Part of Tig wanted to tell the girls about it at lunch. But she couldn’t. First of all, she didn’t want to admit that Robbie had been right. For all Robbie’s coolness, she wasn’t above a good “I told you so.” And second, Tig was afraid that if she told the girls about Regan, it would get around to the fact that Regan had something on Tig, and she certainly didn’t want any of them asking what that might be. So Tig kept her mouth shut—so much so that everyone at the lunch table kept asking, “What’s wrong with you?” She finally told them it was cramps just to get them to back off. What was one more white lie when she had become so adept at hiding her feelings for Will?
There were only about ten minutes left in the lunch period when Regan came over to their table.
“Hi, Regan,” Kyra said. “Did you want to sit with us?”
Tig rolled her eyes. Of course Kyra never failed to hold out hope that she would finally be chosen to join the Bots.
“No, thanks,” Regan said. “Tig, why don’t you come sit at my table for a minute? We need to talk.”
Tig started to tell Regan that she didn’t take orders from her, but then, Regan hadn’t really commanded her to join her at her table; she’d suggested it. And if Tig had balked, Robbie and the other girls would’ve known something was up. The wisest course of action seemed to be to go to Regan’s table and hear her out, so that was what Tig decided to do.
Regan waved her hand at Sofia and Haley, who scurried over to the Pandora’s Box table. Tig watched Kyra fall all over herself to make room for them while Robbie looked on in horror. The other Bots at Regan’s table turned their backs to Regan and Tig to give them some privacy. With all the noise in the lunchroom, Tig felt reasonably comfortable that no one would overhear the two of them.
“You owe me an apology,” Regan said.
“For what?” Tig replied.
“For going psycho on me in algebra,” Regan said. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t deserve to be treated like that.”
“Do you really expect me to believe that you’ve been nice to me this year for no reason?” Tig asked.
“Of course there was a reason,” Regan said.
“Aha!” Tig said. “So you admit it! Finally! Let’s hear it. What’s your game?”
“Okay,” Regan said, “you’re right. I have had a reason for being nice to you this year. And just as you suspected, it’s the same reason I was out to get you last year.”
Tig was a little taken aback that Regan was being so up-front about the whole thing. “So what is the reason?” she asked.
“Because I think you’re cool,” Regan said.
Tig sat in silence for a moment, then replied, “You what?”
“I think you’re cool,” Regan said. “I wanted to be your friend.”
“Wait,” Tig said. “Are you trying to tell me that you treated me like dirt last year because you wanted to be friends with me? That makes no sense at all.”
“It didn’t start out that way. I tried to be nice at first. But you were always so rude to me for no reason,” Regan said. “Whenever I saw you in the halls, you’d scowl at me. Whenever I said anything in class, you’d roll your eyes.”
“That’s because you’re a Bot,” Tig said.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about!” Regan said. “You never tried to see who I really was. You just categorized me: Bot. You never tried to be nice to me.”
“As if you needed me to be nice to you,” Tig said. “Everybody in the whole school bows before you! You’re the Queen Bot!”
“You’re right,” Regan said. “I’m the most popular girl in school. Pretty much everybody wants to be friends with me. But not you. It was like you thought you were too good for me. But I tried being nice to you. At first. Like that time I told you I liked your shirt.”
“When did you do that?”
“The beginning of last year. I said, ‘Nice shirt,’ and you said, ‘Whatever,’ and looked at me like I’d just kicked your dog or something.”
“I probably thought you were being sarcastic,” Tig said.
“Well, I wasn’t,” said Regan.
Tig felt embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know. . . . I guess I don’t like to let my guard down.”
“Have you noticed that you never let your guard down?” Regan asked. “You’re like that thing in Julius Caesar. About dying a lot of little deaths instead of one big one. You’re always so worried about something happening, you can’t enjoy anything.”
Tig thought about what Regan had said. She had a point. When was the last time she wasn’t worried about what might happen—with Regan and the Bots, or with Kyra, or with Claire, or with Robbie and Paris, or with Olivia and Will? “Okay, for argument’s sake, let’s say you’re right. I expect the worst. But you’re telling me that you were out to get me last year because I’d hurt your feelings?”
“It sounds pathetic when you say it that way,” Regan said. “Let’s just say I wanted to rattle you a little bit.”
“Oh, you rattled me,” Tig said. “You rattled me plenty.”
“It never seemed that way,” Regan said. “And then this year I thought maybe we could actually be friends. But of course, you were always on the lookout for some reason to hate me.”
Tig sighed. “I just never wanted to be like Kyra—always chasing after the popular crowd. That just seems so lame.”
“It is lame,” said Regan. “It’s kind of funny, I guess. I didn’t want to be friends with Kyra because she tried so hard to be in my crowd, and I guess I wanted to be friends with you because you tried so hard not to be.”
“Yeah,” said Tig. “Kyra has been dying to be friends with you for years now.”
“No, she hasn’t. She’s never been dying to be friends with me. She’s been dying to be in my crowd. There’s a big difference.”
Tig nodded. “You’re pretty perceptive for a Bot.”
“Wow, thanks,” said Regan.
“I’m just kidding,” Tig said. “But look, this doesn’t mean I’m going to become a Bot. You can’t push me around and tell me what to do like you tried to do with Claire last year.”
“I wasn’t really trying to push Claire around,” Regan said. “I really liked her. I just didn’t want her to like you. I figured you’d turn her against me.”
“I worried about the same thing with you.”
“You won,” Regan said. “Sofia and Haley sort of like me telling them what to do.”
“And I’m sure you don’t enjoy that at all,” Tig said.
Regan smiled. “Maybe a little bit. Being the queen does have its perks.”
“I’m sorry,” Tig said again. “For everything. I really am. But know this: I’m not putting you in the band.”
“I understand,” Regan said. “I’d probably be terrible anyway. And I guess I don’t really deserve to be in your band. I did try to kill it a few times.”
“That’s true,” Tig said. “But to be fair, you kinda helped us, too.”
“Oh, you mean with the Kyra problem.”
“Not just that. Remember last year when you told us we didn’t look like rock stars at all?”
Regan winced. “Yeah, sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. It was actually helpful. We needed to hear that. That was the whole reason I changed my hair and we worked on costuming and stage choreography. If it hadn’t been for you, we might have looked like total losers in UA’s fake commercial.”
“Oh. Well, you’re welcome.” Regan grinned. “See, I knew that all along, and that’s why I did it. It was all part of my secret master plan to help you!”
“Yeah, right!” Tig laughed. “Tell you what. If you really want to learn to play guitar, take some lessons. Try it out for a while. If you get any good in a few months and we’re still looking, I’ll talk to Robbie and the other girls about letting you audition.”
“Come on,” Regan said. “Like Robbie’s ever going to give me a chance! Just go ahead and say no. Don’t drag it out like that.”
“You never know,” said Tig. “Robbie’s pretty open-minded once you get to know her. People can change their minds. If you’d told me last year that I’d be sitting here having this conversation with you today, I wouldn’t have believed it. Would you?”
“No way,” said Regan. “All right, then. Fair enough. I’ll give guitar lessons a try. I might not even like it. Or I might get really good. Maybe I’ll start my own band.”
“If you do, here’s a piece of advice,” Tig said. “Don’t let Haley be your lead singer.”
Regan laughed. “Not in a million years!” she said.