Tightrope

My Penis Has Superpowers?

"So, the sex was unbelievable?" Holland Rivers asked, turning around in her seat in front of me. Her incredible peripheral vision had clocked my greeting wave as Hartley strolled into English class, which contained far more enthusiasm then my usual greeting. Which usually included profanity, and only one finger rather than five.

"Um, uh, what?" I spluttered.

She shook her phone at me. "I saw Kaelin's story. And now you're smiling at him, all mushy-like."

I had completely forgotten about the poll Kaelin had uploaded to her Instagram story. "Do Jace and Lena want to bang?" with the only available options being yes or yes. From her seat next to me, Kaelin grinned lazily. I glared back at her.

And for god's sake, I couldn't even vehemently assert my protest to such a statement, because my own brother had decided that torturing his favourite sister was a fun project.

"I did not have sex with Hartley," I proclaimed hotly. I was also distinctly aware of McKenna, Jace's ex-girlfriend, who was sitting on Kaelin's other side. She was having a bit of a fling with Brittany Ford now, but Daria, who adored McKenna and was a relatively close friend, had told me that it wasn't serious. According to Daria, McKenna was still a little hung up on Jace. I got the sense that this was a faraway, wistful kind of admiration. McKenna wasn't the type of girl to chase a guy.

Besides, she was far better off without him.

But McKenna didn't seem too cut by the rumour that I was sleeping with Jace. She just looked faintly amused, and peeked up at Jace, who was talking to Mr Prendler at the front of the class. "You probably should," McKenna said lightly. "I recommend it."

I gaped openly at her. McKenna was of a similar temperament to Daria—sweet, unassuming—and this was uncharacteristic of her. I was rendered speechless. Plus, the unwelcome vision of McKenna and Jace sleeping together was so profoundly disgusting that I couldn't speak, otherwise I would probably puke. Holland and Kaelin were grinning.

"You know, I always got that vibe from him," Holland raked Hartley's form appreciatively, with an almost predatory eye. It was the kind of look that, from a girl who looked like Holland, who was perhaps the hottest girl I'd ever seen, seemed borderline inappropriate for school grounds. "I tried to tap that once or twice, you know, a couple months ago. But he was always so caught up in Daria and Lena." She eyed McKenna. "And you, of course."

McKenna didn't seem to devastated about being an afterthought in Jace Hartley's list of relevant women, according to Holland. The best friend first, followed by the enemy, and the girlfriend a pitiful third place. "I came to know where I sat with him," she said. Then she smiled at me, and while I could see the lines of hurt and sadness in her face, there was no jealousy or ill-feeling. "Nice picture, by the way. It certainly looked, uh, cozy."

"It was a tackle," I protested. "We don't, uh—" I struggled to think of a way to phrase my response without breaking the rules of my bet with Austin "—get along, Jace and I. It's not like we're hooking up."

Kaelin looked up from her iBooks app idly. She didn't bother to address me. "I got a resounding 100% agreement that Jace and Lena want to bang. You can't argue with stats."

"Yeah, I can. Yes was the only option."

McKenna shrugged. "It was the only one needed."

I dropped my head to my desk in exasperation. But I didn't need to, because the girls had fallen silent.

"Hey, Elle," Jace said warmly. It was a foreign tone, one he used with Daria, or had once used with McKenna. And that name, Elle. I had only heard him say it like this once before, when I'd returned to school. The softness of that name, usually harshened by taunts or mocking, was unfamiliar.