"When do you turn 17?" Nicholas asks, veering us onto a different topic. "December," I reply as I stab at the food on my plate, though my appetites long gone. "What day?" Cassidy questions further. She finally got over her laughter. "The 18th," I sigh in a bored tone. "My brother's not going to date a girl three years younger than him," Maddox scowls, bringing us back to the topic. "I never said I wanted to date him! He's just cute!" I retort in slight frustration. "And nice," Cassidy adds. I groan aloud as I glance up at the ceiling "I don't like him!" I attempt to deny once more. "Sounds like you do," Jackson sings. "He's cute and nice- that's all," I snap as I wave my hands around. "And nineteen," Maddox reminds us for the fiftieth time. I glare at him. "That doesn't matter because I don't like him!" I point out once more. "I'm going to see what he says about your little crush," Maddox announces as he takes out his phone. "Maddox, don't! I grunt as I watch him. He sighs as he looks at his contacts. "Aaron, Abby, Abby 2, Abby 3, Abel." He presses the phone to his ear and I stare at him in shock. He's really doing this. I shouldn't be surprised but I am. "Maddox put the phone down, now," I demand with a threatening gaze on my face. Everyone else watches in amusement as Maddox waits for his brother to answer. A few seconds later, Maddox grins brightly. "Oh, hey Abel," he says sweetly into the phone. "Put him on speaker," Nicholas insists. Maddox does so, despite the fact that the cafeteria is loud. He turns the volume up and I hear Abel's familiar voice. "What?" his older brother retorts and I sense that he just woke up. My face is burning red as my mind goes through all of the possible reactions Abel could have. And the fact that there are all these listening ears makes it twenty times worse. "Hang up," I mouth to Maddox and he simply smirks at me with narrowed eyes. "I have to ask you something," Maddox prompts the conversation. When Abel tells him to ask away, Maddox continues. "Would you date a sixteen year old?" Abel is silent for a moment before he answers. "That's illegal, Maddox. Why are you asking me that?" "Oh, I'm just wondering because Oli—," Maddox begins and, in a panic, I quickly grab a handful of my pasta and chuck it at him. It lands on his dark blue shirt and he quickly stops talking, exhaling slowly as he looks at the sauce dripping down his shirt. Everyone breaks into laughter at the splatter of red sauce travels up his neck and on his face. "I'll call you back," he mutters into the phone before hanging up. I let out a sigh of relief only to see that he's glaring daggers at me. "What? You expected me to listen to you embarrass me?" I retort defensively. He lifted up his phone and begins typing. I stare at him as a pang of fear flits through my chest. Suddenly, he shoves his phone into my face and when it comes into focus, I read: Olive likes you. It was sent to the one and only Abel. I look at him with an opened mouth and wide eyes. He immediately stands up and glances down at his stained shirt. "This is the second time you ruined my shirt." I don't even bother to respond. I can only stare at the table in shock. + + + Maddox is smirking when he comes into American Literature. He won't be smiling when he opens his locker later. I feel my stomach clench when he stops at my desk. "He responded." I'm too scared to ask what he said so I just I sit with a scrunched up look on my face. "I hate you," I remind him in case he forgot. "You promise?" he asks, followed by an evil cackle. I exhale slowly and think about what Abel could've said. After music class with Mr. Everson, I drag my feet down the steps to the third floor, where I pull out Maddox's locker combination. I planned on doing this during lunch but I didn't get a chance to, mainly because I was too shocked at the fact that Maddox actually told his brother about my nonexistent crush on him. I dig into my bag and take out the fake spider that my brother tried to prank me with. Before I left, he slipped it into my bag. He actually fooled me because when I opened my suitcase in Harrington, I thought it was real and slammed my arm on the table trying to get away. I put the fake bug into Maddox's locker, on top of his books, and close it. I smirk as I walk back to class. That will show him. It isn't until the end of the day that Maddox goes to his locker. I get permission to leave class early so I can watch him react to the fake bug. It takes Maddox longer than I'd hoped to come downstairs. Barely anyone is in the hallway now so I'll be the only one to witness it, unfortunately. I'm sitting outside of the bathroom, digging around my book bag to make it look more realistic, when Maddox walked over to his locker. Twisting the lock, he opens it and put his hand on his books. He immediately retracts it like he'd touched fire and shrieks like a little girl. He slams his locker shut and shakes his hand out like it's infected. I don't bother hiding my laughter and he turns to me with a hateful glare on his face. "You did that?" "Yes, I did," I confirm as I walk over to his locker. I input the combination and take out the spider. I pretend like it's real before throwing it at him. He represses a yell, lets out a guttural noise. and moves to the side. After realizing it's fake, he kicks it away from him and scowls at me. I continue to laugh at him, replaying the scene in my head. "How did you get my locker combination?" he interrogates me.