Cam
So, this was what invisibility felt like.
To him, Easton Prep was a means to an end. But if he didn’t get into the University of Washington?
And maybe pigs would fly.
“Hey, townie.”
He started, surprised to find Juliet in front of him with a plate full of sliders.
“Wagyu and boar, I think,” she said, handing him the plate. “I saw you drooling from across the room. Hope you’re cool with truffled mayonnaise.”
He was grateful, but this was weird. She never normally spoke to him. Juliet leaned against the wall next to him. “So,” she said, after he’d scoffed three sliders. “What’s your plan?”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re the only ones here without parents, so I presume you’re here because you have a plan, too. That, or you like being paraded around as proof this pack of wolves has a moral compass.”
“What’s your plan?” he asked through a mouthful of burger.
“Seeing as setting my car on fire didn’t manage to lure in the two people who are responsible for my existence.” She shot him a grin. “I have been put under house arrest to pay for my sins. I’m ‘garnering support’ for the parents’ association.”
He snorted. She was funny.
“How’s that going?”
“As horribly as you’d expect. Oooh—” Juliet winced as she gazed across the room. “That looked painful.”
“What?”
“Teagan and her mom just got seriously cold-shouldered.”
Cam looked to where she was pointing. Teagan, who looked great in a flowery dress, was with a tall, dark-haired woman he guessed was her mom. “Do you think—” he began.
“That Britney made sure everyone here knows Teagan and Ella are The Untouchables? Oh yeah. No doubt.”
“Harsh.” It wasn’t Teagan’s fault her dad was on the FBI’s most wanted list.
They tracked Teagan as she tried and failed to stop her mom from approaching another group of women, a glass of champagne in her hand. It was the live version of car crash television. He and Juliet made strangled sounds of commiseration when the women blanked Ella before she could even say hello.
“At least they’re trying,” Juliet said, shooting him a meaningful look. “They’re broke and social outcasts and yet they got all gussied up and came anyway.”
Was that a dig at his parents? “My dad’s a little busy fixing some rich girl’s plea for attention.”
Juliet went wide-eyed.
“Sorry. That was a shit thing to say—”
“No. It was an accurate thing to say.” She looked impressed, rather than insulted. “But I meant you, not your parents, moron.”
“Me?”
She rolled her eyes. “Just because you’re here on financial aid doesn’t make you less than.”
“Oh!” He thunked his forehead. “So that’s why they keep rolling out the red carpet for me everywhere I go.”
“If they did? You’d probably step to the side to make way for King Josh and his court.”
Juliet didn’t mince words. He knew whose side he wanted to be on if she ever got in a fight. “Look,” she said, grabbing an entire tray of macarons from a server and handing it to Cam. “From everything Teagan’s said—”
His attention level shot up a few notches. Teagan had talked about him to Juliet?
“Yes, lover boy, you’re on her radar.”
Did nothing escape her attention?
“She’s frustrated for you, that you don’t push for yourself more on the team. Ryder’s poking his teeny-tiny head above the parapet. You should talk to Coach Hayden—make a case for yourself.”
Cam wasn’t entirely sure if she was goading him into the colosseum to amuse herself when he was inevitably slaughtered or if she was genuinely telling him it was time to put on his big boy pants.
“I just might do that,” he said, with more confidence than he was feeling.
“Good.” She gave him a shove. “Go find him now. I just saw him duck into the library.”
He turned back and gave her a nod of thanks. “Remind me to call you next time I need a tough love talk.”
“Will do, pleb. Will do.”
He hesitated. “Do you want to meet up later? Debrief?”
She curled her lip. “God, no.” She took on a lofty air. “I’m off to spread my largesse elsewhere. Something tells me Teagan’s mother could do with a little insider information.”
Five minutes later, Cam walked out of the library, stunned.
Coach was giving him the stroke seat. Juliet had been right.
Sticking his neck out had been worth it.
No guillotine in sight. He headed home to help his dad.
Juliet’s car would look brand-new when she got it back. He’d put the final polish on himself.