RISKY BUSINESS

Chapter 10

APRIL,
BLUESTONE HIGH SCHOOL
b r o o k l y n l e s l i e c o o p e r
❦❧❦

Sometimes I liked to pretend I was a spy or an investigator of sorts, like I was Harriet the Spy or Nancy Drew, but in a different life and body, bound to a different lifestyle. But I only ever felt like that when information that shouldn't be heard would be consumed by my ears.

"Don't tell anyone I told you this," the girl in front of me spoke no gibberish. Her voice was loud and clear, and her face showed no sign of humour; she was strictly business. A messenger of sorts. "But Phoebe Smith wants you, like, dead."

This was news to me. Phoebe Smith, a girl who'd probably never even heard of me before, suddenly hated me enough to "want me dead"? I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows in shock.

"What, why?"

The messenger was Shirley Wincaster, a small, petite girl who spent more time with her head stuck in a book then in reality. I'd never spoken to her before, but I had nothing against her at all besides the fact that she let people push her around. People like Phoebe Smith, the school's Queen B, targeted shy, lonely and easily scared people like Shirley more times than I could count. It angered me to extreme levels.

Shirley looked around the crowded hallway before sending me a grimace. "Apparently you stole Calum Hood from her. Look, I know you aren't a boyfriend stealer— but I'd stay clear of any popular people like Phoebe and Calum if I were you. You don't know what they're capable of."

With her warning said, she spun around and pushed her way into the crowd of students piling to class, disappearing almost instantly.

Moths went at war with the butterflies in my stomach. I couldn't believe Phoebe Smith believed I stole Calum from her, or that I liked him. I had barely spent enough time with Calum to make it seem as though we were close friends, let alone going out with each other. And even if it did seem as though I was flirting with Calum —though I most definitely was not— he wasn't Phoebe's. They weren't dating. At least, I hadn't heard of them being an item. Maybe I'd just been too blinded.

A small grunt fell from my lips and I slammed my locker shut. As I made my way to my English class with my arms full of books, I was glad I had this class with Morgan. I really needed to talk to her.

When I got to class, Morgan was already sat in her usual seat, and the chair next to her —the one that I usually sat in— was empty, waiting for me. I marched right over and sat with a loud thump. "Did you hear the news?"

Morgan, who watched me enter the room and walk over to sit with her, raised her eyebrows. "Uh, no?"

I tried not to roll my eyes. "Apparently I'm a boyfriend stealer."

Her eyes widened, and she straightened up. "Say what now?"

My lips were pressed into a firm, thin line. I wondered what my life had come to, to have been put in a situation like this. "Shirley Wincaster payed me a visit at my locker to warn me about Phoebe Smith, who wants me dead because I stole Calum Hood from her."

A look of recognition crossed over Morgan's complexion, and she let out a small scoff. "Oh, right. I forgot Phoebe Smith was a thing."

I sent her a stern, "that doesn't help anything" look, and she shook her head as if shaking off her thoughts to snap back to our conversation. "You don't have to worry about a thing. Calum and Phoebe were never official, they just went out a few times. And trust me when I tell you that Calum has no interest in Phoebe, like, at all. I don't think he ever did."