Page 45 of I Don't Need Your Romance

I shift in my seat. “I don’t know…”

“If you make yourself invisible, people won’t see you.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “You have a problem with the way I am?”

He holds up his hands. “Geez. I was just giving you advice.”

I lift my chin. “I’m perfect just the way I am. Someone shouldn’t have to change anything about themselves just to get another person’s attention.”

He’s thoughtful for a few seconds. “No one has that kind of confidence.”

“Of course not. But it’s a good message, no?”

“I guess.”

I dig into my pancakes and sigh like I fell into a dream. “Gosh, these are so good.”

He takes a clean fork from his tray and cuts a slice from my pancake. After making a face, he forces it down his throat. “Even I can make better pancakes than these.”

“I think the chefs here deserve more credit than that.”

“My family and I only want the best. What good is having second rate?”

My eyes catch sight of a guy striding into the dining hall and heading straight for the buffet tables. It’s Damian. He makes a short stop when he notices me sitting at Harold’s table. I beam at him and wave, letting him know I’m already working on the challenge. He seems surprised at that, like maybe he thought I wouldn’t take it seriously. A small smile tickles his lips.

Harold takes notice of him, too. “I can’t believe she lets him attend our school. My parents are trying to convince me to be his friend. They want to get in with the Harrington Empire.” He rolls his eyes.

“What’s wrong with Damian?” I ask, watching him pile three varieties of pancakes on his plate.

He gives me a face. “You serious?”

“I’m not from your world. I don’t know his or his family’s history.”

“He’s a screw up and a shame to his family. What was Harrington thinking? That he’d make nice with the rest of us? He’s a pariah and he always will be.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little harsh? He can’t be that bad.”

He scoffs. “You obviously don’t know him.”

I want to retort and say thatheobviously doesn’t know Damian, because the Damian I know has been kind to me. But it would be no use, and like I said, I really don’t know anything about his history.

I’m about to say something, but three guys appear at our table. I recognize them immediately as Harold’s friends.

“What’s she doing here?” one asks as he drops down at the table.

Harold shrugs. “She wanted to sit here.”

“Dude, did you hear what went down with Francesca and Pete yesterday?” the other guy says, completely ignoring me like his other friends. “Her parents caught them in his room. I’m telling you, things won’t be pretty.”

“Nice.” Harold slaps the guy’s hand. “It’s finally time to make my move. She’ll be upset over her boyfriend and I’ll offer my shoulder for her to cry on.”

The other guys chuckle.

They continue talking about other things, totally ignoring me. Even Harold doesn’t give me any attention. It’s like the last five minutes never happened.

Well, I guess Addie was wrong about him. He’s definitely not the right guy for me. Time to cross him off the list.

Standing up, I say, “I guess I’ll see you around, Harold.”