Rush Me (New York Leopards 1)

I raised my brows at her. It was good for Madison to be embarrassed.

“He’s talking to those clone girls,” she whined.

I squeezed her hand, feeling cheerful. “And I am so happy we now have a reason to ditch them.” I touched Ryan’s arm. “Ryan, I think you met Madison yesterday? One of my best friends.”

Ryan, being Ryan, not only signed the poster the twins had sent in with Madison, but went a step beyond. “We’re going back to the city early in the morning. I have practice. But maybe next time we’re here we could swing by.”

“All right,” Madison muttered to me as the three of us headed over to our larger group of friends. “It’s possible this one’s a keeper.”

After half an hour or so, the former senior class officers—whose post graduation life I had yet to learn anything about—ushered us into the adjoining hall, where rows of folding chairs were set up before a slightly raised platform. Long wide windows stretched along one wall, letting in natural lights during the day, but now the room dimmed and all the focus went to the stage.

Sophie came out in red from head to toe, ruby talons matching killer stilettos. This was the girl I remembered from high school, not the overly sweet one in my parents’ presence.

“Hey, everyone,” she purred, and about half the class hooted in response. She let out a laugh. “I’m so happy you all came. I can’t believe how long it’s been since we were all together. Just like high school, right? But with more alcohol. Well, more out in the open.” She paused and grinned at the rolling laugher. “I’d like to thank Casey for convincing her aunt to rent us the Inn at a way better rate than any of the other classes. And I’d also like to welcome my friend Ryan Carter, who squeezed us into his busy schedule.”

She flashed painfully white teeth as the entire room swiveled to stare at Ryan, as though everyone knew exactly where he sat and was just waiting for a socially acceptable moment to stare at him. One genius cried out “Go Pats!” and awkward, embarrassed titters echoed across the hall.

“Thanks, Soph,” Ryan called out, as though the two hundred odd eyes fastened on him didn’t exist. “Now I hear there’s a slideshow?”

“There sure is.” Sophie clicked a button on her computer with a flourish. “Welcome back to Ashbury High!”

The lights dimmed, and the Top 40 from almost a decade ago came on, songs we had danced to at proms and clips from quickly loved, quickly forgotten bands. We watched four years of braces and bad hair and pimples. For the first two, I hardly showed up, the pictures dominated by Sophie’s gang, but as upperclassmen my friend group had come into its own, and if felt like a third of these photos were ours. Our faces shone with such love, such happiness, as though we had the whole world at our feet.

The lights came back on and everyone clapped. Ryan gave me a quizzical look. “You always dismiss high school. But you looked so happy.”

“I know.” We followed the crowd back into the entertainment hall. Most headed straight for the bar. “I guess sometimes I forget. But parts of it were really good.”

For the next few minutes, people kept sidling up to Ryan, including, I was fairly certain, the clump that had booed him. There was a bit of awkwardness with people like former high school quarterback Chris Howell, who acted particularly chummy, and class nerd Gerald Jones, who thought Ryan might want to fund his start-up. But Ryan handled them all with the serenity he applied whenever he played public figure.

Ryan was speaking to a group of former druggies and I was planning a strategic retreat back to my friends when Sophie sashayed to our side. She inserted herself between us and the other classmates. “I’m so glad you’re here. She hugged me and then kissed Ryan on the cheek as though it wasn’t totally affected. “It was so nice of you to come.”

Ryan smiled politely and began to respond,

but one of the guys who’d been speaking shunted Sophie away and regained his attention.

Good, because enough was enough. “Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Sure, Rach,” Sophie chirped. “What’s up?”

Shit about to hit the fan. “What the hell was that about?”

Her pretty face froze, her perfect lips parting in faux confusion. “I was just saying hi.”

“There was no reason for you to mention Ryan on stage. Not only is this Ashbury’s reunion and you shouldn’t have been talking about someone who didn’t even go to this school, but you dragged a person into the limelight without any indication that he wanted to be there.”

As my words went on, outrage stretched across Sophie’s face. “I did that for you. I was being nice!”

Someone needed to teach Sophie a new value system. “Sorry, I don’t follow. How is bothering my boyfriend ‘for me’?”

“So people would know he was with you! It was like a compliment!”

“You didn’t even say my name.”

She let out a huff of incredulity. “Yeah, but everyone knew.”

I shook my head in disgust. “You know what, Sophie? It sounded like you were trying to drag yourself up on his coattails. And why didn’t you mention David?”

“Why would I?” she snapped. “He didn’t even want to be up there!”