JENNIE

Nancy.

I pray that her presence here is a complete coincidence, but when Wendy appears behind her, I sink back into the booth.

"Hey, Jennie!" Wendy says and sits across from me, scooting in close to the wall so her "friend" can sit next to her. Why would she invite me to have lunch with her and Nancy?

"Long time no see," Nancy the skank says to me.

I don't know what to say to either of them. I want to get up and walk out, but instead I half smile and just say, "Yeah."

"Have you ordered?" Wendy asks, completely ignoring the fact that she brought with her my biggest—my only—enemy.

"No." I reach into my bag to pull out my phone.

"No need to call Daddy, I'm not going to bite." Nancy smirks.

"I wasn't calling Lisa," I tell her. I was actually going to text her; there's a clear difference.

"Sure you weren't," she replies, and laughs.

"Stop," Wendy snaps. "You said you'd be nice, Nancy."

"Why did you even come?" I ask the girl that I loathe more than anyone in the entire world.

She shrugs. "I'm hungry," she says matter-of-factly, clearly mocking my emotions.

I grab my sweatshirt and move to get up. "I should just go."

"No, stay! Please, you're moving, and I won't see you again," Wendy says, pouting.

"What?"

"You're leaving in a few days, aren't you?"

"Who told you that?"

Nancy and Wendy look at each other before Wendy answers. "Rosé, I think; it doesn't matter, though. I thought you'd tell me."

"I was going to; there was just a lot going on. I was going to tell you here . . ." I say, then look at Nancy as if to explain my reluctance to continue.

"I still wish you'd've told me. I was your first friend here." Wendy sticks out her bottom lip in a way that makes me feel bad but still seems a little comical, so I'm thankful when a server arrives to take our drink order.

While Wendy and Nancy are ordering their sodas, I text Lisa. You're probably passed out, but I'm at lunch with Wendy, and she brought Nancy / I hit send and look back up at the two girls.

"So, are you excited to be leaving? What are you and Lisa going to do?" Wendy asks.

I shrug and look around the room. I'm not discussing my relationship in front of Satan's daughter.

"You can talk in front of me. Trust me, I'm not interested in your boring-ass life," Nancy scoffs, taking a sip of her water.

"Trust you?" I laugh, and my phone vibrates.

Come home. Lisa texts back.

I don't know what I expected her to say, but I'm disappointed in her advice, or lack of it.

No, I'm hungry. I reply.

"Look, you and Lisa are cute and all, but I don't really give a shit about your relationship anymore," Nancy informs me. "I have my own relationship to worry about now."

"Great. Good for you." I feel bad for whoever the idiot is.

"Speaking of which, Nancy, when are we going to meet this mystery man?" Wendy asks her friend.

Nancy dismisses her with a flip of the hand. "I don't know; not right now."

The waitress returns with our drinks and takes our orders. As soon as she leaves, Nancy turns to me, her real prey. "Anyway, so how pissed at Rosé are you that she's planning to put Lisa in jail?" she asks, and I nearly spit out my water.

The idea of Lisa going to jail sends ice through my veins."I'm trying to stop that from happening."

"Good luck with that. Unless you plan on fucking Rosé, there's nothing you can do." Again she smirks, tapping her neon-green fingernail on the table.

"That's not an option," I growl.

I've got something you can eat here. Really, though, come home before something happens and I can't save you.

Save me? From what? Nancy and Wendy? Wendy is my friend, and I've already proved once before that I can take Nancy, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. She's annoying and I can't stand her, but I'm not afraid of her like I once was.

I can tell by Lisa's perverted message that she's still intoxicated.

I mean it, leave there, her next message says when I don't reply.

I shove my phone into my bag and direct my attention to the girls.

"You've already done it before, so what's the difference?" Nancy says.

"Excuse me?" I say.

"I'm not judging you. I've fucked Lisa. Rosé, too," she reminds me.

I'm so frustrated that I want to scream. "I didn't sleep with Rosé," I say through my teeth.

"Mm-hmm . . ." Nancy says, and Wendy glares at her.

"Did someone say that—that I slept with Rosé?" I ask them.

"No," Wendy answers before Nancy can speak. "And anyway, enough talk about Rosé. I want to know about Seattle. Is Lisa coming, too?"

"Yeah," I lie. I don't want to admit, especially in front of Nancy, that Lisa refuses to join me in Seattle.

"So neither of you will be here anymore? That will be so strange," Wendy says with a little frown.

It'll be strange to start over at a new campus after everything I've been through at WCU. That's exactly what I need, though—a new start. This entire town is tainted with memories of betrayal and false friendships.

"We should have a get-together this weekend—one last hurrah," Wendy says.

I groan. "No, no parties."

"No, no, not a party, just our group." She looks at me with something like pleading in her eyes. "Let's be honest: we'll probably never see each other again, and Lisa should hang out with her old friends at least one more time."

I hestitate and have to look away from her, glancing over at the bar area.

Nancy's voice interrupts the silence. "I won't be there, don't worry."

I look back at them, and right then our food arrives.

But I've lost my appetite. Are people really saying that I slept with Rosé? Has Lisa heard this supposed rumor? Will Rosé really put Lisa in jail? My head hurts.

Wendy eats a few fries, and before she finishes chewing she says, "Talk to Lisa and let me know. We could have it at someone's apartment—Bambam and Jackson's, even. That way no random douche bags will show up."

"I can ask . . . I don't know if she will or not." My eyes move down to my screen. Three missed calls. One text: Answer your phone.

I'm leaving after I eat, calm down. Drink some water, I respond and pick at my own fries a little.

But the tension obviously gets to Nancy, and she starts talking like a pot boiling over. "Well, she should like that idea—we were her friends long before you came along and ruined her."

"I didn't ruin her."

"Yes, you did. She's so different now—she doesn't even call anybody anymore."

"Her friends," I scoff. "Nobody calls her either. The only one who even contacts her anymore is Jackson."

"That's because we know—" Nancy begins.

But Wendy puts her hand in the air. "Enough; oh my God," she groans, rubbing her temples.

"I'm going to ask for a takeout box and go home. This was a bad idea," I tell her. I don't know what she was thinking bringing Nancy here anyway; she could have at least warned me.

Wendy looks at me sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Jennie. I thought you guys could get along since she's not trying to fuck with Lisa anymore." Then she glares at Nancy, who shrugs.

"We are getting along—better than before," Nancy says.

I want to smack that smug look off her face. But Wendy's ring tone interrupts my violent thoughts.

A puzzled look crosses her face. Then she says, "It's Lisa, she's calling me," and holds her phone up for me to see.

"I haven't been texting her back; I'll call her in a minute," I tell her, and she nods okay and ignores the call.

"Jeez, stalker much?" Nancy bites down on the end of a french fry.

I bite my tongue and ask the server for a to-go box. I've barely touched my food, but I don't want to cause a scene in the middle of a restaurant.

"Please think about Saturday. We can even make it like a dinner thing instead of a party," Wendy offers. Then she gives me her best smile. "Please?"

"I'll see what I can do, but we're going on a trip until Saturday morning."

She nods again agreeably. "You can choose the time."

"Thanks. I'll let you know," I tell her and pay my bill.

I don't like the idea, but in a way she's right—we won't ever see any of them again. Lisa's going somewhere; maybe not Seattle, but she isn't staying here now since her expulsion, and she probably should see her old friends one last time.

"She's calling again," Wendy tells me; she doesn't bother trying to hide her amusement.

"Tell her I'm on my way." I stand up and head for the door.

When I turn back around, Wendy and Nancy are talking, and Wendy's phone is resting on the table in front of them.