Page 40 of Love Me Not

“That’s twenty-five dollars.”

Hands full, Megan turned her hip my way. “My card is in my purse.”

I waved the words away. “The guys gave me cash.” Pulling the wad of money from my coat pocket, I counted out the requested amount and handed it over. “That should do it.”

“Thank you,” she said. “And thank you for getting Cassidy’s head out of her games and into a book. She reads them on her phone, so there’s still screen time, but I’d rather her be reading than whatever it is she does on that Switch.”

That was how I knew her. Cassidy Bitterman was a junior in my World Lit class. “I’m glad she’s enjoying the stories. She’s a fun student to have.”

Items in hand, we maneuvered our way out of the crowd and headed back to our seats. Along the way, I caught more than one student giving me a curious glance before turning to whisper to a friend. In most cases, when you thought someone was talking about you, odds were they never even noticed you. However, in this instance, I couldn’t help but feel like the center of attention and the experience was not a comfortable one.

Chatter among the teachers was one thing. Students gossiping was another entirely.

“Let me get that,” Donna said taking the drink tray as she and Josie met us behind the stands. “The line for the bathroom was super long.”

I reached to take the lone hot chocolate from Megan, but she pulled the drink back and shoved the popcorn forward. “Uh uh. The cup is keeping my hand warm.”

Fair enough. I took the popcorn at the same time that Josie lifted two hot chocolates to lighten the tray for Donna. “Did you have enough money?” she asked.

“More than enough.”

“You missed Lindsey scaring the crap out of another teacher,” Megan said. “Though she sort of had it coming.”

“What happened?” Josie asked.

With a heavy eye roll, I said, “I could have done worse than scare her. People shouldn’t be spreading rumors, or believing them.”

“Rumors?” Donna repeated.

“About Lindsey and Trey. People are assuming they’re an item.”

Josie snorted. “Someone had the nerve to repeat that in front of you?”

“They think her being at the game is confirmation.” Megan took a left to climb the stairs into the grandstand. “I can see the assumptions, but all they had to do was ask her and they’d know.”

“That’s what I’m saying.” You’d think these people had never met me before.

By the time we reached our seats, the second half was about to start.

“Where are the guys?” Megan asked as she handed Becca a hot chocolate and sat down beside her.

She pointed toward the field. “Down there talking to Trey.”

As if they could hear us, the guys turned and all gave a wave. There was no mistaking that Trey was waving at me. Pretending I didn’t notice, I took extra time to straighten the blanket over our laps.

“Come on, Linds,” Becca said. “You could wave back.”

“Not a good idea,” Megan said before I could answer. “There are rumors going around.”

“Rumors?” Becca said. “What rumors?”

Josie leaned close and lowered her voice. “People think Lindsey and Trey are dating.”

“That’s cu…” Becca started until I leaned forward and gave her a look of death, “…kind of messed up? Where would they get that idea?”

“Making ridiculous assumptions.” I glanced up to see Trey watching me, one brow arched high and a crooked grin on his lips. “He can stop grinning like that. I’m not waving.”

“Can I wave at Ryan?” Megan asked.