25

WHOSE MOVE?

ERIC.

He stared at me, his beautiful brown eyes searching my face. My stomach swirled and, for a second, I was unaware that I was standing just feet away from Jacob.

“What’re you staring at?” Jacob asked.

He turned and saw Eric.

Eric’s face changed in an instant. It was as if he expected to see me here with Jacob. To see us this close together, even though we weren’t doing anything.

I paused—unsure what to do.

Then Rachel appeared by Eric’s side. The pretty seventh grader had swept her light brown hair into a twist and her sideswept bangs made her look sophisticated. Rosy blush complemented her coloring and the light freckles that were sprinkled across her nose.

She looked at me and gave me an odd half wave. I didn’t even know how to respond. Before I could, Eric slipped his hand into Rachel’s and led her away from Jacob and me. She leaned into him as they walked and I felt a little stab of jealousy. I could never be with Eric—not after what I’d done to him. But seeing him with Rachel was harder than I’d thought. She and her group of friends seemed to be more of a presence on campus lately and she was spending more time with the eighth graders than the seventh graders.

I looked back at Jacob, envisioning him walking away hand in hand with another girl. It was more than I could even think about.

“I’ve got to go,” I mumbled. “See you onstage.”

I walked away from Jacob, losing myself in the crowd. Everyone was dancing to the music and it was easy to hide myself among them. I stayed away from the food and drink tables, where everyone seemed to gather at some point, and mixed in with a group of people I didn’t know.

My eyes stopped on Eric and Rachel. They were dancing together and Eric was smiling at her—the smile that he’d once given me. She gazed adoringly at him. Her friends, back at the drinks table, giggled and whispered.

The music faded, then stopped. The lights on the stage brightened and everyone turned to watch Headmistress Drake walk across the stage and step up to the microphone.

“Hello, students,” she said. She smiled at us.

“It’s now time to announce the winners of the eighth-grade junior royal court. Will the eighth-grade nominees please come onstage?”

I stood still—waiting to see who would make the first move.