Free Alice in Wonderland High by Rachel Shane Page B

“Does what you’re doing with Whitney have anything to do with why you got expelled from boarding school?”
    We jogged a quarter of the track before he finally answered. “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors.”
    â€œI want the truth.”
    â€œYou can’t always get what you want.” His smile ignited bad thoughts in my mind. Thoughts of how I could make it even wider.
    I focused on the red track beneath my feet, anything to avoid swooning over his lips. “Oh no. Not you too with the riddles.”
    He laughed. “That’s not a riddle. That’s the Stones.”
    â€œOh.”
    â€œWhich rumor was your favorite?”
    Odd question. “I don’t know.” I recalled the ones about murder. I wasn’t sure how far they would go with everything. Or even what their agenda was. The environmental stuff could just be a cover for something more sinister.
    â€œPick one.”
    Since it was all I could think of, I said, “I’m hoping the murder one is false.”
    Two students passed by us, and Chess waited until they were out of earshot. “Well, I promise you I haven’t murdered anyone. Songs, yes. I murder those a lot. Time, too. But Whitney murders that more than I do.”
    My step lightened. “That’s good. Murder would be the only thing to dissuade me.”
    He clenched his jaw and suddenly got very quiet. After a while he said, “Whitney, Kingston, and me . . . we have reasons for what we do. You don’t.”
    I stumbled mid-stride. “So you don’t want me to join your . . . secret society?”
    â€œNo, it’s not that. I want— It’s—” He raked his hand through his shaggy hair as a couple more students ran by us, checking us out. “Never mind.”
    â€œWhat?” I cocked my head to look at him. A hole was unraveling on the shoulder of his T-shirt. Since I was shorter, it was right in my line of vision and I couldn’t stop staring at it.
    â€œIt’s just, trust me. I would have noticed sooner if you were into this kind of stuff.”
    â€œI’m not the same girl I was last week,” I said. “So how could you possibly have noticed?”
    â€œI feel like I know who you are.” Chess met my eyes, and I stumbled again.
    â€œYou’re going by rumors. And we both know rumors might be false.” I held his gaze even though all the rumors about me had been accurate until last week.
    He jerked away from me. “Point taken. There’s a lot we don’t know about each other.”
    My feet slammed onto the rubbery asphalt with too much force. He pumped his arms with equal aggression. Silence wasn’t my preferred form of communication, but we were mastering the dialect.
    I eased my pace. “But you did know my address the other day . . . ”
    He cupped the back of his neck. “Um . . . that was a lucky guess?” The end of his sentence rose in pitch like a question.
    â€œReally lucky. Care to try again with the lottery?”
    He chuckled. “Actually, I memorized the school directory.”
    I squinted at him. “Who does that?”
    â€œIt was either that or study for a test.” He eyed me sidelong, like he was waiting to see if I’d buy it.
    I hoped the real reason he knew my address and wouldn’t tell me was good, like an endearing crush on me, and not something I should be afraid of, like a favorite pastime of watching girls get changed, through binoculars.
    I wiped a line of sweat from the back of my neck. “Good call there. You know what they say. You can’t spell studying without dying .”
    â€œYeah, see, knowing your address saved lives.”
    â€œYou’re a real hero,” I said. The sun beat down, casting him in an angelic glow. “See, I know you’re not a bad person. So why do you let everyone think you are?”
    â€œThat’s what I’ve been trying to tell