The Wild One by Melinda Metz Read Free Book Online Page B

diplomat or something. She was always coming up with compromises, trying to make everyone happy.
    â€œIs holding hands okay with everyone?” Tish asked. Most of the girls nodded or grunted, and no one said no. “Okay, that’s it, then. I’ll hold everyone’s money. We pretty much all eat lunch in the quad, so we’ll be able to see who ends up holding hands with Nikolas first—Isabel or Stacey.”
    Fine, Isabel thought. I got it. To humiliate Stacey, all I have to do is hold hands with Nikolas Branson. No problem. Except for Alex. Alex ate lunch in the quad pretty much every day, too. Which meant he’d see the hand holding.
    Isabel slammed her locker door shut. Hey, she and Alex danced once at homecoming. They went miniature golfing, and she kissed him. That’s it. Well, besides hanging out sometimes with the whole group. She didn’t owe him anything.
    I can’t believe I’m worried about Alex seeing me hold hands with another guy I’m losing it, Isabel thought.
    Isabel was always telling Tish that a little jolt of jealousy was good for keeping a guy’s interest. She wasn’t ready to be anybody’s girlfriend, even Alex’s. She wanted to be free to have fun—with whoever she pleased. But somehow it didn’t feel right to play games like that with Alex. She just had a feeling he’d see right through her. He understood her. And he got to her in a way that other guys didn’t.
    Maybe the whole snag-Nikolas contest was a good thing. It would remind Alex and
her
that there was nothing serious going on between them.
    Isabel added a little dark blue mascara to her lashes, which made her eyes look even bluer. She touched up her lipstick and dabbed on a little of the perfume Maria mixed up for her. She loved the combination of citrus and spice. She just wasn’t the sweet flowery type.
    â€œSo are you going to look for him now?” Tish asked, keeping her voice low.
    â€œThat’s right. Stacey’s not going to have a chance,” Isabel answered, loud enough for everyone to hear. She strolled out of the locker room and into the gym. She decided the bleachers would be a good place to wait for Nikolas to “run into” her.
    The door to the guys’ locker room swung open. Isabel took a quick peek. Just John Andrews and Richard Jamison. She gave them a little smile, just to sort of get the guy-attracting muscles warmed up. They veered toward her. Oops. She didn’t mean to actually encourage them to come over.
    Isabel flipped open her binder and locked hereyes on one of the pages. John and Richard hesitated, then continued out of the gym.
Good boys
, Isabel thought. She could have kept them around so that when Nikolas came out she had a little entourage around her. But some guys didn’t like that. It intimidated them or something. Nikolas didn’t especially look like a guy who was bothered by a little competition, but it didn’t hurt to play it safe. She could always get a couple of the other football players to come over and flirt with her if Nikolas turned out to be the type who enjoyed beating out other guys.
    The door to the girls’ locker room opened, and Stacey bounced into the gym. Isabel waved to her, and Stacey’s lips turned down in a tiny frown. She wasn’t pleased that Isabel had staked out the bleachers. Poor baby.
    Isabel couldn’t stop a grin from stretching across her face as Stacey flounced out of the gym. A few seconds later Craig Cachopo and Doug Highsinger burst out of the guys’ locker room. They did some loud mock fighting as they passed the bleachers. Isabel wondered how guys ever got it in their heads that this somehow impressed girls. As if she was going to look at one of them and think, Whoa, that boy does a pretty convincing fake choke hold. I want him.
    A couple of Stacey-ettes practically skipped past her. Tish came out of the locker room a few seconds later. She just