The Queen B* and the Homecoming King Read Online Free

to watch the competition.”
    “Exactly.” And seeing as how Richard had never been a member of the debate club, he needed all the help he could get on the rules ofthe debate.
    Ms. Rothstein carried Ajay’s basket back to her desk. “Tryouts will last all week. The pro side will choose the topic today, the con side tomorrow. We’ll redraw the order tomorrow, so each of you will have two chances to show us your skills. On Wednesday morning, I’ll post a list of who made the first cut. We’ll have the second round of tryouts the next day. The final team and twoalternates will be announced on Friday. Any questions?”
    “Yeah—where’s my barf bag?” Richard whispered under his breath.
    “Breathe. You’re not up for at least another hour.”
    More like an hour and a half, but when Richard finally got his chance, he took his place at the Con podium and waited for his competitor to draw the topic.
    “Should the European Union allow sanctuary to migrants?” Richard’sopponent read aloud.
    Richard gripped the sides of the podium so tightly, his knuckles blanched. He had three minutes to come up with a good argument against it, even though it was probably something he was for. But once his opponent started his opening comments, Richard settled down and started making notes. By the time it was his turn to speak, he ripped his opponent’s arguments to shreds andleft no doubt in my mind about the winner of that debate.
    Now, if only it was enough to convince the three people in the front row. They made a few notes before Ms. Rothstein stood again. “That’s it for today. Tomorrow, we’ll have a new set of topics for you, so get some rest and read up on current events.”
    Richard bounced over to me and gave me a high five. “Did I just kick that debate’s assor what?”
    “Your grandmother would be proud at how well you picked him apart.” I slid my laptop back into my bag. “Want to grab a frozen yogurt to celebrate?”
    “Of course. I’m starving!” Richard gave Ajay a winning smile before running out into the hallway. “Meet up at the place on Eighth?”
    “Sure.” And if we didn’t like the scene there, we could go to the other fro-yo place a block away.
    We’dbarely made it to the parking lot when my phone rang. I checked the screen and saw Morgan’s name. I showed it to Richard before answering and putting it on speakerphone. “Perfect timing. Richard and I—”
    “You. Fucking. Bitch,” she spat.
    If someone else had said that to me, I would’ve replied with something childish like, “I know I am, but what are you?” But Morgan was one of my best friends.I turned off the speaker and pressed the phone to my ear. “Morgan, what’s wrong?”
    Richard lingered nearby, leaning in to catch our conversation.
    “You are. I ran into Gavin today, and he told me all about Saturday night.”
    Oh, shit. As craptastic as Saturday night had been, Morgan’s anger added a whole new level of angst to it. “Let me explain—”
    “There’s nothing you can say,” she said, cuttingme off, her voice shaking as though she were on the verge of tears. “You knew I liked him, and all this time, you were flirting with him behind my back.”
    “Me? Flirting with him?” More like the other way around, but I never got a chance to tell her that.
    “You went out with him, didn’t you?” My silence only confirmed Gavin’s story and unleashed a new wave of anger in Morgan. “I can’t believe youwere such a back-stabbing bitch! And then, to come on to him so you could lure Brett into beating the crap out of him—”
    “Excuse me?” Oh, hell no. How dare Gavin twist what happened Saturday night into making him the victim? “That’s not what happened at all.”
    “Bullshit. Gavin has a black eye and two broken ribs because of Brett. Plus, your little show got him kicked out of his frat.”
    And fora good reason. Gavin tried to rape me when I was drunk. “Morgan, please, give me a chance—”
    “Why