Chapter 6

Emery

There were approximately seven hundred students at Northbridge High, which meant there was absolutely no reason Rhett Callahan should’ve been looking directly at me.

Yet he was.

I did what any confident eighteen-year-old girl would do.

I looked behind me.

Nobody.

When I turned back, Rhett was still there with Knox, Parker, Bree, and Sienna. Knox said something that made Rhett glance at me again.

My stomach dropped.

Oh God.

They were talking about me.

That was worse than being invisible.

I immediately looked down at myself.

Oversized gray sweater. Jeans. Sneakers. Nothing stuck to me. Nothing unzipped. No mysterious stain I could see.

Maybe my hair looked stupid.

Maybe Bree told them about chemistry.

Maybe—

“Why are you standing in the middle of the hallway like you’ve forgotten how legs work?”

Piper appeared beside me.

“They’re looking at me.”

She followed my gaze. “Who?”

“Them.”

“That narrows it down.”

“Rhett.”

Piper looked again.

Unfortunately, Rhett chose that exact moment to start walking toward us.

“Oh,” Piper said.

“What?”

“He’s definitely coming over here.”

“No, he’s not.”

“Emery.”

“He could be going anywhere.”

“Unless he plans to walk directly through your body, I think we can rule out anywhere.”

I wanted to run.

Instead, I stood there clutching my books while Rhett Callahan stopped in front of me.

“Hey, Emery.”

He remembered.

That shouldn’t have mattered as much as it did.

“Hi.”

Excellent.

One word.

Very normal.

Piper looked between us.

Rhett shoved his hands into his pockets. “Can I ask you something?”

My brain immediately supplied several possibilities.

Want to go out sometime?

Want to come to the party Friday?

I’ve suddenly realized you’re the love of my life despite barely knowing your name yesterday.

I needed professional help.

“Sure.”

“I heard you’re really good at government.”

That fantasy died quickly.

“Oh.”

Rhett’s mouth twitched. “You sound disappointed.”

“No.”

I absolutely did.

“I just wasn’t expecting government.”

“What were you expecting?”

“Nothing.”

Piper made a suspicious choking noise beside me.

I elbowed her.

Rhett smiled.

“I’ve got a sixty-three.”

“Ouch.”

His eyebrows lifted.

I froze.

Unknown had told me the exact same thing last night.

For one strange second, my stomach did something weird.

Then I dismissed it.

Half the senior class was probably failing something.

Besides, Rhett Callahan was not sitting around texting some random girl about government.

Obviously.

“Yeah,” he said. “That’s pretty much everyone’s reaction.”

“What unit are you on?”

“Federalism.”

“That shouldn’t be too bad.”

“For you.”

“Probably.”

His smile widened.

I couldn’t believe I was having a conversation with Rhett Callahan.

A real one.

And I hadn’t embarrassed myself yet.

Mostly.

“So…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Would you maybe help me?”

“Yes.”

The word came out before he’d finished asking.

Piper slowly turned her head toward me.

I ignored her.

Rhett looked surprised. “Really?”

“Sure. I have notes. And I made study cards for the last test. I could make you copies. Actually, I have a review sheet too, and if your teacher uses the same textbook as mine—”

Piper cleared her throat loudly.

I stopped.

Rhett was staring at me.

“What?”

“Nothing.” He smiled. “You’re kind of saving my ass here.”

Warmth spread through my chest.

He needed me.

Rhett Callahan needed something from me.

“I could probably help you bring it up pretty fast.”

“How fast?”

“What did you get on your last test?”

“Fifty-eight.”

I winced.

“Don’t judge me.”

“I’m trying not to.”

“You’re doing a terrible job.”

I laughed.

Actually laughed.

With Rhett.

Piper was going to torture me for the rest of my natural life.

“Lunch?” he asked.

My smile disappeared.

“What?”

“We could go over some of it at lunch.”

“Oh.”

Rhett glanced back toward his friends.

“You can sit with us.”

For a second, I genuinely forgot how to breathe.

Sit with them.

At their table.

The table I’d spent years walking past.

Bree was already looking over, and when our eyes met, she smiled.

My heart started pounding.

This was how it happened.

Maybe not all at once. Maybe you didn’t wake up one morning and magically become somebody people wanted around.

Maybe it started with something small.

Helping Bree with chemistry.

Rhett learning my name.

A seat at lunch.

“Okay,” I said.

“Cool.” Rhett started backing away. “I’ll see you then.”

“Yeah.”

He turned.

I watched him walk back toward his friends.

Knox slapped his shoulder and said something that made Parker laugh.

I smiled.

Then I looked at Piper.

She wasn’t smiling.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“That is absolutely not your nothing face.”

She stared at me.

“You agreed before he even finished the question.”

“He needs help.”

“He needs a tutor.”

“Same thing.”

“No, it isn’t.”

I hugged my books tighter. “Why can’t you just be happy for me?”

Her expression changed.

“I am happy when good things happen to you.”

“This is a good thing.”

“Maybe.”

There it was.

That one word was enough to make my excitement wobble.

“You think he’s using me.”

“I think yesterday he didn’t know your name, and today he suddenly wants you sitting at his lunch table because he’s failing government.”

That hurt more because it was true.

“He remembered my name.”

Piper’s face softened.

And somehow that made it worse.

“Em—”

“Don’t.”

The bell rang.

I walked away before she could say anything else.

⸻

By lunch, I’d convinced myself Piper was wrong.

Mostly.

I stood outside the cafeteria with my government binder pressed against my chest.

My usual table was visible through the doors.

So was Rhett’s.

Bree saw me first and waved.

Actually waved.

At me.

I glanced around just to make sure there wasn’t another Emery standing behind me.

There wasn’t.

I walked over.

“Hey,” Bree said. “Sit here.”

She moved her bag from the empty chair beside her.

Sienna looked up from her phone.

Her eyes moved over me slowly.

“What are you doing here?”

Before I could answer, Rhett dropped into the chair across from me.

“She’s helping me with government.”

Sienna looked at him.

Then at me.

“Oh.”

One tiny word.

I knew exactly how much damage one tiny word could do.

Knox grinned from the other end of the table.

“Callahan says you’re some kind of genius.”

My cheeks heated.

“I’m not.”

“She kind of is,” Bree said. “Her chemistry notes saved me.”

Something warm fluttered in my chest.

Bree remembered.

Maybe Piper didn’t understand everything.

Maybe people could need you first and like you later.

Wasn’t that how friendships sometimes started?

Rhett pulled a crumpled worksheet from his backpack.

I stared at it.

“What happened to this?”

“My backpack.”

“Did your backpack attack it?”

“It’s an aggressive environment.”

I laughed.

And Rhett looked at me.

Not through me.

Not past me.

At me.

For one ridiculous second, everything I’d imagined about being included felt possible.

Then under the table, my phone buzzed.

I glanced down.

UNKNOWN: Surviving today?

A smile tugged at my mouth before I could stop it.

I typed quickly.

ME: Actually… something weird happened.

Across from me, Rhett reached into his pocket when his phone buzzed.

I didn’t notice.

I was too busy staring at my own screen, wondering how to tell a stranger that for the first time in years, I might finally be getting exactly what I’d always wanted.