Chapter 7

Lucky for me it was minimal trouble to get an answer. Which again, I would not risk if it meant putting Dear Step-Mother's putrid attention on me.

I had a lunch date with the biggest Prince fanatic at this school. Somehow Megan had already heard about my "atrocious treatment," of him.

"How could you have been so cruel to him?" she demanded at once. "And Celia," rounding onto her so-called friend-- must be tied to the hip those two-- to assail her that way. "Letting her sit with us? Do you know what that would do to our standing! They'll think we-- that we-- like her or some other mad lies."

Megan whispered the last part, trying so diligently hard to treat me as a non-entity.

I would show her. At any public school a spazzing, over-critical and loopy attitude like that Megan would be the talk, Grade A freak-zilla.

"Come on don't be so hard on her. I bet that was uncomfortable for you," Celia guessed with a sympathetic glance.

I let out a breath held hostage for a long while. To finally be allowed some compassion.

Megan heaved a heavy sigh of her own. "You are so weird. I would give absolutely anything, the whole world for Jared Prince to pay me that sort of attention," she gushed.

"I'll give him the memo," I said dully, spearing a brussels sprout with my fork.

Next class I found a white, fluffy bear on my desk.

"Yeah, no," I decided, picking up the toy by the head.

"Like it?" Prince asked leaning at my desk.

He cocked his head, that same devilish grin on his face. "I just couldn't bear getting on the wrong foot with you," he declared hand to his chest.

"This is--"

"Sweet I know."

Maybe a bit. Maybe he really-- I felt myself flush.

But I swept that all aside. No, no vapid, shallow, thoughtless wanting.

I was smarter than this, I was better and I wasn't the type to obsess over looks or how I may look with some random flavor on my arm.

"Creepy," I admitted brows scrunched.

"Huh? Wh-- why?" he asked.

"I have to explain it?" I complained. And well, it would only be fair at the moment now, right? To be a bit unkind and maybe he would get the hint then?

"We barely know each other, yet you decide it's a good idea to I suppose hit on me," I said so with an errant, high little laugh, "if you could call it that," flippantly discarding the bear where it made a light, piteous squeak at his feet. Aww. "At full, complete throttle straight out of cringe teen girl fantasy books, yuck. Just, yuck man. You poor, poor idiot. Get some A material, or at least something vaguely original if you're wanting this level of stunning."

And as if I couldn't have been more perfect the bell rang, forcing the guy to take his seat.

Except in his daze, or much more deviously annoying then I'd given him credit for, he took the seat right behind mine. Making an epic, screeching spectacle of it.