Page 4

"M ind if we sit here?"

I stop midchew of my burger and stare wide-eyed at Denton, who's standing next to the table Iris and I are currently having lunch at with none other than his best friend Conrad.

"Err, sure," Iris answers for the both of us, giving me a deer-in-the-headlights look.

I quickly swallow my food, nearly choking on it. Panicking, I grab my soda can and take a large gulp.

Denton smirks at my obvious shock. He places his lunch tray on the table and sits next to Iris, forcing Conrad to sit next to me.

Iris is still visibly stunned. She's probably wondering what's going on, especially since I haven't told her about the whole Denton-is-blackmailing-me thing yet.

It's not that I intended to keep it a secret up to this moment. In fact, I was just about to tell her when Denton showed up.

And showed up, he did. I can't believe he brought Conrad over to our table. What is he even planning to do? We never actually got to talk about the details yesterday. Because right after Denton told me he wanted to "help" me get my first kiss, he got a call from his Mom asking him to run an errand for her.

So I literally had no idea that he would do something like this. I was just as surprised as Iris. I just wish I knew what Denton was up to.

I narrow my eyes on him.

"Oh, sorry." His smirk widens. "Did we interrupt something? I just thought that since we had to work on our History project together, we could make use of lunchtime to discuss it."

"What History project?" Iris frowns at Denton, then at me. She seems to have snapped out of her momentary shock.

"I'd like to know the answer to that too," Conrad says, confusion infusing his tone. "I didn't know there was a project."

"Oh, it's a special one. Right, Perry?" Denton winks at me.

Seriously? Of all the excuses he could think of, he had to choose that? Everyone at this table is in the same History class. It's been weeks since we were last given any kind of project. And Iris and Conrad know that.

Amateur.

"An extra credit assignment," I tell them. "Yeah, uh, for Denton. He asked for my help with that since he, uh, kinda sucks at History."

It's Denton's turn to narrow his eyes on me. "Oh, is that right?"

I shrug one shoulder.

What did he expect me to say? It was his fault for using that excuse anyway. I merely improvised. Besides, it wasn't exactly a lie. He wasn't that good at that subject.

"Uh, I think I'm gonna go back to my table now. I'm not even sure why I'm here," Conrad says, rising from the bench and taking his food tray with him. "Good luck on that extra credit, man," he tells Denton before walking away.

"Hey, wait," Denton calls out to his friend, but to no avail. Ignored by Conrad, he scowls and then swivels his gaze to me. "You didn't even try to stop him. That was your chance, and you blew it."

"Oh, really?" I glare. "Was I supposed to jump him here right here?"

"Jump who?" Iris interjects.

Denton and I ignore her.

He snorts. "Of course not. But I gave you an opening. You were supposed to take advantage of it."

"You're seriously calling that an opening? A 'special project,' really? So lame."

"And your extra credit assignment was any better? You know, for someone desperate to get her first kiss, you're being annoyingly uncooperative."

"I had to improvise! And jerk, please. I'm not that desperate."

He laughs. "So you admit that you're at least a little—"

"Whoa, wait. Back up a bit." Iris holds up a hand to stop our bickering, then gapes at Denton. "You know about that?"

"Yeah. He knows about the kiss list," I confirm, blowing out an annoyed breath.

Iris quickly takes a sip of her Coke, as if she needs it to help with the shock of finding out the truth. I'm not even the least bit surprised when she nearly chokes on it. Coughing a little, she asks, "You told him about that?"

"She did," Denton answers just as I say, "He found my list. I didn't have a choice."

Iris turns to him. "And now you're…?"

"Helping her."

"Blackmailing me."

I snap my gaze to Denton, glaring at him. Helping me? As if.

The annoying jerk just flashes a mocking smile.

"Um, what?" Iris laughs, thinking we're joking. But when neither of us laughs with her, she shakes her head. "Can you please explain?"

"I'll explain later," I tell her, shooting Denton another glare. "It's kind of a long story."

"It's really not," Denton scoffs. "It can be explained in two to three sentences."

I roll my eyes. "Ignore him. He's just being annoying."

Iris lets out another laugh.

We both stare at her.

"What's funny?" I ask with a frown.

"The two of you. You look and sound like a bickering couple. I find it cute."

I gasp dramatically. She didn't just say that. "Take that back."

Denton scowls at me. "Don't act too horrified at the prospect."

Iris is full-out giggling now. Clearly, she finds us entertaining.

"You know what?" Denton snaps, still looking a little annoyed. "We're getting off-track here. There's a party at Jase's tomorrow night. His parents will be out of town so he's taking advantage of it. Con will be there. So you'll get another chance to kiss him. I suggest you show up and make your move." He turns to Iris. "Maybe go with her so she'll be able to pull it off this time." Then shooting me a glare, he picks up his tray and leaves.

"What is his problem?" I mutter, scowling after him.

Iris finishes off her sandwich in one big bite and grins. "Guess we're going to Jason Moss's party."