Rewritten

Chapter 11: Clashes

Listed An altered recorded on the government system. These altereds are supposedly granted immunity from the hunters.

"And you can't come because...?"

 "I have to meet someone." I don't look directly at Christie, a part of me fearing that if I do she'll see right through me. It's not that I'm lying since I obviously do have to meet Nick, but I can hardly let her know the real reason why. "It's not something I can get out of."

    "So what is it that's so important?" Christie keeps pushing, obviously not caring that we're sitting at our table in the middle of the dining hall and everyone can hear us. "I'm pretty sure I can talk your mum out of whatever it is and it's not compulsory for you to go to all of Artemis' parties."

    For a moment I'm stuck for words. What do I say in response to that? Just as I'm about to humiliate myself, though, I'm saved by the last person I expect to respond on my behalf.

    "Leave her alone, Christie," Connor says tiredly. He doesn't look in my direction as he speaks, even though I'm staring at him in the hope that he does. "You don't need to know the whereabouts of every person on this table every second of the damned day." He sounds annoyed, and I wonder how much grilling he got after his missed training session. He's right though. Christie is a control freak. With the amount of questions she throws at me on a daily basis, it's a wonder she still doesn't know I'm a rewrite. Normally Connor jokes about it good-naturedly, but between my distancing him and whatever he's been up to when not with the hunters, it's obvious that an interrogation is the last thing he wants right now. Christie shoots daggers at him whilst Jason, Nick and everyone else at the table stares at Connor in surprise. Before this rewrite, I'd have expected Jason to say something about Connor being so rude to his girlfriend, but the more time I've spent with the popular crowd, the more I've come to realise that Jason isn't the true alpha male of this group -Connor is. On that basis, you'd expect him to be dating Christie, but they're too much alike and know each other too well for that. Them dating would feel like incest.

    It's probably his status in the group that results in Christie not saying a single word more. She leaves me alone to talk to Amanda. Connor glances my way, meeting my eyes for a fleeting second before turning back to his food. I feel like an idiot for missing him after a day of absence. He didn't even text me last night.

    Nick looks uninterested, but I'm starting to know him well enough to realise that he's intrigued by what's happening. This is all a game to him that he has way too much fun playing. He probably enjoys watching me squirm whilst I try to cover for the meeting with him. Especially since if I were to admit that I was meeting him it would look like I was cheating on Connor. Life was a thousand times easier when I was boyfriend-less and unpopular.

    I still haven't managed to work out who Nick would want me to meet considering that he's only just met me. He's refused to give me a straight answer on the subject despite me asking continuously for the past two days, and that smirk on his face has been pretty much permanent since he blackmailed me into agreeing to today's meeting. Life's good for him -Christie wants to know why I'm ditching James' party, which is a social no-no for the popular crowd of London City High. I am most definitely on her shit list after all this, which means she's going to punish me like crazy at cheer practice this afternoon.

    Speaking of... "Please tell me you're at least coming to the football game tonight. You're on the squad, Ena. It's compulsory."

    I glance over at Nick to see whether I'm expected to drop this too. He shrugs at me to let me know that this is my choice and I nod at Christie. "I'll be there."