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Her question made me frown. I’d never heard Madi talk about a job before, and I scanned my memory as I tried to figure out if I’d missed something. Was she pretending to have a job just to get out of the contest?

“Any chance you can swap your shifts?” Angus asked.

Madi’s face fell. “Yeah, I can try.” It was clear she still wanted to get out of the contest, and it was starting to annoy me. No one else was complaining.

“Who gets the single date this week?” Laurie asked, raising her voice and drawing everyone’s attention. She gave me a confident smile as I looked at her.

“This week we will kick off the contest with the group date on Friday night. There will be no single date,” Angus replied. He was interrupted as the bell rang signaling the end of school.

Willow instantly put her hand up. She seemed nervous at the thought of speaking in front of the rest of the group and paled even further when Angus nodded at her.

“Willow, my lady, what’s up?” Angus asked.

Her eyes flitted anxiously around the rest of the group. I could see why she was apprehensive. Laurie was whispering something in Sally’s ear, which caused them both to look at Willow and snigger. Willow had always been strangely timid, and I was a little concerned that a girl like Laurie would eat her alive in a competition like this. I’d have to chat with her and make sure she was going to be okay.

“That’s the end-of-school bell and I can’t stay,” she said softly. “I have to go now if I want to catch the bus.” The confession looked like it nearly killed her to admit in front of so many people.

“No problem,” Angus replied. He had a stack of papers in his hand, and he stepped forward to pass her one. “Just take one of these before you leave. We need your parents to sign a release so you can take part in the competition.”

Willow nodded before scurrying out of the room as quickly as she could.

Angus started passing the forms around to the rest of the group. “Get your parents to sign these and bring them back tomorrow,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over Laurie, Brooke, and Sally who had started talking. “You can’t be in the True Love contest if you don’t get a signature.”

Madi’s eyes lit up, and I immediately knew I still had work to do if I wanted her in the contest. I wasn’t sure why I was so determined to keep her in the competition when she clearly didn’t want anything to do with it. A part of me felt like it could be a chance for us to turn over a new leaf. Perhaps she would finally remember what good friends we had once been, and realize that I wasn’t the jerk she thought I’d become.

Once everyone had been given a permission form, Angus waved us away. Madi didn’t hesitate as she headed for the gym door. I went to go after her, but Laurie grabbed hold of me the second I left the gym.

“Isn’t this perfect, Cole?” she asked, linking her arm through mine and pulling me aside. I glanced over my shoulder as Madi disappeared around the corner. “We’re going to look so good at formal together.”

“You need to win to go to formal with me,” I replied, trying to keep the total disdain from my voice.

“Well, obviously I’m going to win,” she scoffed. “Who else would you pick? Are you going to take Willow to the formal?”

I’d rather go to formal with Willow than with Laurie, but I didn’t dare say that to her. I wasn’t stupid, and Laurie would make Willow’s life a misery if I even hinted at the fact. I definitely didn’t want that.

I disentangled my arm from her grasp. “This competition is going to be fun,” I said, looking down at her. “But we haven’t even had the first group date, Laurie. I’m not making any promises or guarantees to anyone.”

She pouted her lower lip out at me. It was the look she always gave when things didn’t go her way. Another guy might have found the expression appealing, but certainly not me. “Look, I’ve got to run. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I didn’t wait for her response and took off down the corridor. I needed to catch Madi and make sure she planned to give her parents the release form. She wasn’t at her locker when I reached it, so I headed for the car park hoping to catch her before she left.

The parking lot was almost empty by the time I got there, so it wasn’t hard to pick Madi out. She was standing alone, staring at the empty space where Jake usually parked his car. Her bag was slung loosely over one shoulder, and the wind whipped her long hair around her face, but she didn’t move to tame it. She looked lost, and my stomach tightened when I realized that Jake must have left without her.

“Need a ride?” I asked.

Her head jerked upwards at the sound of my voice, and her saddened eyes met mine. She looked down at the phone she was gripping tightly in one hand before letting out a sigh.

“He didn’t wait for me,” she murmured, instead of answering my question. “Jake always takes me home from school.”

Usually, I would have used the opportunity to point out what a tool Jake was, but something about the hurt look on Madi’s face made me pause.

“Maybe something came up,” I suggested instead.

She nodded, but her eyes were filled with doubt. We both knew the truth. Jake was pissed that she’d been selected for the contest and this was her punishment. The guy really was a selfish idiot.

“I should just call Hayley,” she said, flicking me another uncertain look.

I didn’t hesitate as I took her by the shoulders and started steering her in the direction of my car, which was only a few spaces down. “Don’t be stubborn Matthews, we live on the same street.”