Page 24 of I Don't Need Your Love

“Hmm…I guess so. I never really thought about it.”

“What book are you reading this time?” Addie asks as she closes Sophie’s book for a second to look at the cover. “Is that another fantasy?”

“Of course! But this one is a pirate romance. It has sea monsters and sirens and everything. It’s really cool.”

A girl who I recognize from the senior class heads over to us. “Is this the dance tryouts?”

I beam. “You’re at the right place. We’re still waiting for more people to arrive. You can stretch.” She’s about to leave, but I say, “Hey, did you find out about the tryouts from the video?”

She turns around and gives me a confused look. “Video?”

“Yeah, the one that was posted on the school app.”

She shrugs and walks away.

I turn to my friends with creased brows. “How is she here if she didn’t see the video?”

“The flyers and posters?” Caleb suggests.

“I guess so. Good to know those are effective, too.”

More and more students arrive, all of them girls. I was hoping that if we had more male dancers, we could incorporate a bit of pair dancing into our routine, but no luck.

I catch a few girls filming social media videos. Getting up from the bleachers, I head over and say, “Hey. It’s cool that you’re making videos, but can you stop as soon as the tryouts begin? I don’t want anyone to be upset or feel insecure if their tryout ends up online.”

They give me these half-nods as they focus on their video, which makes me wonder if they even heard a word I said.

“Did you hear about the tryouts from the video that was posted on the school app?” I ask them.

Some of them give me puzzled looks while the rest ignore me.

“The video of Addie and me dancing?” I ask. “Or did you find out about the tryouts from the posters?”

“Where’s Ryder?” one of them says. Then she giggles to her friends. “You think he’ll want to be in our video?”

“Why are you asking about Ryder?” I say.

“Three, two, one, go!” another shouts, and then they focus on the video. I quickly run away because I don’t want to be in it.

I hear Ryder’s name mentioned again. I don’t get it. Why are they talking about him? It’s not like he’s even here.

“There he is!” someone shouts.

At once, a stampede of girls bolts to him, some of them practically running him over. They all beg him to be part of their social media videos.

Wait a sec. Are the girls here because ofhim?

“Excuse me!” I say as I push through them. “Temporary team captain coming through.”

Some of them part for me, but most of them ignore me.

Ryder notices me trying to push through the crowd and he grins. “Hey, kid! Let the captain through, guys.”

I grab hold of his arm and pull him aside.

“One-on-one time?” He has that annoying lazy grin again. “I like it.”

“Did you share the video on your social media or something?” I demand.