Will's just left to go to his locker when something pokes my back. I turn to find Christine standing behind me, her cheeks pale, a water bottle in her hand.

She twists the cap off the bottle and takes a swig. "So... you and Will? That was fast."

I'm about to blurt out that we're just friends when I give my head a mental shake since this whole pretend thing isn't going to work if I tell people it's not real.

Christine remains quiet. She takes another drink before she says at last, "This isn't like Will."

When I don't answer, she continues, "Will doesn't do relationships." She recaps the bottle and holds it between both hands. "He took Kimberly out once, but that was with Nick and Hilary. Same with Amanda. They went with Tom and Stephanie that time. The only girl he saw seriously was Julia. He was with her for maybe two months, but that was to keep her from Nick. Not that it worked. She ended up with Nick anyway, at least until she moved to St. Paul."

To keep her from Nick? What the hell? Can that be true?

"She wasn't good for him," Christine says and shrugs. "He's known you for what, a few days, and seems kind of intense. Today when you walked in together, there was something," she pauses, searching for the right word, and gives up. "I don't know. But everyone could tell something was different. What did you do to him?"

"Nothing."

She looks at me as if she thinks I'm lying.

I'm too tongue-tied to even know how to answer her with a real answer. Am I supposed to be honest, since she's Will's friend, or not? I knew I'd be terrible at this.

The bell rings and Christine straightens up. She turns away, stops suddenly, and stares me down, her face flushed. "Don't hurt him. Will's a nice guy. If you don't want him, let him go. Don't string him along." She doesn't give me a chance to answer before she jogs to the stairs, leaving me alone.

I'm in the washroom before lunch when Hilary walks in. She gives me an 'oh, you' glare before coming to stand by me where I wash my hands at the sink. She gazes at her face in the mirror and lifts one lid to get a better view of her eye. Her skin is pale, almost translucent. I trace the faint blue veins under her eyes, mesmerized by the way they start near her eyebrow and disappear by her lower lashes. She catches me looking and says, "What?"

"Nothing." I jump and focus on my hands.

She turns her back on her reflection and leans against the sink, watching me. "If you think Nick is upset because you chose Will, well, then you're wrong."

It wasn't what I was thinking at all. I was just left wondering why their reactions were so odd.

"Because it's not like you're anything special."

I turn off the taps, at a loss-not sure what she expects me to say to any of this. She blocks the paper towel dispenser, forcing me to stand with my hands limp at my waist, dripping water onto the floor.

"Nick's upset because Will is gloating over this." She pulls herself away from the sink and straightens. Two slips of brown paper towel float down as she yanks at the dispenser. She clenches them in her fist.

"Because Nick and Will have this competitive thing going. Whenever there's a girl one wants, then the other has to have her too." She straightens, her chest rising. "It's not about you. They're playing a game and you're..." she pauses for emphasis, "you're the ball." She takes a step closer, her floral scent filling my nostrils. "And you know what happens to the ball?"

"What?" I say and swallow.

"It gets shelved after the final touchdown." She shoves the paper at me before moving to the door, then stops and says, "You remember, I warned you."

At lunch, Will waits in the hall. Christine and Hilary's words ring in my ears. One wants me to feel guilty over a fictional romance, and the other suspicious. The uncertainty keeps me from making eye contact. Will asks Christine to join us when he spots her on the stairs but she turns him down, saying she isn't hungry.

I follow Will into the lunchroom as I do my best to ignore the faces trained on me. He takes me to a table near the emergency exit. "Do you need to get anything?" he asks with a gesture toward the cafeteria counter where students line up with trays.

"I brought mine."

"Good." He slides into the seat across from me and takes out a brown paper bag from his knapsack. I uncap my pasta container and put a piece of fusilli in my mouth. Even chewing is hard because I'm awkward and stiff again. I don't glance around at the other tables, knowing it will only make it worse.

Will takes a bite of his deli sandwich, holding it with both hands. He stares at me with puzzled eyes. "Want to talk about it?" he says at last. "It usually helps."

My eyes widen in surprise and he smiles and answers my unasked question. "Your face is like an open book. It's easy to read you. What's up? You look worried."

I swallow the bite in my mouth and lower my fork slowly to the table. I look him full in the face. "Is this a game?"

He threads his hands, resting them on his hair, his arms spread out to the side and bent at the elbows. "A game?" he repeats.

"Between you and Nick."

He cocks his head, waiting for an explanation.

"Hilary said you do this thing. That you and Nick go after the same girl to score points off each other."

He opens his mouth to answer, but I cut him off. "She says that's what you're doing with me. And Christine said you dated a girl once, just to keep her from Nick. If this is a game, Will, I don't want to play."

He lowers his gaze and goes quiet, bringing his hands to the table. When he glances back up at me, his eyes are guarded, the open warmth I've seen there since first meeting him, marred by shadows. "Leila, do yourself a favor. Don't get caught up in their bullshit mind games. Because this is not what's happening here."

And that's all he says. No strong denial. No explanation. Just that.

Maybe he would have added more, but I'll never find out because Barry wanders over and plops down beside Will. Barry's a fast talker, and his hands never stop as he talks only to Will. There's some big basketball debate going on at the other table and he wants Will to side with him.

Will tries to include me at first, but as the topic gets heated, it's like I'm not there. My gaze lights on the table near the door. Nick sits there looking at us with the same unreadable look as before.