Games We Play (Thistle Cove 2)

“I’m not sure I feel comfortable taking the lead on this, not after everything that went down.” He nods in agreement. “I guess we should talk to her parents? See if they have any ideas on what they’d like?”

“I’m not sure they’d want to be reminded their only daughter didn’t get to celebrate all the milestones.”

I think about it. “I’m sure Juliette would have opinions.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” I sigh and tap my fingers on the desk. “It’s not something we have to figure out today, but you’re right, it is something we need to prepare for.”

He looks down on me and just being near him makes me a little shaky. He takes a quick glance toward the classroom, then leans forward, kissing me quick across the lips. The result is a burst of warm, a tingling sensation that travels across my body. My first instinct is to grab him and kiss him again, but we both pull back, knowing that if anyone caught us there’d be hell to pay.

“That’s going to get us in trouble.”

He smiles, crooked and smug. “It was worth it.”

For him maybe, but we’re playing with fire—really, I’m playing with three boys at once, and if anyone at school finds out, we’ll never hear the end of it. Thistle Cove is a small school in a small town that thrives on gossip and scandal. One girl in a relationship with three boys?

It doesn’t get more scandalous than that.

“Juliette,” I call, racing to catch up with her after school as she’s walking out the backdoor to the athletic fields.

She pauses, halfway through the door, looking back at me in confusion. To her credit she waits for me to catch up before walking outside.

“I want to talk to you about something we’re thinking of doing for the yearbook,” I tell her. “A memorial page for Rose—a few photos, memories, that kind of thing.”

She keeps walking. “Why are you talking to me about it?”

“Well, you’re taking the lead on the homecoming stuff—the halftime program—I figured maybe you’d want some input on this.”

We wait for the cross-country team to run past us on the track. The football team is already out on the field. I see Coach Chandler and Ezra’s dad talking by the fifty-yard line.

“That homecoming thing is not my idea,” she says once the track is clear. “The Wallers are the ones that pushed for that. They couldn’t bear to think of someone else wearing their precious daughter’s crown.”

“Continuing the myth,” I say, more to myself than to her. “The school loved her so much they stopped homecoming.”

“Yes, upholding the myth, but it also provides an opportunity. I think we all know it’s going to turn into the Brice Waller for Mayor halftime show.” She’s walking so fast I can barely keep up. I reach for her

and grab her arm, forcing her to slow.

“Basically, they’re taking the crown from you, because another thing we all know is that you would’ve won.”

“It’s not a big deal, really.” She sighs. “They’re right. She would have won—even if she didn’t want it.”

I frown. “What?”

She tightens her ponytail. “Oh yeah, Rose had this big plan to refuse the nomination when she got it. She thought all this stuff was lame. I think she spent half of float building last year high. She would be so pissed to know her parents are doing this. Even gone, she can’t get out from her father’s controlling thumb.”

“Juliette,” I lower my voice, “I know you don’t want to talk about the account—”

“Kenley,” she says in warning. “How you stumbled onto that account, I’ll never know, she barely even told me about it. In fact, she didn’t tell me about it until I had to go pick her up after a date from hell one night and forced her into explaining what was going on.” She holds my eye. “Like I told you before, you’re messing with something dangerous, leave it alone.”

“What’s so dangerous?”

“People’s reputations, which,” she takes a step back, “we all know can be more important than anything else.”

She starts to walk away, and I call out, “So you’re telling me you don’t care about the page in the yearbook?”

She turns and replies, “Just run any of my photos by me before you publish. I don’t want to be immortalized looking like shit.”

Right, I think, watching her walk over to the other cheerleaders, because in the end, it’s all about the myth.