The Heirs Scholarship Girl

Chapter Three

At the cafeteria, across the courtyard, close enough that she could've heard every word if the wind had just cooperated, Madison stood with her phone raised, not filming, just watching, her thumb moving fast across the screen. But when she caught me looking, she didn't scowl or storm off the way I expected.

She smiled instead, looking pleased with herself like she already knew something I didn't, and went back to typing.

Madison held my gaze one last time, long enough that the smile on her face started looking like a threat and then she turned on her heel and walked off through the courtyard doors, phone still in hand, thumb still moving.

She didn't look back once but something about the way she'd walked away so pleased with herself made my skin prickle.

"Cassie?"

Ethan's voice pulled me back. I realized I was still holding his hand, still standing there with my tray half forgotten on the table, my heart suddenly hammering for reasons that had nothing to do with him anymore.

"I have to go," I muttered, already pulling my hand free, reaching for my bag.

"What? Why?" He stood too, brows drawn together, that easy warmth from a second ago replaced with concern. "Did something happen? Did I say something wrong?"

"Oh no…” The lie came out too fast and I hated how transparent it probably sounded. "It has nothing to do with you. I just remembered, my mom needs me to drop something off for work. I'm supposed to be there in ten minutes and I completely lost track of time."

It wasn't entirely a lie. My mom did need her spare uniform dropped at the diner before her shift started, I'd just conveniently forgotten about it until Madison's smile reminded me that the world outside this table still existed, and that it wasn't safe.

"Let me drive you then," Ethan said. "It'll be faster."

"No." The word came out sharper than I meant it, and I forced myself to soften it, even as every part of me was already halfway out the door in my head. "I mean, thank you, but it's fine. I can run."

"Cassie..."

"I really have to go." I was already backing away, tray abandoned, bag slung crooked over one shoulder. "I'll text you."

"Wait…"

I didn't wait. I couldn't, not with Madison's smile still burning behind my eyes and the sick certainty settling low in my stomach that whatever she'd been typing while she watched us wasn't nothing. I didn't want to explain that to Ethan, didn't want him chasing after the reason because some instinct I couldn't name told me that pulling him further into whatever Madison was planning would only make it worse. For both of us, but especially for me.

I didn't want more trouble than I already had. I'd had enough of it in the last two days to last a lifetime, my locker, the video, the whispers that followed me down every hallway, and every one of those things had started the moment my life tangled itself up with his. Adding Madison's simmering silence to the pile felt like tempting something I wasn't ready to name.

So I ran, my bag bouncing against my hip, out through the courtyard and down the block toward the diner, and I didn't let myself look back to see if he was watching me go.

……….

I didn't hear from him again until almost nine that night. I was sitting cross legged on my bed, textbook open and completely ignored in my lap, when my phone lit up with his name and my whole chest froze. I answered before it finished the second ring.

"Hey," I said, trying to sound casual and failing immediately.

"Hey." His voice was different over the phone, quieter, like whatever mask he wore at school didn't survive the trip through the speaker.

“I am deeply sorry about earlier.”

“You disappeared on me.”

"I didn’t. I told you I had somewhere to be."

"Fairs.” I could hear the smile in his voice. "How'd the delivery go?"

"Was fine. My mom didn't have to work her shift in yesterday's uniform, so, mission accomplished."

He laughed and I felt that tinge in my belly again.

We talked for almost an hour after that. Nothing important, nothing that mattered in the grand scheme of anything. Just easy, meandering conversation, his terrible opinions about pineapple on pizza, my equally strong opinions about people who dog eared library books, the way his swim coach apparently cried during every single meet regardless of whether they won. I found myself lying back against my pillows at some point, phone pressed to my ear, smiling so hard my cheeks ached, my stomach doing slow, warm flips every time his laugh crackled through the line.

It was the kind of conversation that made you forget, for a little while, that your locker had been vandalized two days ago and a girl who hated you had just watched you hold hands with the boy she used to call hers.

Somewhere in the comfortable silence after a lull, I found myself asking the question I'd been circling all night without meaning to.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

“Earlier, you said you've been watching me for a while. How long is a while, Ethan?"

The whole place fell suddenly silent, long enough that I actually pulled the phone away from my ear to check the screen, to make sure the call hadn't dropped.

"Ethan? Are you there?"

"Yeah..." His voice came back changed, quicker, tighter, all the ease from a minute ago gone like it had never existed. "Yeah, I'm here, I'm so sorry I got carried away.”

“Okay… so tell me. How long?”

“I… well…” He went on and on, stammering without forming actual words. I held my breath as he struggled to find the words. Ethan took a deep breath.

“Cassie… I am so sorry, I need to go. But I'll call you back, I promise. And If I don't…”

"If you don't? Wait, is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine." He didn't sound exactly fine. He sounded like he was struggling to make sure there was air flowing through your mouth? "It's nothing, I promise. Just Rebecca calling."

"Rebbeca? Who's Rebe…?"

The line went dead.