“Are you sure about that?” Kennedy asked again and looked over my shoulder.
Isabella and her minions were walking down the hall, their high heels clicking on the linoleum.
“What are the odds that she’ll just ignore me?” I whispered.
“Based on the fact that she’s coming this way? Slim to none.” Kennedy slammed her locker shut. “Come on.” She grabbed my arm. “Let’s just get out of her way.”
But before I even took two steps, Isabella called my name.
Kennedy and I both froze.
“Sissy, whatever are you doing?” Isabella said and stopped beside me. “It’s like you’re trying to avoid me.”
That’s exactly what I’m doing.“Of course not,” I said. God, when had she gotten back? Just seeing her made my stomach roll. Her fake smile made me nervous. And the nickname Sissy?Come on.She wasn’t fooling anyone.
Isabella flipped her hair over her shoulder. “You’ll sit with me at lunch again today, yes?”
I couldn’t even fake being nice this time. “No. Absolutely not.”
She looked surprised by my answer. “But I talked to Daddy.”
Ew, stop calling Mr. Pruitt that.“Great.”
“And I know I messed up and I’m…sorry.” It was like the apology pained her because her fake smile faltered for just a moment.
Apology not accepted.“Okay. But I’m still not eating lunch with you.”
“Please, Brooklyn,” she said, her voice lowered. “I said I was sorry. Truly I am. And if Daddy thinks we’re not getting along, he’ll send me away again.”
She was acting like a trip to the Hamptons was a punishment. It sounded pretty glamorous to me. Especially if that house wasn’t haunted too. “I’ll just tell him I sat with you. He doesn’t have to know.”
“But, Brooky, we’re sisters now. It’s okay if I call you Brooky, right?”
I just stared at her. “I prefer Brooklyn.”
“Okay, great, I’ll just call you Sissy then. So we’re on for lunch then?”
How were either of those things the conclusions that she came to? But just then Matt walked past us. Our eyes locked for a second and he ran his index finger against his nose and then winked. I was pretty sure I melted right there. It wouldn’t be as bad now that we had a signal, right? Maybe it would be nice to sit with him this time. I quickly looked away before Isabella could notice. “I’ll think about it,” I said.
Her smile grew, and for the first time I wasn’t sure if it was fake. She actually looked relieved. “Daddy will be so pleased with this news. I know it’s his wish for us to become close. And now I can tell him we’re doing just that. See you later, Sissy.” She blew mea kiss and her and her posse clicked off, everyone in the hallway parting for them to pass.
“Sissy?” Kennedy said under her breath. “Could she be any more manipulative?”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m not actually going to sit with her. But I don’t think she’s planning anything sinister today.”
“Oh yeah?” Kennedy raised her eyebrows. “What makes you say that?”
“Because Mr. Pruitt has my back.” He’d kicked her out of the house after the milk incident. And he was keeping my relationship with Matt a secret. He wasn’t even going to let Isabella kill me anymore. Although, I still wasn’t sure of the specifics on that. Mr. Pruitt refused to elaborate and I hadn’t seen the amendment in the document yet. Either way, Isabella was scared. I could tell. She wouldn’t pull anything like that again at lunch.
“So you’re coming around to him?” Kennedy asked. “Is it the new clothes?” She looked down at the blue tights I was wearing. There wasn’t a single hole in them.
“You know my love can’t be bought,” I said.
“It certainly can’t hurt.” She stopped outside her homeroom. “I’ll see you later.”
“Kennedy, wait,” I said. “Did I do something wrong?”
She hugged her books to her chest. “No. Nothing. I just didn’t feel well yesterday, and I think I still have whatever bug it was.”
