The bell shrieked, and the hallways of Ashwood High exploded with chatter, sneakers squeaking against the linoleum, and the faint smell of cafeteria pizza that always made me regret life choices.
I was supposed to be focused on first period math. Instead, my brain kept looping back to the night before: Devon stepping out of the shadows, the two creeps sniffing me like I was some weird air freshener, and his dad calling me her. Whatever that meant.
“Earth to Ivy.”
Riley waved a hand in front of my face. She was balancing a coffee cup in one hand and three notebooks in the other like some caffeinated octopus. “You’ve been staring at your locker for, like, three solid minutes. Planning to marry it, or…?”
I blinked. “What? No. Just… thinking.”
“About?” She leaned in with that look that sa
