Free Mansfield Ranch by Jenni James Page A

horses too. It was downright creepy how those Barbie clones changed their opinions so fast.
    “Harrison was so right!” laughed Miri Mortensen, a girl who’d never looked at me without a sneer until today. “You are so much fun! Why didn’t we ever notice before? Seriously. You’re so cool.” She actually giggled as she plopped down into the seat next to me.
    My mouth dropped open slightly and I wondered if gushing like that took extra effort. It had to be tiring. I found myself tired just watching. I would’ve asked, too, if I thought it would make her stop. Instead, I smiled vaguely and leaned closer to my English book.
    “See what I mean?” a familiar male voice triumphed behind me as I heard his books hit the desk. “I told you all the Benallys are cool.”
    Yeah, but I’m a Price.
    “I like your vintage shirt.”
    I looked up to see the girl in front of me eye my clothes. “Uh, thanks.”
    “It’s really cute. Where did you get it?”
    I shrugged and glanced down at the faded blue emblem across the plain, boring T-shirt. “From my closet. I’ve had it awhile.”
    “I really like it.”
    Great. Now I was a trendsetter? How did this day just go from bad to worse? “Yeah, thanks,” I muttered again. This time I flipped the page in my book and pretended to read. A couple of seconds later, my cell began to vibrate. Who in the world is texting me? I pulled it out of my pocket and groaned. Harrison chuckled from behind.
    “I thought you’d get a kick out of that,” he whispered.
    “You’re not supposed to text during—”
    “It’s still two minutes before the bell. Now hurry up and read it.”
    I pushed the button and watched his text flash onto the screen.
     
    Told you to wear something
    nice didn’t I?
     
    Before I could stop myself, I had already begun to answer him back.
     
    Are you saying my clothing
    choice isn’t nice?
     
    Harrison responded with another chuckle before I felt the phone vibrate again.
     
    Of course not. Obviously
    you think it isn’t or you
    would’ve taken my txt as a
    compliment.
     
    Ooh! My fingers practically flew over the keys. Take that.
     
    Since when is a text from you
    a compliment?
     
    His answer was just as quick.
     
    When will you ever learn not
    to tempt me? Don’t you know
    that millions of girls would
    love to get my texts?
     
    Millions? Millions? Excuse me
    while I die laughing. You know
    one day you’re gonna wake up
    from this demented dream of
    yours, you know the one where
    you think everyone falls for you
     
    Harrison laughed out loud.
    I stopped myself just short of laughing with him. Class had already started. After a couple of seconds, I got his reply.
     
    Anybody ever tell you you’re
    hot when you flirt?
     
    Flirt? What in the—? Was I flirting? Eww . I put my phone back in my pocket. A couple of seconds later, I felt it vibrate again. This time I didn’t answer it. Instead, I crouched down lower in my desk and tried to force myself to listen to the teacher—except I couldn’t get Harrison’s stupid text out of my mind. What is it that draws me to him, anyway? It wasn’t like I didn’t know exactly who he was, or that I didn’t despise the loser—but why did he egg responses out of me in the first place? Before I’d even known what happened, I found myself arguing back. It was downright annoying how he could get under my skin like that.
    One thing was for certain. I need to snap out of it or the whole school is going to think I’ve got a thing for him too. Already, Alexis and Lauren had begun to get suspicious. Not that either of them had the guts to go against anything Harrison decided to do, but they weren’t dumb. It was obvious he’d changed course.
    Don’t get me wrong—he was true to his word. As far as anyone else was concerned, he was going out with Lauren. And still flirting heavily with Alexis (right in front of her boyfriend, too). But his new fascination with “all the Benallys” wasn’t going to ring