Shot Through the Heart (13 page)

“Well, I’m going to do you a favor, Strabinowski,” Drew says once he’s downed his fries. “I’m going to save you from the kind of humiliation I experienced yesterday.”

Josh drops his burger into its wrapper. “Drew, whatever it is you want, make your point and go away. It’s a freaking
game
. Connor and I followed the rules, so if you have an issue with—”

Drew holds his hands out in mock surrender. “No, no, nothing like that. I’m only here to give Connor a little advice. You know, friend to friend.”

I’m about to tell Drew where he can stuff his advice when Josh says it for me. With a smile. The courtyard’s eerily quiet as I wait for Drew to fire back. Conversations at the other tables have ceased; no one so much as slurps a soda or crumples their trash. Everyone’s frozen, sneaking peeks our direction.

None of this deters Drew. Disregarding Josh’s comments, he flattens his palms on either side of his tray and leans forward to look me in the eye. “It was an inspired move to have Molly lure me to that parking lot. You caught me off guard and executed a perfect hit in a place I never expected you to be. Bravo. But what did you do to convince Molly to invite me there, Connor? Flirt with her? Make a few promises you have no intention of keeping? For what, a few hundred dollars and the glory of it?”

My lunch goes bone-dry in my mouth. Not only is every word he utters going to be repeated in classrooms and on sports fields the rest of the afternoon, Peyton is sitting so still it’s as if she’s cut from marble.

I try to keep my composure even as Drew smirks. I look past Peyton and speak deliberately and in as low a voice as possible to keep from making a spectacle of myself. “Drew, whatever happened between you and Molly is between you and Molly. Don’t drag me into it.”

“Oh, but this isn’t about me and Molly. It’s about
you
and Molly.”

Kendall and Tina stare open-mouthed at Drew, then look to Peyton, as if they can’t believe they’re in the middle of this.

Drew looks around the table to ensure he has everyone’s attention, then focuses on me once more. “See, Molly has a mad crush on you. I’m sure of it. And I’m sure you know it, too. I saw her in the hall yesterday, with her hand on your arm. Like this.” He makes a sappy face and wraps one hand around his opposite forearm. “I assumed you were having a polite chat, ‘cause everyone knows Molly’s a polite girl, despite how things went down yesterday. Plus, you two have been friends since you were young enough to get ‘good boy’ cheers from your parents for going pee pee on the potty. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized Molly once looked at me exactly the same way…when she and I first started going out.”

Josh shifts as if he’s about to say something, but Drew speaks first. “You don’t have to tell me, Lindor. The entire school knows I screwed up with Molly.”

Drew looks around the courtyard for confirmation, but no one makes a sound. I don’t dare look at Molly’s table to measure her reaction.

“Molly got some sweet revenge, though, didn’t she? And I guess I deserved it. But here’s the thing: I’ve learned the hard way how you should and shouldn’t treat a girl. You can learn the easy way.” He picks up a french fry and points it at me. “My advice to you? Be a man. Let Molly down right now. Tell her you’re seeing someone else already, Strabinowski. Otherwise, when she figures it out herself—which she will—she’s going to make an even worse example of you than she did of me. Plus, I bet your new girlfriend doesn’t know you’re in the halls flirting with Molly, which means you’re going to get zinged double, ‘cause she won’t take being treated that way, either.”

Drew pops the fry into his mouth, a smug grin spreading across his face as he adds, “For the record, most girls think two-timing’s even sleazier than what I did.”

Josh’s eyes widen a fraction, though he keeps his lip zipped. I can tell he wonders whether I’ve kept something from him and if this is why I didn’t go for his fake girlfriend idea with Peyton.

Little does he know the real girlfriend—not that she’s even my girlfriend—
is
Peyton.

“Duly noted.” I give a nonchalant, one-shouldered shrug, then take a drink as if nothing happened. I suspect the less said the better, given the audience, even though I’m itching to explain Drew’s comments to Josh, Molly, and especially Peyton.

Drew picks up his tray. I keep right on guzzling my soda, relieved he’s finally going away. As soon as I talk to Molly and clear the air, I’ll make sure I get some private time with Peyton and explain that I’d never two-time any girl, let alone one as incredible as she is.

While I’m at it, I’ll ask Peyton out. Officially. Screw Senior Assassin and staying behind closed doors. I’ll let everyone see with their own two eyes that I’m no cheater. I set down my soda, waiting until Drew’s safely away from our table.

Except he’s not moving.

“Watch out for him, Peyton,” Drew tosses out the comment as if it’s nothing. “Strabinowski will break your heart if you’re not careful.”

Chapter Twelve |
Connor

M
y gut couldn’t twist more painfully if Drew plunged his cafeteria fork into my stomach.

“Peyton?” Kendall and Tina speak at the same time, bewildered looks on their faces.

“What, you didn’t think anyone knew?” There’s an acerbic edge to Drew’s voice as he addresses me. “I bet Peyton thought you two were on the down low, too. But you can’t keep a secret like that in Eastwood, especially when there are a couple hundred seniors stalking each other in every corner of town twenty-four seven.”

Peyton doesn’t utter a sound. Kendall eyes me for a moment, then zeroes in on Drew. “What in the world are you talking about? Peyton and Connor are
not
together.”

Drew’s tray clunks against the table once more. The sound may as well be a hammer against my skull. In a voice reminiscent of a tabloid TV reporter, he drawls, “Since you ask, it seems that Peyton and Connor here were caught giggling together at Lowe’s on Monday night, crawling around in the shelves as they looked for bubble wrap. At least, that’s what they claimed they were doing, since they were in an aisle that doesn’t even carry bubble wrap. That was the same afternoon Peyton drove by Grayson’s house—with Connor in the passenger seat, of course—on a scouting mission.”

“Sounds like she was helping Josh get ready to annihilate you and Grayson,” Tina says. “I’d be giggling at Lowe’s, too, if I were there buying gear to make, say, a balloon launcher.”

Tina is rewarded with guffaws from the entire table. Other tables join in, though I don’t recognize the sound of Molly’s laughter amongst the others.

“You’d think.” Drew has the audacity to slide in next to Kendall. Horrified, she mushes into Josh, leaving Tina uncomfortably balanced at the very end of the bench. Molly might be a great actress, but Drew’s a showman. He lifts the tab on his soda and takes a long drink, drawing out the moment as everyone waits to hear what he’ll say next.

And there’s not a thing I can do about it.

Finally, he sets down the can and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “Thing is, Peyton was also seen going into Connor’s house earlier this week—without her brother, I might add—and staying for quite awhile. What
could
she have been doing alone with him in there?”

“Getting chemistry notes, you half-wit.” Josh scowls, then turns to me and rolls his eyes in Drew’s direction.

“If that’s what you want to call it. Because last night, your sis and your best friend were in your garage, and the chemistry there—”

“Shut up, Drew.” The words come out with more bite than I intend, but no way will I let him finish what he’s about to say. “You’ve officially overstayed your welcome. Oh, wait, you weren’t welcome in the first place. Look, I wasn’t happy with how things went down at Blanchard’s yesterday. I’d rather have shot you in your driveway after staking out your house for the better part of a cold morning and been done with it right then and there. But getting shot is no excuse to be rude and gossip about Josh’s sister, even if you hate Josh and me. Like Josh said, it’s a freaking game.”

“Don’t you want to know all the gory details? Promise I’ll keep it PG-13.” He addresses everyone at the table except me, then leans over as if he’s going to whisper in Kendall’s ear. Her face contorts in horror as she looks to Peyton for guidance.

Josh loses it.
I
lose it, and I never lose it. At the same time, Josh and I both jump up from the picnic table. Josh’s hands are clenched into fists.

“Drew.” Molly’s soft voice cuts in. “If you want to accomplish anything, why don’t you talk to me?”

Every head except mine swivels in Molly’s direction at once, as if the entire courtyard is watching a tennis match. I glance sideways at her, then return my focus to Drew.

“I planned to.” The snigger is lost from his voice as he looks past Josh to Molly, who’s now standing at the opposite end of the picnic table from where he plunked his tray. His anger dissipates instantaneously as he takes in the sight of her. There’s no doubt in my mind now that the bouquet was intended for Molly. “But I need to put this liar in his place first. Whatever you think of me, I won’t let him do this to you. You don’t deserve it.”

“Neither does he, though I appreciate the gesture.” Drew opens his mouth to protest, but Molly cuts him off with a pleasant smile. Her voice is so quiet, I doubt anyone beyond our table can hear her. “Last chance. Come talk to me. Now or never.”

In spite of what happened between them, she’s once again helping Drew save face.

Unbelievable.

Drew flicks a seething look in my direction before taking his tray and following Molly to the far side of the courtyard. Josh and I sit. Gradually, people at the tables around us start talking again, though in hushed tones. Our table remains silent. No one moves to eat, no one leaves.

I think my burger’s going to come up. I don’t dare look at Peyton. I can tell from the stiff way she’s holding her body that she doesn’t want to look at me, either.

“Anyone else believe what we just witnessed?” Josh’s voice is barely above a whisper. “No one likes to be eliminated, but geez, more than half the teams go out in round one and only the top three finish in the money. What did he think was going to happen?”

Peyton’s friends ignore Josh to study me. Finally Kendall says, “Drew has a temper, and he’s always doing things without thinking first—”

“Like Sofia Magaro,” Tina mutters.

“—but at the end of the day, even if he behaved with all the class of a sewer rat last year, he still loves Molly. He thinks he’s protecting her. He seems pretty certain that Connor used Molly to advance in the tournament.”

Tina starts nodding along, which pisses me off. Mostly because I’m pissed at myself. It might not have been premeditated, but I did use Molly to eliminate Drew. I doubt she’d have volunteered to help if she wasn’t interested in me.

And now it might cost me a lot more than I feared when I stupidly agreed to her idea.

“Drew may say and do things without thinking them through, but Molly doesn’t.” Josh casts a sidelong look across the courtyard. “Molly
offered
to help us. We didn’t ask. Don’t belittle her intelligence by saying she was only helping us because she’s crushing on Connor and wanted to impress him.”

“Is she, then? Into Connor?” Incredulity fills Tina’s voice, making me want to kick Josh under the table. “Or was that more Drew Spew?”

“Why are we still talking about this? None of it matters.” They have to stop before this spirals out of control to the point Peyton refuses to speak to me again. How my life has suddenly gotten so insane, I’ll never know, but I don’t want to lose what I’ve gained—or hopefully gained—with Peyton over this idiocy.

Kendall persists, “Well, if Molly likes you and you knew that when you accepted her offer—”

“Are you two…?” Tina asks at the same time, looking from Connor to Peyton. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Peyton make a dismissive gesture in Drew and Molly’s direction, but she doesn’t speak. I can’t bring myself to turn enough to see Peyton’s face. If I look at her, I’m afraid my expression will make our relationship obvious to everyone at the table, which won’t help the situation at all.

“Of course they’re not,” Josh assures both girls. “If they were, don’t you think I’d know about it? Plus, you know Connor. He wouldn’t use Molly that way. I even suggested to Connor that he should tell a few people he was seeing Peyton so that
if
Molly was interested in him—which I’m not confirming—he could dissuade Molly from flirting with him without having to flat-out tell her he wasn’t interested and hurt her feelings.”

Josh points to me, but his eyes remain on Tina. “Connor refused. He told me he wouldn’t be comfortable with a lie. He even went so far as to thwack me in the head for suggesting it. So Drew’s the bad guy here, not Connor. Connor’s honest.”

“Josh.” I look at him, but don’t say anything more. I realize he’s trying to defend me, but the hole I’m falling into with Peyton—let alone with her friends, who are bound to repeat each and every word Josh utters—is getting deeper and deeper by the second. There’s a flicker in Josh’s gaze, as if he’s finally catching on that not everything is as it seems.

“So Molly does like Connor. And Connor’s not into Molly?” Tina squints as she thinks through what Josh said. “Or
are
you into Molly, and that’s why you didn’t want her to think you were seeing Peyton, even if it’s not true? I mean, what was Drew talking about with the hallway flirting? Because he clearly thinks you and Molly are—”