Wait. What are we doing? “Whoa. Hey now!” I try to pry her off, but she’s got a death grip on my ass. “River, let go of my ass.”
“Oh.” She pushes away. “I’m so sorry. I seriously don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
I frown. “But, River, you don’t—you know…think of me like that, right?”
“No! Ohmygod no. I would never.” Her face turns bright red, and she stumbles through her words. “I mean, you’re Huff. My annoying best friend since the second grade.”
“Good, because I feel the same way.” Even if for one split second, she felt like something else. Something more.
“I know. I know. It’s just this thing—your change—is messing with my head.”
“It’s still me. Same old nerd. Introvert. With natural lady repellent.” But that’s not exactly true. I feel the change inside me, too. That big coating of fear that used to blanket my heart is slowly dissolving.
“You’re anything but the old you,” she argues, “which is why I agree. We need to talk to Blake after the game. We have to find out where they took us.”
“Why wait? We can head over to their house now.”
“They’re at warm-up. Some of the girls went to watch.”
“Then it’s after the game.”
River smiles. “Yes. And I give you my permission to knock some of his teeth out while you question him.”
“I love that idea.” Suddenly, that sharp shooting pain returns to my chest. It radiates through my torso into my stomach. “Ooph!” I drop my bags and double over.
“You okay?” River grabs hold of my shoulder to steady me.
“Yeah,” I grunt. “I think it’s that pizza I ate.” A lie. I know my body keeps reacting to something.
The pain passes quickly, and I stand upright, noticing a pair of eyes in the window upstairs. It’s Keni.
I make a little wave, but she doesn’t wave back. Instead, she stares down with a disdain I know all too well. It’s the same way Manda used to look at me. Sheer hate. But why? Because I still want to believe my initial reaction to Keni last night meant something. She’s the only girl I’ve ever looked at and felt like maybe stalkers get a bad rap. I could enjoy following her around. But more like a puppy in love, and less like a psycho with a knife.
“I should go lie down for a few minutes,” I say, picking up my bags.
“You sure you don’t want me to walk you back?”
“No. I’m okay.” Nothing to see here. Just my new, inexplicably muscled body taking over my life.
“What about the press?” she asks. “What are you going to do if they’re still camped out looking for you?”
I doubt they’ll still be there just to get a statement from me. I mean, so what? I helped rescue a little girl who’d fallen down an old well. The cover caved in when she was playing on it. I’m incredibly happy she didn’t die, but I’m not the real hero. That label goes to the firefighters who put on harnesses and pulled her out. Me? I just apparently have dog hearing now. Hardly makes me worthy of a cape. “The press doesn’t scare me. Nothing does anymore.” I wink.
“Okay. Text if you need anything.”
“Yep.” I start walking down the sidewalk, to cut across campus.
“Hey, don’t forget to meet me outside the stadium in an hour!”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I yell without turning around. Tonight, I’m getting answers. I only hope they’re answers I want to hear.
River and Bren are waiting just outside the stadium as Ronno and I approach. He was going to the game too, so why not invite him to hang with us?
I’ve decided Ronno’s like an annoying little brother with a Napoleon complex, who’s destined to have a God complex once he becomes a doctor. Aside from that, I really don’t know what to make of the guy. He knows everyone on campus, and judging by the number of texts he gets from girls, which include invites to hook up, he’s also a lady magnet. Maybe he’s really good in the sack. Who knows?
What gets me thinking, though, is how on a scale of one to ten, he’s on par with how I used to look. A two, tops. But Ronno is pure confidence. Like he knows he’s destined to be someone important in this world. Makes me wonder how different my life could’ve been if I’d had a different attitude.
Ronno and I walk up to the girls, and I make introductions. “Hey, Bren. This is my new roommate, Ronno.”
“Hi. Nice to meet you,” she says, giving Ronno a polite nod. She doesn’t seem to think much of him. Not yet.
“Not as nice as it is to see you,” says Ronno. “Wait, are you the Kappa Nu who won that world record in clogging last year?”