Willow Moon's Arc

Chapter 2 of 6

The next morning Willow heard her own name in the hall. Two girls whispered it near the lockers, then laughed. One of them looked at Willow and looked away fast. Willow slowed. Scarlett had done something already. The warning from yesterday was no longer a threat. It was moving. Willow found the rumor by lunch. A boy told her, half amused. Someone was saying Willow only talked to Jess to win a bet with her friends. That she didn't care about the book or about him at all. Willow's stomach dropped. She knew who started it. She also knew Jess barely knew her. If he heard it first, he would believe it. Willow turned the corner toward the food court and stopped. Scarlett stood at the bank of lockers, a folded note in her hand. Her red bow sat perfect. Her bracelets clicked as she slid the note through a locker vent. Jess's locker. Scarlett smoothed her skirt and stepped back like she had just signed a card. "That's mine to slip," Scarlett said, seeing Willow. She didn't hide it. "He reads it before you sit down. Then he looks at you different. That's how this works." "You're lying to him," Willow said. "I'm winning," Scarlett said. "Same thing." Willow didn't argue. She walked past Scarlett, straight into the stone arches of the food court. Jess sat at his table under the hanging vines, book open. He hadn't gone to his locker yet. The note was still in the vent. Willow had a few minutes before he found it. She sat across from him. Her hands were shaking, so she put them flat on the table. "Someone's going to tell you I'm using you," Willow said. "For a bet. It's not true. I wanted to say it before you heard it." Jess set the book down. He studied her the way he studied a hard page. "Why tell me first?" "Because if you heard it first, you'd believe it," Willow said. "And I don't want you to." Jess was quiet. Then he pulled his phone out, opened it, and turned it face down. "Someone messaged me this morning. Said watch out for the quiet girl. No name on it." He tapped the table once. "I didn't answer. Not gonna lie, I don't like being handled." "I'm not handling you," Willow said. "I know," Jess said. "You came and said it to my face. Whoever sent that didn't." Willow breathed. The rumor had reached him, but she had reached him first. That was all she'd wanted. Jess picked the book back up. "Sit. Same table." Then he glanced past her, toward the lockers, and his jaw set. "I know who sent it, by the way. Bracelets. She's been trying too hard for a week." Willow followed his look. Scarlett stood in the doorway, watching Jess watch her. For the first time, Scarlett's smile was gone. She had lost this round, and now she knew Jess knew her name and didn't trust it.