Chapter 6
The final bell was like music to Ivy's ears, and she bounced out of the school with the rest of the squad. The entrance was a hive of activity, but no sign of that golden mane she was low-key hoping to spot. She hitched her backpack higher on her shoulder and stopped scanning the crowd, just going with the flow.
Then, outta nowhere, this obnoxious laugh track hit her ears. Ivy's got this thing about loud noises; they make her all kinds of twitchy. She peeped over at the commotion by the corner store. It was like a mini United Nations with all those different school colors and hairdos. Her eyes zeroed in on Brianna Caldwell, and her heart did this weird sink-and-float thing. She almost noped out of there, but something made her look again.
There he was, Mr. Blondie, with his jacket half-zipped, looking like a snack. Face-to-face with Brianna Caldwell, the it-girl of our school. Dude must've dropped a killer line because she was all dimples and giggles.
Ivy's heart wasn't just sinking now; it was like Titanic-level disaster. She dipped her head to hide the feels and booked it outta there.
She lost the bet, big time. They were tight, him and Brianna. Like, hashtag-friendship-goals tight.
Ivy found a quiet spot in the park, plopped down on a bench, and whipped out her mini first-aid kit. She rolled up her pants to get at a gnarly scrape on her shin, then started playing nurse with an alcohol swab. Total pro moves.
"You good?" This voice floated over, all soft and unexpected.
Ivy's heart did a little hop, but she played it cool, not even looking up. She just kept on doctoring her hand.
The bench dipped, and there he was, Nolan Frost, taking a front-row seat to her one-woman show. He watched her dab at the cut, then hit her with the million-dollar question, "Who tagged you?"
Crickets.
He snagged her wrist, brought it up close like he was Sherlock Holmes or something, and went straight for the encore, "Who tagged you?"
His touch was all kinds of weird warm, and Ivy wasn't here for it. She tried to shake him off, but he was persistent.
"Am I grossing you out or something?" he asked, all cool as a cucumber.
"Nah."
Her eyes were glued to the ground.
"Scared of me?"
"Nope."
He clammed up, didn't drop her hand, though. Ivy wasn't about this life, not with someone who was buddy-buddy with Brianna Caldwell. She softened her voice, trying to be all chill, "Look, it's late. Gotta jet."
Nolan Frost gave her this look, like he was reading her diary or something, then squeezed her wrist just a tad too tight.
Ivy winced but kept her mouth shut.
He smirked, all ice and no nice, "Liar."
Then he let her go.
Ivy yanked her sleeve down, dunked the trash, slung her backpack, and peaced out without a word.
Nolan Frost just sat there, watching her limp away with that heavy load on her back.
-
The vibe in the VIP lounge was straight-up vibey, with strobe lights doing their dance across the walls, casting a kaleidoscope of colors everywhere. The table was loaded with all sorts of drinks and snacks, the squad was all over the place some were owning the karaoke mic, others were busting moves like there's no tomorrow, and a few were cozied up in corners, all lovey-dovey.
Nolan Frost was chilling on the couch, looking all kinds of zoned out.
"Frost, man, this is karaoke place. The energy's lit and you're just gonna chill here doing squat?" Alex Forrest teased as he popped the caps off a couple of cold ones and slid one over to Nolan.
Nolan grabbed the bottle but didn't take a sip.
"Yo, which class is Ethan Drake's girl in?" he blurted out, throwing Alex for a loop.
Alex blinked, taking a sec to process the question. "Ethan Drake's bae? Dude, why you wanna know?" He pictured the girl from earlier; she was a snack, no doubt, and even the school uniform couldn't hide those curves.
Alex gave it a thought, then hit Nolan with a sly grin, "You're not catching feels, are you?"
Nolan shot him a look that was chill as ice, no sign of a tell.
Alex just shrugged, figuring Nolan wasn't really trying to step on Ethan Drake's turf, "Just messing with ya. Aight, I'll do some recon."
