“What about Friday night? We all hung out together.”

“That was different. Toby was actually being decent and hooking me up with Ryder. He probably wants something. You just watch.”

“Whatever.” I steal her line and adjust my shoulder bag. “You ready to go to class?”

“No, but I guess we have to.”

Toby walks by us, but before I can say hi or even hope he’ll stop to talk, two girls step between us and flank him on both sides.

“Look at that. It’s like the girls have radar or something.”

“I’m starting to see what you mean.” I better figure this out soon because I can’t keep watching other girls hang all over him.

“It’s about time.” She loops her arm through mine, and we walk to class.

I barely pass my Spanish quiz. Senora Gomez gives me a sympathetic look. I normally do really well in her class, and apparently she heard I was sick this past weekend. She even tells me I can take a make-up exam if I’d like. I don’t want to use my fake sickness to better my grade, but I can’t exactly admit to faking either, so I agree to come in early on Thursday and retake the quiz.

By lunch I feel really guilty, but that’s quickly replaced with feelings of jealousy. Toby is sitting with Ryder and Jeff and a slew of girls.

“Why are you squeezing your sandwich to death?” Tori asks, pointing to the peanut butter oozing through my fingers.

“Oh.” I put it down and wipe my hands on a napkin.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Didn’t do so well on my Spanish quiz. I guess I’m just stressed.” I crumble the napkin and stand up. “I should go wash this off.”

“Just don’t go beating up the paper towel dispenser. It didn’t do anything to you.”

“Funny.” I roll my eyes and head to the bathroom across the hall. I stare at my reflection, not sure why Toby wants to be with me anyway. Everything about me screams average—my height, my brown hair, my brown eyes, my build. A lot of those girls at his table are prettier than me, and I don’t get the grades he does.

I throw my paper towel in the garbage and walk out of the bathroom.

“Hey,” someone whispers from the hallway on my left.

I turn and see Toby poking his head around the corner. He waves me on. I check to make sure no one is looking and duck down the hall. “What are you doing?”

He pulls me into an empty classroom and shuts the door. “This.” He presses his lips to mine, his arms wrapping around my waist.

I can’t think. My mind is mush. My hands press against his chest as he holds me tighter. He pulls his head back just enough to look at me.

“Sorry. I’ve been dying to do that since I saw you this morning.”

“Before or after those girls swept you down the hall?”

He cocks his head. “Are you jealous?”

Damn it. “No.”

He smiles. “Yes, you are. Becca, you know I’m into you. I don’t care about those girls. Besides, as soon as baseball starts, they’ll all be swarming Marcus Teeman.”

I know he’s right. All those girls care about is who’s the hottest guy at the moment. They’ll drop Toby in a heartbeat once Marcus is in uniform. “I was only busting on you. I’m fine.”

“Good.”

He really needs to stop saying that. “I should go or Tori’s going to come looking for me. I strangled my peanut butter sandwich, and she was afraid I might vandalize the girls’ bathroom too.”

“Pent up aggression, Daniels?”

“A little.” I smile and kiss him quickly before skirting out of his arms. “See you later?”

“I am your tutor, aren’t I?” He smiles. “Got to keep up appearances.”

I wave and walk out of the classroom before I can’t convince myself to leave. I peek around the corner to make sure no one is coming. Then I practically run down the hall. The door to the girls’ bathroom opens, and Tori steps out.

“Hey,” she says.

I turn and look at her, trying to cover up how much I’m shaking.

“Where did you go?”

“Um, I forgot I left something in Spanish this morning. I went back to the classroom to get it.”

“Why’d you go that way? It’s like twice as long.”

“I saw the security cop, and I didn’t have a pass.”

“You didn’t see Toby, did you? I saw him leave the cafeteria.”

What, is she stalking him? “Why are you keeping such close tabs on him?” We walk back into the cafeteria just as the bell rings.

“I have to find out who he’s dating. Obviously, it’s someone he doesn’t want anyone to know about.”

Is that true? Is this about more than just not wanting Tori to find out about me? I force a laugh. “So what, you think he snuck out of lunch to meet a girl? Used an empty classroom to make out in?” It’s the closest I can come to telling her the truth, and part of my sick mind actually feels better about the poor excuse for a confession.

“I guess it was a stupid idea. He probably just went to the bathroom.”

I nod and turn toward my locker. “Yeah, probably.”

“See you later.”

“See ya.” I open my locker and grab my trig book. Today is the test on unit seven. I’m not really worried. Toby’s been a great tutor. I’m bound to pull off at least a B, and that should get Mr. Rollar off my back for a while.

As I shut my locker and turn toward class, Toby nods and winks from his own locker. This is probably stupid, but I walk over to him. He looks around, most likely trying to find Tori.

“She already went to class.”

“What’s up?” He shuts his locker and leans against it.

“She’s watching you like a hawk. She saw you leave the cafeteria. So make sure you mention a stomachache or something later.”

“A stomachache?”

“Yeah. At first she thought you left to meet your mystery girl. Then she decided you were just in the bathroom. I figured it was best to agree with the bathroom thing.”

He laughs. “Got it. Hey, I have to run. See you tonight.”

That’s it? I watch him walk away. What if Tori never opens up to the idea of Toby and me hanging out? What if we have to continue not to be friends unless we’re alone? Will this ever be enough? Sneaking around and not being able to even hold his hand in school? This isn’t at all how I pictured getting together with him.

The late bell rings, and I run into trig. Mr. Rollar gives me the evil eye and points to the clock above the door. “You’re late, Miss Daniels.”

“I’m sorry. Locker trouble.”

“Perhaps next time, you shouldn’t detour at Mr. Michaels’s locker.” He gives me a knowing look, and I sink into my seat.

Why did I go talk to Toby? It was so dumb of me. Mr. Rollar saw us and announced it to the class. I need to fix this before the rumors start. Especially since this may be the first time in Lansfield High history that the rumors are actually true.

“Um, I had a question about unit seven. I had to ask him before the test.”

Mr. Rollar nods. “Well, then I hope you got your answer because I have to mark you late.”

I didn’t get any answers, but I nod and take out a pencil. Mr. Rollar passes out the test papers and I dive in. I can figure out most of the problems, but a few give me a hard time. I try picturing Toby tutoring me, but that’s no help. I can’t get past his gorgeous blue eyes and full lips.

“Having trouble, Miss Daniels?” Mr. Rollar asks, stopping at my desk. He has this annoying habit of walking around the room while we take tests. For some reason he doesn’t get how distracting it is.

“Um, I’m trying to remember how to solve this problem here. I know I can’t use the same formula as this one.” I point to the previous problem.

“There are a few other problems like this one later in the test. Perhaps one of them will jog your memory.” He keeps walking. Considering the problems he’s referring to are the other ones I left blank, that’s no help at all.

There’s a knock on the door, and Toby walks in. I keep my head down, pretending to focus on my paper, but my eyes lift to his. His mouth curves up slightly.