.

She dreaded going to the Valentine's Day dance. If she could skip it, she would, but she knew Claudia would go ballistic if she didn't show up. She expected her to be there when she and Chase were announced as Most Romantic Couple.

Claudia was
so
sure that she and Chase were going to win. Okay, they had been together since freshman year, but were they in love? Wasn't that what this contest was about? Love and romance and how you felt about the person you were with? Sometimes Eden felt like Claudia and Chase were a couple because Claudia was one of the most popular girls at school and Chase was one of the most popular guys and they had decided to fuse their popularity together so they could become
super
popular.