Page 27 of I Don't Need Your Protection

Carly sends me a thumbs up as I get up and follow Warner to the pool table. He hands me a cue stick and teaches me the rules. It seems simple enough.

I notice his friends, and especially Clarissa, watching us. Most of them don’t seem to care that Warner is hanging out with me, but Clarissa and some of the others look confused. Like why would Warner slum it with a scholarship student like me?

“Ready, Addie?” he asks.

I tear my gaze away and nod.

He goes first and manages to sink two balls. When it’s my turn, I actually sink three balls.

“Oh, wow!” I say.

“Must be beginner’s luck.” He winks.

Is he flirting with me?

We spend the next few minutes playing the game. Whatever beginner’s luck I had has completely vanished because I play terribly for the rest of the game. While aiming my stick at the ball, I once again feel eyes on me. Did Caleb return? When I turn my head to the pinball machine, I learn two guys are playing the game. I twist my neck around, searching for him.Then I find him at the corner of the room where some older arcade games are.

Caleb’s focus isn’t on me. It’s on Warner. Based on his expression, it appears like he wants to do nothing more than throw me over his shoulder and flee away with me to my dorm room. I try not to roll my eyes. Does he still think Warner is a threat? He’s been going to this school since the first day of freshman year.

“You did good, Addie,” Warner tells me with a smile.

“For a newbie?” I ask.

“For anyone.”

“Thanks.”

He bobs his head toward something in the distance. “Have you tried the claw machine? Some kids think it’s rigged, but I won a prize once, in freshman year. I’ve been trying ever since.”

“Sure. I love stuffed animals.”

“You need to play with real quarters, though,” he warns me. “I think all the money goes to charity.”

He leads me toward the machine, but Clarissa blocks our path. She smiles sweetly at Warner before shifting her green eyes to me. “Who’s your friend, Warner?”

“Hey, Clarissa. This is Addie Nelson. She’s new. Addie, this is Clarissa Thomas.”

“It’ssosweet how welcoming you are to the new students, Warner,” she says with what is an obvious fake and exaggerated smile. “I hope you’re enjoying yourself at our school, Abby.”

“Addie,” I correct.

She steps back and scans me from top to bottom. A slow scan that I know is purposely designed to make me feel less than her.

“Your outfit is so cute. Where do you shop?”

Is she trying to insult my clothes? Because if she knew these clothes were bought at a store she probably shops in, she’d fall off her chair.

“I’m not sure,” I say. “My personal shopper picked it out for me.”

Her jaw falls open. Based on her expression, she has no idea if I’m being serious or not.

Warner chuckles. “You’re funny, Addie.”

“Yes,sofunny.” Clarissa clutches his arm. “You were supposed to come to my room so we could do that thing we were doing.”

His brows dip. “The what we were doing?”

“You know.” She gives him a flirty smile. “The stuff we were doing?”