Chapter Text
“Now you know that Regina George is not your friend. We are your friends. And we’re gonna make her pay.”
Cady sniffles and wipes at her cheek. Her hand comes away black and blue, and for a moment she’s alarmed before she remembers the Halloween makeup.
“Make her pay?” Cady repeats.
Janis nods. “Yes, bitch.”
“What do you mean by that?” Cady asks dubiously. It sounds violent, or at least like something that would violate the student code of conduct.
Janis rips off the plastic rabbit mask that’s perched on her head and tosses it on the floor, starting to pace. “Regina is just a person—”
“A fabulous person,” Damian cuts in.
Janis glares at him. “She’s a super-bitch, but just a person.”
“A fabulously evil person,” Damian amends.
“She’s insulated, but not invincible,” Janis says. She stops pacing and looks at Cady, palms pressed together. “It’s time.”
“Time for what?” Cady asks.
“To take Regina down,” Janis responds.
Cady pulls off the wig and veil of her costume, tossing it to the side of the couch. Her head immediately feels less itchy. “How do we do that?”
“We strip her insulation,” Janis says.
Damian giggles. “That sounds dirty.”
“It will be,” Janis says. “But not in that way. What makes Regina George so powerful?”
Cady stares at Janis, waiting for her to continue.
Janis makes an annoyed huff, like it wasn’t a rhetorical question. “Three things, Caddy: her mindless lackeys, her perceived superior physical appearance, and her man candy. Bad things always come in threes. Like Cerberus, the three-headed dog, guarding the gates of hell.”
Cady is losing track of the thread here. “Who’s the dog?”
“There is no dog,” Damian says, shaking his head.
“We need to take away the things that make her powerful,” Janis explains slowly. “We cut off her power supply, she dies.”
Cady’s eyes widen. “She dies?”
Janis spreads her hands out in front of her, placating. “Metaphorically.”
“I don’t know about this,” Cady says. Her stomach feels like it did when they were on the plane from Kenya to the US and they hit turbulence for fifteen minutes. “I don’t have a problem with Gretchen or Karen. I don’t think it’s fair to drag them into this.”
“We can circle back to that,” Janis says dismissively. “The real challenge is making her less hot. Do you think you could get into her house to put dye in her shampoo?”
“What?” Cady cries. “Janis, no.”
“Cady is right,” Damian says. “Everyone would just dye their hair blue and it would be the hot new thing.”
“Is that really what you think the problem is?” Cady asks, incredulous.
Damian shrugs. “Warfare has evolved.”
“Guys, I’m not doing this,” Cady says. “Regina took Aaron, and there isn’t anything I can take from her without hurting people.”
It hurts her to say the words. Cady would love nothing more than to make Regina feel the way she feels right now—devastated, betrayed, humiliated. But the best thing she can do is to move on, or to wait for Regina to get bored—whichever comes first.
“I thought Regina was dating Shane Oman, anyway,” Damian comments absently.
“Not anymore, I guess,” Cady says bitterly.
Suddenly, Janis’s eyes get big, like she’s just remembered she forgot to turn the oven off before she left the house.
“You can take him,” Janis says, as if she’s having an epiphany.
“What?” Cady asks. “Take who?”
Janis leans forward and grips Cady’s shoulders, shaking her a little. “Shane.”
“Shane?” Cady echoes.
Damian gasps. “Shane.”
Janis nods slowly. “Shane.”
“I don’t know if I can do this,” Cady says apprehensively. “We’ve never spoken before. He’s not going to go out with me.”
Damian rests a hand on her shoulder. “Cady, you’re thinking about Shane as if he has the same cognition as you or me. There is nothing going on in that boy’s brain other than what’s for lunch.”
Cady scuffs the toe of her shoe against the floor, unsure. That can’t be true, she thinks. He thinks a lot about boobs, if Regina is to be believed.
“Just remember the plan,” Janis says, giving Cady a gentle shove.
Cady remembers the plan. That’s the problem; it isn’t particularly detailed. Step one: ask Shane out. Step two: keep going out, flaunting her relationship in front of Regina. Step three: Regina gets so jealous she dumps Aaron and takes Shane back.
There’s a lot of grey area in the plan.
“Now go,” Damian hisses. “Before the bell rings.”
Taking a deep breath, Cady crosses the hallway to where Shane is trying to fit a basketball into his locker. She looks back over her shoulder, and Damian mimes pushing up his chest. Cady feels her cheeks flame but pulls her shirt down a little lower. It can’t hurt.
Cady stops next to Shane, but he doesn’t look up, turning his body to try and force the basketball inside the locker with his hip. Tentatively, Cady reaches out and knocks on the lockers like she would a door.
Shane turns and looks at her. “Hey, it’s Cady, right?”
“Um, yeah,” Cady says, a little surprised.
“Do you know how to get this to fit in my locker?” Shane says, frowning at the basketball.
“No,” Cady replies. “You won’t be able to get it back out, either.”
Shane considers this. “Mr. Rapp says I can’t bring it to class anymore, though. Not after what happened last time.”
“Put it in your backpack?” Cady suggests.
Shane’s eyes widen, and he unzips his backpack, pulling out an armful of books. He dumps them in his locker and shoves the ball in. It just barely fits.
“You’re a genius!” Shane praises, holding his hand up for a high-five.
Cady tentatively returns it. “What about your books?”
Shane glances at the algebra textbook and the copy of The Great Gatsby at the bottom of his locker and shrugs, shutting the door. “Eh.”
He’s about to walk away when Cady remembers she came here on a mission.
“Wait!” Cady cries. “Um, I need to ask you something.”
“What’s up?”
“I was wondering if you wanted to…” Cady hesitates. “Go out. Sometime. With me.”
Shane cocks his head to the side. It reminds Cady of Damian’s golden retriever. “Corn maze?”
“I… what?” Cady asks.
“Corn maze,” Shane repeats, as if that clarifies anything. “There’s a big one at this apple orchard. I want to beat it, but nobody will go with me.”
“Oh,” Cady says. She’s not actually sure how she feels about that, but she’s not going to argue if Shane’s saying yes this easily. “Yeah. Sure. Corn maze.”
“Dope!” Shane holds out his phone, open to a new text message. “Just give me your digits and I’ll text you.”
Tentatively, Cady types in her number and hands Shane back his phone. A moment later, her phone vibrates.
[Unknown Number]: hey this is shane!!!!!!!!!!!
The bell rings, meaning Cady has two minutes to get to class or she’ll be marked late.
“Okay, see you later,” Cady says, gripping the straps of her backpack.
“See you at lunch?” Shane asks.
“I—uh—okay,” Cady stammers. She’s never had lunch with Shane. He usually eats with his basketball friends.
“It’s chicken nuggets today,” Shane says. “I’ve been thinking about it all week.”
“Sure, see you then,” Cady agrees.
Well, Damian was right about one thing.
Cady takes a deep breath and prepares to sit down at the lunch table with Gretchen, Karen, Regina, and… Aaron.
Cady would much rather eat lunch with Janis and Damian, but it’s not enough to just be dating Shane. Regina has to see it. So it’s to The Plastics’ table she goes with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in her lunch box and murder in her heart.
Well, maybe not murder. But Cady’s still mad. Really mad, actually—she honest-to-god snapped a pencil thinking about it in biology earlier. Not that she can show any of that.
Gretchen looks at Cady anxiously when she sits down, as if Cady might cause a scene. Gretchen had cornered Cady in the hall between second and third period and insisted that Regina stealing Aaron wasn’t Regina’s fault. Cady had promised she wasn’t mad and returned Gretchen’s extremely awkward hug, feeling strangely sorry for her.
Now, Cady forces a smile. Aaron won’t meet her eyes, looking intently at his pasta—plain, with just a little bit of butter, Cady knows. Her stomach flips over seeing him seated next to Regina.
Regina gives Cady a scrutinizing look, seeming to search her face for something. Cady feels Regina’s gaze on her like little electric shocks buzzing over her skin.
“Hey, Cady,” Regina says evenly.
For some reason, it feels like a challenge. Does Regina want her to cry? Scream? Flip the table and call her a traitor?
“Hi,” Cady says. She forces a bite of her sandwich into her mouth so she doesn’t have to say anything else.
Suddenly, a tray drops onto the table next to her. It is overflowing with chicken nuggets.
“What’s up, guys?” Shane says. He plops down next to Cady and cracks open a can of orange soda.
“What are you doing here?” Regina snaps.
In the time it took Regina to ask that question, Shane has crammed two nuggets into his mouth.
“Cady invited me,” he says, although it’s barely intelligible.
Regina turns her narrowed eyes to Cady and raises an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, I thought you just said that Cady invited you to sit here.”
Shane swallows. “Yeah.”
“I wasn’t aware you two were friends,” Regina says, pursing her lips. She manages to make it feel like a criminal accusation.
“Um, well—” Cady starts.
“Cady asked me out this morning, so I figured we should get to know each other, you know?” Shane interrupts. He licks a glob of ketchup off his finger.
An uncomfortable silence falls over the table. Cady chances a glance at Aaron, who is grimacing like he’s swallowed something sharp.
“What?” Regina says, voice low but sharp. She looks directly at Cady, sending a jolt down Cady’s spine.
“Corn maze,” Cady blurts out.
Unlike Cady’s earlier conversation with Shane, Regina seems to know exactly what she’s talking about.
“The corn maze?” Regina rolls her eyes.
“You should come!” Shane enthuses.
Gretchen, whose eyes had been darting back and forth like she was watching a tennis match, gasps. “Like a double date?”
Cady thinks about getting lost in a cornfield with Regina and Aaron, watching Regina and Aaron pick apples, Aaron brushing the cinnamon sugar of an apple cider donut off Regina’s cheek. It makes her sick.
“That would be so fun,” Cady grits out, hoping she sounds more enthusiastic than she feels.
Regina makes a hmm sound, giving Cady one of those closed-mouth, irritated smiles. She looks at Aaron. “What do you think?”
Aaron blinks. “About what?”
“The fucking corn maze, Aaron,” Regina says, voice tight and annoyed.
“Oh,” Aaron says. He lowers his fork. “Saturday?”
“Hell yeah!” Shane says, rising out of his seat a bit so he can high-five Aaron across the table.
Regina looks unimpressed and displeased. She keeps glancing at Cady, squinting at her like she’s never seen her before. It’s a little unnerving.
“I have a question,” Karen declares. She sets her can of La Croix down and points between Cady and Shane. “When did you two start going out?”
“Today,” Shane says. He’s down to his last chicken nugget. “Although technically we haven’t gone out yet.”
“It’s funny,” Regina says, in a tone that tells Cady Regina doesn’t find it funny at all. “I had no idea you two even knew each other.”
Cady feels her face redden. “Um, we have English together.”
“I’m in that class,” Gretchen says. “I’ve never seen you guys talking.”
“Well, I… wanted to get to know him better,” Cady says. She silently wills everyone to stop asking questions. She’s no good at improv. “I’ve always, um, thought he was, uh… cute.”
Shane beams at her while Regina glares daggers at her. Aaron shifts uncomfortably.
“Dude, I always thought you were hot, too!” Shane says.
Regina opens her mouth but then seems to think better of it and closes it again. She frowns down at the untouched salad on her tray.
“Whatever,” Regina says icily, grabbing her tray and stomping away. Aaron scrambles to follow her.
“So what are we doing on Sunday?” Gretchen asks after a beat, everyone used to Regina’s lunchtime storm-outs by now.
Cady looks across the cafeteria to Janis and Damian, who both flash her a thumbs-up.
Regina is standing at Cady’s locker with her arms crossed after the last bell rings. Cady looks around, but Aaron isn’t there.
“Um, hi,” Cady says, turning the combination on her locker. She fumbles it and has to try again. “What’s up?”
“I’m driving you home,” Regina says, as if this was a preexisting plan.
“Oh.” Cady pulls out a notebook and her math textbook and places them in her backpack. “You don’t have to do that.”
Regina just scoffs dismissively and twirls her keys around a manicured finger, turning and heading for the exit as soon as Cady is ready.
Cady follows, feeling like she’s about to get in trouble for something; the feeling intensifies when they reach Regina’s car and Gretchen and Karen are nowhere to be seen. Reluctantly, Cady climbs into the passenger seat.
“So,” Regina says as soon as Cady pulls the door closed. “You and Shane?”
Cady feels a flare of annoyance. “You and Aaron?”
Regina’s eyes widen in surprise almost imperceptibly. “It’s not my fault he only wanted me back.”
“Of course it isn’t,” Cady replies, trying her best to not make it sound sarcastic. “I’m over him, anyway.”
“Are you?” Regina says coolly as she backs out of the parking space.
“Obviously.” Cady pulls at a loose thread on her jeans. “I’m into Shane now.”
Regina is quiet for a long time as she turns left out of the school parking lot. “Walk me through this.”
Cady blinks. “Walk you through… what?”
“You and Shane,” Regina says. “Gretchen said you guys don’t talk in class, and he’s never mentioned you.”
“Well…” Cady tries to think fast. “I guess it was one of those crush-at-first-sight things, you know? You’ve experienced that before, right?”
“I—” Regina cuts off whatever she was going to say, and when Cady looks over at her, she’s blushing. “I don’t know.”
Cady clears her throat. “So, um, since you got back together with Aaron and I’m totally over him, I figured now was my chance.”
“Right,” Regina says slowly.
“It’s… it’s not weird, right?” Cady asks. Not that Regina had bothered to ask her when she kissed Aaron. “For you?”
“Of course not,” Regina says quickly. “Do whatever you want. I don’t care.”
“Okay,” Cady says. “Good.”
“Good.”
There’s a long silence, subdivisions of cookie-cutter houses blurring together as they pass.
“Just, like, be careful,” Regina warns.
Cady looks at her. “Why?”
Regina waves her hand. “Shane’s just… he’s a player, you know? Not really relationship material. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Cady almost laughs, but she bites her tongue. That sounds perfect, actually, considering Cady doesn’t want a relationship with him. Not a real one, anyway.
“Thanks for looking out for me,” Cady says, fake-sweet. “You’re such a good friend. But I think I’ll be okay.”
Regina glances at her, expression indecipherable, but Cady thinks she detects a trace of jealousy. “Okay.”
Cady bites her lip. It’s actually working, she thinks. For some reason, it makes her feel a little bit sick. It must be because Regina clearly doesn’t even like Aaron that much, if she’s jealous that Cady is going out with Shane. It doesn’t really explain why she got back together with Aaron in the first place, but Cady doubts she’ll ever completely understand Regina.
Regina pulls into Cady’s driveway and cuts the engine, looking at Cady.
“Uh, did you want to come in?” Cady asks hesitantly.
Regina’s eyes flick to the front door, the otherwise empty driveway. Cady might be losing it, but she looks… nervous. It occurs to Cady that they haven’t hung out just the two of them—Gretchen and Karen are always there, too.
“No, that’s okay,” Regina says. She tosses her hair over her shoulder.
“Well… see you tomorrow,” Cady says. She grabs her bag and hops out of the car. When she raises her hand to wave to Regina, Regina looks away.
“What should I wear?”
“Who gives a shit?” Janis asks, her voice coming through tinny on Cady’s speakerphone. “Wait, something that shows off your boobs.”
Cady frowns down at her chest. “I don’t think I have anything that does.”
“Regina hasn’t bought you anything?”
Cady feels her face heat. “Why would Regina want to look at my boobs?”
Janis gags loudly. “Not what I said. At all.”
“Oh.” Cady flips through the long-sleeved tops she has that aren’t flannels. “I think I’m just gonna wear a sweater.”
“’Kay,” Janis says disinterestedly. “Fuck!”
“What?” Cady asks worriedly.
“Nothing, just poked myself with my sewing needle,” Janis says. There’s some rustling on her end of the line.
“What are you making?” Cady asks as she steps into a pair of jeans and yanks the sweater over her head. She picks up the perfume Regina bought her—the one that smells like vanilla and flowers.
“Regina burning down the corn maze with you and Shane inside.”
Cady nearly drops the perfume bottle. “Janis!”
“God, Cady, I’m kidding!” Janis says, laughing.
Cady brushes mascara over her eyelashes and dabs blush on her cheeks, the way Regina taught her. There’s a honk outside as she swipes gloss on her lips.
“Janis, I gotta go,” Cady says. “Shane’s here.”
“Have fun,” Janis says, laughing loudly. Then she hangs up.
“I’m going, Mom!” Cady yells as she grabs a jacket on her way out the door.
“Okay, honey, have fun—”
Cady slams the door and jumps down the steps in front of her house. Shane is waiting in his car, waving wildly.
The inside of Shane’s car smells a bit like the hallway where the boys’ locker room is—like sweaty socks—and Axe body spray. There’s a jumble of sports equipment in the backseat, and an empty air freshener pod clipped to one of the vents.
“Cady!” Shane shouts, even though Cady is right here. He’s wearing his letterman jacket.
“Hi.” Cady buckles her seatbelt.
Shane starts the car, music blaring through the speakers loud enough to make Cady wince. He quickly turns it down.
“What’s good?” Shane asks. His phone, mounted on the dashboard and open to his GPS, instructs him to make a right at the end of the street.
“Oh, you know,” Cady says vaguely.
She’s always had difficulty with “what’s up?” and its variations. It took her awhile to realize that people didn’t actually want to hear what was happening in her life on that given day; a simple “I’m good” would do.
“What did you do today?” Shane prods.
“Oh, uh, some homework. I watched a couple episodes of Predators while I did it,” Cady says.
Shane hits the brakes as a stop sign, jolting Cady forward against her seatbelt. “Predators? What’s that?”
“It’s a docuseries about predator species around the world,” Cady explains.
Shane’s brow furrows. “Predator species?”
“Yeah, like cheetahs, lions—”
“Lions?” Shane cuts in. “I fucking love lions, dude.”
Cady sits up so fast her seatbelt locks. “Really?”
“Yeah!”
“What’s your favorite sub-species?” Cady asks.
“Sub… species?” Shane repeats.
“Panthera leo leo or Panthera leo melanochaita? Also known as the northern lion and the southern lion,” Cady says. She’s been dying to talk about her favorite animals with people who aren’t her mother, but even her biology teacher seemed a little overwhelmed by Cady’s knowledge.
“Oh,” Shane says. “The northern one. You know, like North Shore.”
Cady blinks. “Like… the mascot?”
“Yeah,” Shane says, hitting his hand against the steering wheel for emphasis. “Go lions!”
Cady deflates back against her seat with the realization that Shane doesn’t know anything about lions.
“You know a lot about lions, yeah?” Shane asks. “You, like, lived with them, right?”
“Well… kind of,” Cady says. “My mom was a wildlife researcher so we lived in Kenya, and we saw a lot of lions. They were more like neighbors than roommates.”
“That is so dope,” Shane says, flashing Cady a smile. “What’s that show called again? I’ll check it out. Oh! Or maybe we could watch it together and you can tell me fun facts.”
“Predators,” Cady replies slowly. She stares at Shane, but he doesn’t seem like he’s joking, or making fun of her. “Um, yeah. Sounds fun.”
“Sick. The guys on the basketball team will bow down to me and my lion knowledge.”
Cady laughs. Maybe fake-dating Shane won’t be so bad.
“This place smells like shit.”
“Um… I’m sorry?”
Regina squints at Aaron. “Why are you apologizing?”
Aaron rubs at the back of his neck. “I don’t know.”
“Uh, hey guys,” Cady says, rocking up on her toes slightly.
Regina turns, eyes flicking between Cady and Shane. Her nose wrinkles, like she’s smelled something bad. (Worse?) “Hey.”
“Wassup?” Shane says, holding his hand up for a fist bump. Aaron returns it, but Regina just makes an ugh noise and ignores it.
“What should we do first?” Cady asks. She glances at Aaron, whose hair is flopping into his eyes. He’s wearing a sweatshirt with a navy blue down vest over it, and he’s facing her now, but she bets his butt will look cute in his jeans when he turns around.
“Corn maze!” Shane bellows, rubbing his hands together. “I wore my lucky shoes.”
Cady glances down at Shane’s feet, which are in a pair of worn Nike athletic shoes with a hole over the left big toe. She doesn’t want to think too hard about what they smell like.
Regina’s nose wrinkles more, irritation plain all over her face now, but she just shrugs.
Once they’ve paid, Shane leads the way to the entrance of the corn maze. Cady makes it a point to walk close enough to him so that their hands brush once in awhile. She peeks over her shoulder at Regina, who is looking at their hands with a frown.
“Are we ready?” Shane asks, grinning, when they reach the entrance.
Cady peers into the corn apprehensively. “What if we get lost?”
Shane points to a tower off in the distance, rising above the corn maze. “They have people up there you can call who can help you. And there are guides walking around.”
“Okay,” Cady says, feeling less nervous. “Then let’s go.”
Regina grumbles something that Cady can’t hear but trudges in after them.
Shane skips slightly ahead, running his fingers over the green stalks. “Let’s go left!”
Cady walks next to Shane as he chatters on about football and his dog and his younger brother, who plays hockey. Cady doesn’t follow most of it, except for the stuff about the dog, but Shane is so enthusiastic she finds herself smiling. She checks behind her and sees Regina has slipped on her sunglasses so it’s harder to read her face, although Cady feels pretty confident that she looks annoyed. Aaron is trailing a few paces behind her.
Suddenly, Shane’s eyes light up, and he takes off running. “This way!”
“Wait!” Cady calls, about to chase after him, but Regina stops her.
“Hang on,” Regina says, and when Cady turns, she’s crouching to the ground, hands re-tying the laces on her boot.
“We’re going to lose Shane,” Cady says, looking over her shoulder.
“Nah.” Regina stands and shows Cady her phone, open to a map with a moving dot. “I’ve got his location.”
“You do? Why?”
Regina half-smiles. “You just saw why.”
“Right,” Cady says. “I’m not a very fast runner.”
“You have to let him get his energy out or he’ll chew up your shoes,” Regina says, resuming walking.
Cady frowns. “You make him sound like a puppy.”
Regina shrugs, smile turning genuine. “There’s a lot of overlap.”
Shane’s face appears from around a corner. “Guys, come on!”
“Chill out,” Regina snaps. The smile has evaporated. For some reason, it makes Cady feel guilty.
“I found the center,” Shane says, and Cady jogs to catch up.
“What’s in the center?” Cady asks.
“You can take pictures!” Shane replies, grinning.
They make another turn, and then Cady finds herself in a circular, open space. There’s a wooden structure painted to look like stalks of corn, with holes where you can put your face to take photos.
Regina comes to a stop next to them, lowering her sunglasses and looking around. “This is lame.”
Shane shoves his phone at her. “Take our picture.”
Regina shoves her sunglasses back up and doesn’t take the phone.
“Gi, come on,” Shane goads.
“Please?” Cady adds.
Regina’s lips twist. “Fine.”
Regina takes the phone and Cady and Shane scramble to get into position.
“Say ‘corn!’” Shane says.
Cady grins for the camera as Regina disinterestedly snaps photos.
“You want me to take one of you?” Cady offers when they’re done. She looks at Aaron.
“Sure,” Aaron says, at the same time Regina scoffs and says, “No.”
“Oh, uh, that’s okay,” Aaron mutters. He looks at the ground.
Cady’s chest constricts with anger; Aaron is clearly not having fun, and Regina is too selfish to let him go. It steels her resolve, motivates her in her mission even more.
Cady grabs Shane’s hand. It’s big and rough, the opposite of the time Regina grabbed her hand to drag her around the mall.
“I could use some apple cider,” Cady says, louder than necessary to make sure Regina looks at her, before tugging Shane back into the maze.
She feels a little prickle of satisfaction at the crease that forms between Regina’s eyebrows when she looks at Cady and Shane’s joined hands.
“One cup of cider and one donut for the corn princess.”
Cady accepts the cup and the apple cider donut and frowns in confusion. “Corn princess? What’s that?”
Shane shrugs and bites off half his donut in one go. “I just made it up,” he says, mouth full. “When you complete the corn maze you become royalty.”
“Shouldn’t I be the corn queen?” Cady asks. The donut rains cinnamon sugar down the front of her sweater when she bites into it.
“Not when Regina’s around.” Shane grins at Regina. “She’s always the queen.”
Cady bets Regina rolls her eyes behind her sunglasses when she says, “Shut the fuck up.”
“Tough crowd,” Shane murmurs.
Regina’s gotten progressively crankier the more Cady has turned up the acting. When Aaron offered her a donut, she’d practically knocked it to the ground, snapping something about sugar and fat and calories. It’s making Cady feel kind of guilty, probably because Aaron is the one Regina’s lashing out at most.
Cady finishes the donut and brushes off her sweater, watching as Shane houses a second donut. Regina’s nose wrinkles in disgust, and she stands.
“I’m going to the restroom,” Regina mutters, stalking off towards the main building.
Shane chugs what’s left of his cider. “Me, too.”
It’s the first time Cady has been alone with Aaron since… well, ever. They’ve only hung out outside of school once, and it was the Halloween party. Even when they’d had one-on-one conversations, it was surrounded by their classmates.
“Hey,” Cady says, running her thumb over her lips to make sure there’s no sugar clinging to them. “How’re you?”
Aaron runs a hand through his hair. It sticks up in one place, and Cady badly wants to smooth it down.
“Good,” he says with a shrug. “Been busy with soccer, mostly.”
Cady nods. She doesn’t know anything about soccer. “And how is that… going?”
“I think we have a good shot at the state championship this year,” Aaron replies. It’s the first time Cady has seen him smile all day, and she moves to take Regina’s spot next to him on the bench.
“That’s great,” Cady says. She wishes she could actually ask him specific questions about soccer, to show that they have shared interests. “When was the last time that happened?”
“Fourteen years ago,” Aaron answers. “So it would be really cool to bring it home my senior year, you know?”
“Totally,” Cady says. She can’t think of anything to say next.
They lapse into silence until Regina comes back, Shane on her heels. Cady stands up quickly, putting some distance between herself and Aaron.
“Apple picking time?” Shane asks.
“Okay!” Cady says. She’s never picked apples before.
Regina sighs as if this is some huge burden but says nothing.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Cady looks from Shane to the top of the tree doubtfully.
“Yeah, man,” Shane says. He’s crouching on the ground, surrounded by decaying apples that have fallen off the tree. “Come on.”
“Well… okay.” Hesitantly, Cady climbs onto his broad shoulders. Shane grips her shins as he slowly stands.
Cady’s head brushes the leaves of the tree as she rises to eye-level with the apples. She reaches for the apple they had been eyeing—shiny, red, and big enough to be cradled in both her hands—and plucks it off the branch. She drops it down into Shane’s hand, who puts it in their basket.
“Which one next?” Shane asks.
Cady looks around and spies another apple similar in size and condition. “Move forward a little.”
Cady picks a few more apples before she asks Shane to let her down. He starts to lower himself, then quickly drops a few inches. It’s brief, but Cady screams, hands fisting in Shane’s hair. Cady’s lower body shakes as Shane laughs, gently placing her on the ground.
“Relax, dude,” he says, hair sticking up on one side. “I was just kidding.”
Cady shoves at his shoulder, but she’s laughing, too. “You’re the worst.”
“Would the worst person do this?” Shane asks, lifting Cady into the air and spinning her around.
“Cut it out!” Cady says through her laughter.
“Okay, okay,” Shane says, carefully depositing Cady on the ground and grabbing the basket.
He takes her hand to lead her back over to where Aaron and Regina are picking apples at another tree. Well, Aaron is picking apples. Regina is leaning against the tree, phone out; her thumbs fly over the screen, but she’s glaring directly at Cady, every muscle in her face tense, like she’s grinding her teeth.
“Are you done?” Regina asks, and Cady gets the distinct feeling that she isn’t asking about apples.
Cady’s stomach flips over. She’s never been able to shake this weird, nervous feeling she always has around Regina. Even when Regina is being nice to her, doing her makeup or laughing at a funny tweet at the lunch table, Cady can’t shake the anxiety that boils at a low grade in her stomach. It’s hard to reconcile Regina’s prickly personality with her stunning beauty—even now, with Regina scowling at her like Cady just rear-ended her car, Regina is breathtakingly gorgeous. Her hair falls in perfect waves down her back, and her skin seems to glow whereas Cady is pretty sure that her own nose is red from the cooling, late-afternoon air.
Cady realizes that she’s just been staring at Regina, saying nothing, and clears her throat. “Yeah, I think we’re good.”
“Good,” Regina says curtly, turning and walking in the direction of the main building, not pausing to let anyone catch up.
Cady sees Regina veer off towards the parking lot rather than the building, where they have to weigh and pay for their apples. She hands Shane the basket and says she’ll be right back before running to catch up to Regina.
“Regina!” Cady calls, taking care not to trip on the uneven gravel of the parking lot. “Where are you going?”
Regina whips her head around to face Cady, and for a moment, Cady thinks she’s going to scream at her.
“To my car,” Regina says, voice low, which is somehow worse.
“You don’t want to look at the gift shop?” Cady asks, trying to smile.
Slowly, Regina turns her body to fully face her. “No.”
They stare at each other in silence for a few moments while Cady gathers the courage to ask, “Are you mad at me?”
Regina’s eyes slide away. “No.”
“Are you sure? Because you seem—”
“I’m fine,” Regina cuts her off. “Just… cramps.”
“Oh,” Cady says. She isn’t sure if she should believe that. “Um, okay.”
They go back to staring at each other. Cady suddenly becomes self-conscious about what to do with her arms—she crosses them, then uncrosses them and tucks her hands in her pockets.
“Well… I’m going to go inside. I want to get some apple butter for my mom,” Cady says, jerking her thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the building. “You sure you don’t want to come?”
Regina reaches up and pulls off her sunglasses, hooking one of the arms in the front pocket of her pants. The setting sun behind her makes her hair glow gold, making her look ethereal, angelic. For a moment, it takes Cady’s breath away.
Regina looks at her, and then her face softens, just a little. “Fine.”
For some reason, it feels like a victory. Cady waves Regina over. “Then let’s go.”
“Apple butter sounds disgusting, you know,” Regina tells her.
“No, you’re just weird,” Cady shoots back.
Regina snorts. “You’re dating the weirdest person I know. Well, besides you.”
Cady opens her mouth, the words we’re not dating on her tongue, before she catches herself. “That’s why we work, I guess,” she says instead.
Regina’s expression shifts into something more closed-off. “Yeah.”
They walk in silence the rest of the way up to the building.
Cady finds Shane and Aaron by a display of caramel- and chocolate-covered apples. Before she can get a word out, Regina marches up to Aaron, tugs on his hand, and kisses him. Aaron makes an mmph of surprise as Regina’s hand slides into his back pocket possessively.
“What was that for?” Aaron asks, a little dazedly, when they part.
Regina looks directly at Cady. “No reason.”
Cady swallows down the sick feeling pushing its way up her esophagus. It’s on, she thinks.