that I was shocked how rude Sadie was being with her. “See you around, Nate,” Carly said. She glided away down the hall, followed by her group of girls.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I rounded on Sadie angrily. “And what was up with that name you were calling that nice little girl? El Diablo? That means the devil, right? I’m not getting that wrong? Are you insane?”
Sadie laughed. “This is Lakeville. You’ve got a lot to learn,” she said. “ Carly Harris might look like a little angel but she is pure evil. Trust me, I’ve had run ins with her before. I just saved you from a whole lot of pain and trouble.”
“I can take care of myself,” I said indignantly. Sadie knew just what to say to annoy me. It was infuriating.
“Says the boy who was just expelled from his boarding school,” Sadie said. “I have seen no evidence whatsoever that suggests to me that you are capable of taking care of yourself.”
I glared at her. “Whatever,” I said. Then I had another thought. “Hey, what did she mean when she said that you ‘claimed’ all those other guys. Have you been fooling around on my brother?”
Sadie shook her head. “I’ve always been a good girl but I had a bit of a wild spell before I started dating your brother,” she said. “Several of my friends put together a list of 10 boys and dared me to kiss all of them. Actually, there were 11 boys, if you count the twins as two instead of one. It got me into a bit of trouble but I finally fixed things. Aaron helped a lot with that. I’ve always made sure that girls like El Diablo and Missy – you don’t know her – didn’t mess around with the guys who were my friends, though.”
I thought about that for a moment. Then I burst out laughing. “A kiss list? Are you serious? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Some girls dare you to kiss a few guys? That’s it? How hard is that? You just walk up to a dude and kiss him. What guy would fight that? You guys are lame. Now something like a sex list, that would be more interesting.”
“A kiss list is a lot harder than you would think,” Sadie said.
“Psh,” I said dismissively. “Name any girl in this school and I’ll get a kiss out of her within 15 minutes.”
“You think so, hot shot?” Sadie said with a little smile. “There are some girls who wouldn’t go for your act in a million years. Not everyone wants a sleazeball like you. A lot of girls are looking for someone more mature.”
“Name one,” I challenged.
“I can name plenty,” Sadie said. “My best friend Alyssa is nicer than a saint. She would never fall for you. You act too dumb for my friend Olivia. Those are just my close friends. On my soccer team, you’re not funny enough for Darcy and Morgan only chases football players. When you move on to the rest of the school there are literally hundreds of girls who wouldn’t be interested in you. You’ve got good girls like Mandi Page who are too innocent for you and nerds like Lilly Wong who would freeze up if they thought a boy was so much as staring at them. You’re too short and puny for Majestic Jenkins. And then of course there are girls like my friend Payton and Trinity London who are just out of your league.”
Now she was really pissing me off. Well, I knew how to return the favor. “What about you?” I said cheekily. “I noticed that your name wasn’t on that list. Does that mean you want some of this?” I gestured at myself
Sadie gave me a flat stare. “I thought I made it clear that I wasn’t interested last time you tried to hit on me,” she said, “and I wasn’t even dating your brother then. What makes you think I’d change my mind now?”
I gave her my best cocky look with an eyebrow raised, my head tilted up, and a smirk on my lips. I knew she hated that look. “Come on, I was just a kid last year and you still kissed me, remember? I’ve grown up and packed on some muscle since then. You know you want it. I can tell