“Oh.” Well, that’s not good at all. Not only am I going behind her back by dating Toby, but he’s breaking his promise to her. “So, what are we supposed to do now?”

He leans forward and kisses me again, deeper this time. It’s not a solution to our problem, but for now, I push all other thoughts aside. He finally pulls away and stares into my eyes. “You know what?”

“What?”

“Rainbow sprinkles do taste better.”

Chapter Ten

Tori leans against the lockers, tilting her head back and closing her eyes.

“Sleepy this morning?”

She turns to me. “What are you so Suzie Sunshine about?”

Last night I promised myself that no matter what happens, I’m going to enjoy my time with Toby. We decided to wait and see if this turns into anything serious before we talk to Tori. If we’re crazy about each other, she’ll see that and have to approve of us dating. And if things don’t work out between Toby and me…well, I’m trying not to think of that possibility.

“I had a long, restful weekend.”

“A long, restful weekend?” She scoffs. “You’ve been spending too much time at home with your parents. You even sound like them.”

“Sorry. I’ll try to dumb it down.” I laugh, which gets me another look from Tori. “Why is it a bad thing that I’m in a good mood?”

“It’s not, but after the morning I had with Toby, I can’t take any more smiling faces.”

“What do you mean?” Was Toby acting strange this morning?

“Ugh, he woke up in this uber good mood. He even hugged me. Hugged me. I can’t remember the last time he did that without my mom telling him to. It was gross.”

“He isn’t gross.” I catch myself before I say too much. “I think it’s nice you two are getting along. I felt weird at breakfast, watching you guys fight.”

“What makes you think siblings are supposed to get along, anyway? You have nothing to base that on. You’re an only child.”

I’m not letting her ruin my mood. “Forget it, okay? Take a nap in study hall. You’ll feel better.”

“Oh look, here comes my brother and the wart that won’t go away.”

I follow her gaze. Toby is walking down the hall and Meredith has her arm looped through his, as usual. I shouldn’t be jealous. I know he doesn’t like her that way. He likes me. But I can’t help wanting to douse the girl with Compound W and then rip her hair out.

“Let’s go,” I say, not wanting to be here when they walk by.

“I’m too tired to move.”

I tug on her arm, but I’m too late. Meredith eyes me. “Nice t-shirt. Did you buy that in the children’s department?”

Toby looks at Tori and me. “Good morning,” he says with a smile. “Cool shirt, Becca.”

Meredith scowls, obviously not happy that Toby talked to us.

I smile back at Toby. “Thanks.” Meredith continues to scowl at me long after Toby turns away, so I smile and wave.

“Wow,” Tori says. “You really pissed her off. Nice going.”

“Thanks.” I still hate that she’s hanging all over Toby, but I do feel some satisfaction from making her squirm.

By lunch my smile is gone, though.

Tori sits down across from me. “Not so happy anymore, I see.”

“My day has been boring, tedious, and dull.”

“You do know they all mean the same thing, right?”

“Yup. But one word didn’t seem to cut it.”

She digs into her pizza. “You not eating?”

“I’m waiting for the line to die down.”

“I saw Toby near the front. If you can stand having to talk to him, you could jump in line with him.”

I like that idea. On second thought…”Is Meredith with him?”

“Nope. Little Miss Stalks-A-Lot got called down to the guidance office.”

I get up, trying not to seem too happy. “Be right back.” I walk up to the line and motion to Toby. He waves me forward, and a few people give me looks.

“It’s cool, guys. I was saving her spot.” Toby smiles at them, and they let it go. It pays to be known in this school.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Hey, sorry about this morning with Meredith.”

“I think I handled it well.”

“You did. She was fuming all the way to first period, and when I turned her down for a date tonight, her face got about thirteen shades of red.”

“You weren’t mean about it, were you?” I’m not sure why I care, but I do.

“No. I told her I’m into someone else and I don’t want to lead her on.”

“That’s good. She deserves to know she doesn’t have a shot.”

He looks out into the lunchroom. “So, is my sister still in her cheery mood?”

I make sure no one is watching us before I lean in and whisper, “Actually, she told me you were in a very good mood this morning. So good it was annoying.”

“By any chance did she tell you that because you were acting the same way?”

I smile. “Maybe.”

“Not willing to confirm or deny. I see how it is.” His fingers lightly brush the back of my hand.

We’re next in line, so I step forward and grab a salad and orange juice. Toby loads up his tray and we both pay. As soon as we’re out of the line we have to make believe we don’t like each other as anything more than acquaintances. Not that we were exactly pawing at each other before. I head to my table and sit down.

“How’s my brother? Still annoying?”

“He says hi.”

“I’m sure he does. Stop trying to make us get along.”

I eat my salad, not saying a word. If Tori won’t try to get along with Toby, how am I going to make her okay with the idea of me dating him?

“Whoa, what happened to her?”

I look up to see what Tori’s talking about. Meredith is standing in the doorway of the cafeteria, eyes red and books clutched to her chest. She doesn’t look anything like her usual self, and I know why.

“Um, Toby told her he wasn’t interested in her.”

“What?” Tori’s eyes widen. “How is that possible? He’s walking around all happy like he’s majorly crushing on someone. It has to be Meredith.”

“Why do you say that? There are tons of girls in this school.”

“They’re perfect for each other. Who else can it be?” Her eyes scan the cafeteria like she’s trying to figure out who the mystery girl is. If only she knew I’m sitting right in front of her.

“You hate Meredith. Why would you say she’s perfect for Toby? You should be happy they aren’t together.”

“But then why the obnoxiously good mood?”

I shrug, trying to play it cool. “Maybe he’s dating someone else.”

“You think he’s dating someone?” She shakes her head. “No way. He tutored you on a Friday night. Then he watched movies with us and Ryder. If he was dating someone, he would’ve been out with her.” She stops and drops her slice of pizza. “Unless…”

Oh God, did she put it all together?

She leans forward. “He came home last night with rainbow sprinkles on him.”

“So?”

“So, Toby doesn’t like rainbow sprinkles.”

He does now. “Maybe his tastes changed. You two don’t exactly spend a lot of time together. It’s possible he likes rainbow sprinkles now and you just don’t know about it.”

“Why are you babbling?”

I shove a forkful of lettuce in my mouth.

She shakes her head at me and continues. “Anyway, I bet he was out with this mystery girl last night.”

“You don’t know that. And even if he was, there’s no way to find out who she is.”

“Of course there is. We already know she likes rainbow sprinkles.”

“Great. That’s probably ninety percent of the female population of this school.” I roll my eyes, but on the inside, I’m shaking. She’s not going to let this go.

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Why do you care? If you two don’t get along, why does it matter who he dates?”

“Because if he’s not telling me, there has to be a reason.”

Crap. Tori in sleuth-mode isn’t good. “Why don’t you ask him?” He’s a much better liar than I am.