Chapter 1
Joycelyn’s POV
The day I overheard Nathan and Raven talking, I had just calculated my projected SAT score in the empty AP Calculus classroom.
- 1580.
That was what last year’s state scholar had scored without any tutoring. I allowed myself a small,
satisfied smile–the first in months.
I had just slipped my calculator into my backpack when Raven’s voice carried through the cracked door from the hallway:
“Don’t forget, Nathan, our bet isn’t over yet,” she said with that razor–sharp tone she used during
student council debates.
“You only win if you get Ice Queen Quinn to follow you to that community college dump.”
Through the narrow opening, I could see Nathan leaning against the trophy case, his Boulder
Bulldogs varsity jacket casually unzipped despite the December chill. He rolled his eyes dramatically.
“Have you seen her grades lately? Little Miss Perfect is barely pulling Cs now. Harvard’s definitely
not happening anymore.”
“But her academic record before you-” Raven started.
“Even if she somehow pulled a miracle on the SATs,” Nathan cut in, spinning a football between his
hands, “whatever college she ends up at is ultimately my call. She does whatever I want.”
The moment those words left his mouth, the previously silent group of football players hanging
around them burst into laughter. Tyler Matthews, the team’s wide receiver, slapped Nathan’s
shoulder.
“Dude, the way Quinn worships you,” Tyler snickered, “she’d probably follow you to work at your dad’s gas station if you asked–and think she hit the jackpot!”
Jason Cruz, the linebacker whose locker was next to mine, nodded eagerly. “For real! Everyone at Boulder knows she tanked her perfect GPA just for you. Going from valedictorian to barely passing?
12:26
Touchdown PLAY Cheer Queen vs Quarterback King
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Chapter 1
That girl is whipped!”
“Remember how she used to ice everyone out?” added Devin Parker, adjusting his letterman jacket. “Now she’s skipping Quiz Bowl meetings to watch your practices in the rain. Pathetic!”
Another round of synchronized laughter echoed through the hallway.
I caught every word, but couldn’t bring myself to care.
For someone like Nathan Darwin–whose perfect jawline was featured in last year’s yearbook seventeen separate times–playing dumb and failing a few tests wasn’t exactly a hardship.
What these testosterone–fueled idiots couldn’t see was how Nathan “thanked” me behind closed
doors.
The way his confident facade crumbled when we were alone, how he’d trace patterns on my skin while whispering things he’d never admit to thinking in the light of day…
I was lost in the memory when Tyler’s voice snapped me back.
“Raven,” he said with a smirk, “imagine if Quinn found out this whole thing was your revenge plot for her stealing your spot as cheer captain. She’d totally self–destruct, right?”
Raven tossed her perfectly highlighted hair over her shoulder with an exasperated sigh.
“Isn’t it obvious? Of course she would.”
But they were wrong about that.
I didn’t hate Raven at all–in fact, I was grateful to her.
After all, for someone like me who maintained a calculated distance from everyone–the untouchable cheer captain who made freshmen cry during tryouts and who hadn’t smiled in the hallways since sophomore year-
Getting Boulder High’s golden boy to actually chase after me instead of the other way around was an opportunity that Raven Green herself had unknowingly gift–wrapped and delivered right to my door.
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