“Have lunch with my friends and me. It’s time people meet the real Lisa Felton,” I said.
“But I said some mean things about some of your friends. After you read what’s in there about you, you might not want to talk to me again.”
“Remember when Tracy dumped me at the band auction freshman year?” I asked.
“Yeah, that was brutal,” Lisa admitted.
“Tracy is one of my best friends now. At the time, I told everyone to leave her alone,” I said.
“So you won’t be mad at me?” she asked.
I laughed.
“You should probably count on me getting mad, but the good news is that I’m willing to help you through this. I hold a little sway over public opinion here at Lincoln High,” I suggested.
Lisa grabbed me in a fierce hug, and I could tell she was crying. The bell rang, but I continued to hold her. I’d missed the last three days of school; what was being late compared to that? She finally got her act together and went to the bathroom to wash her face.
◊◊◊
I strolled into PE and Coach Rector glanced at me but then ignored me. I changed and found Wolf so we could lift. When we were alone, he wanted dirt.
“Did you sleep with Lisa Felton?” he asked.
“Did you?” I shot back.
“No, she’s a skank.”
“Really? What makes you say that?” I asked.
“Everyone says it,” he said.
“I’ll tell you right now, you’re wrong. If you don’t believe me, let’s go outside,” I said, getting pissed.
“Whoa, Dude!” Wolf said, holding his hands up.
“The bullying has to stop. Lisa was a victim of Bill Rogers’ big, lying, mouth. If you don’t believe me about what an asshole he is, talk to Tracy,” I said.
Wolf wouldn’t meet my eyes. I had a bad feeling that convincing my friends that Lisa wasn’t a ‘skank’ would be an uphill battle. I changed the subject and told him about my trip to London and the hotel we stayed in.
◊◊◊
After PE, Tracy found me and pushed me into an empty classroom.
“Did you read Lisa’s blog?”
“No, I just found out about it. Why?” I asked.
“Do you think she’s telling the truth?”
“No idea. I didn’t read it yet, remember?” I said with a smile.
Tracy’s eyes tightened as if she was trying to figure something out.
“Do you believe what she wrote is true? I know you didn’t read it, but do you think she would lie?” Tracy asked.
“Lisa considered it a private blog, just for her. I doubt she would lie to herself,” I said.
When Tracy didn’t say anything, I continued.
“What’s the problem?”
“One, you had sex with her. Your own cousin,” Tracy said and rolled her eyes.
“We’re not related.”
“Says you,” Tracy said with a smirk. “I assumed the stories were true. Just like everyone else did.”
“I told you I didn’t believe Lisa was as sexually active as everyone said she was.”
“I expected you were just saying that, kind of like you told everyone to back off from me. You’ve always been the white knight. In my case, I deserved people talking about what a crazy witch I was. I figured you were doing the same for Lisa, that she was what we all thought she was, but you tried to protect her.”
“I imagined I was more persuasive than that,” I admitted.
“We let you think you are, but we know you’re just a goofball.”
“Really?” I asked, somewhat hurt.
“No. You’re the leader of the pack,” Tracy said, and from her tone, I could tell she was only placating my male ego.
I decided to let it go, or she would tease me about this forever.
“Can you help me with Lisa? It’s past time we start treating her right. I’ve asked her to join me for lunch,” I said.
“It’s not going to be easy to change people’s minds. It doesn’t help that she dresses like she does,” Tracy added.
“So, will you help?”
“It’s probably best you stay out of this one. Let Pam and me take care of it,” Tracy said.
We were late for class, so I walked Tracy to hers. I stuck my head in and saw Coach Hope.
“She’s late because of me,” I said.
I then jogged to mine. Ms. Saunders looked at me curiously but kept teaching. Sometimes it was good to be Lincoln High’s favorite son.
◊◊◊
At lunch, Pam and Tracy grabbed Lisa, and the three of them ate at a different table. Our conversation was about me turning down the
They’d named the final three, now that I’d turned it down. Aden Reich, the man I’d met in the UK, was on the list, along with Adam Trimble and Micah Phelps. Adam had been in
“You’re going to become one of those trivia questions,” Alan said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“It’ll be one of those questions about who turned down a huge role.”
