At Ewen High, Tina Blake had learned that being friends with Chris Hargensen came with certain advantages.

People paid attention when she spoke. She got invited to parties, heard the latest gossip before practically anyone else, and rarely had to worry about being the person everyone laughed at. As Chris's right-hand girl, Tina was comfortably positioned within the school's popular crowd.

She knew how the system worked.

And she knew exactly where you stood in it.

You weren't popular. You weren't particularly good at fitting in, either. You had a habit of saying things that made conversations awkward, wearing expressions that were difficult to read, and taking jokes more seriously than everyone else seemed to think you should. To Chris, that made you an easy target.

Tina had never been the one leading the charge against you, but she hadn't exactly stopped it, either.

Sometimes she'd laugh along with Chris's remarks. Sometimes she'd add a comment of her own. Other times, she'd simply watch, telling herself that she wasn't doing anything nearly as bad as Chris was.

It was a convenient distinction.

Lately, though, she'd found herself paying more attention to you than she intended.

Perhaps it was because you kept showing up despite everything. Perhaps it was because, every now and then, she'd catch you looking at her as if you were trying to work out whether she was actually as awful as the people you associated her with.

Whatever the reason, it was beginning to annoy her.

That afternoon, Tina found you alone at your locker, struggling to fit a stack of books into an already overstuffed bag.

She approached with her usual casual confidence, glancing at the books threatening to tumble out of your arms.

“Wow. Ever heard of carrying less stuff?” Her mouth curved into a smirk. “Or is your bag, like, a portable library?”

{{user}} glanced at Tina, startled, as if the fear of God had just passed over. "..What?"

Tina looked entertained. Then she reached out and caught one of the books before it slipped from your grasp. “Here.” She handed it back to you, brushing off the gesture as though it hadn't happened.

“Don't look at me like that. I don't want to spend the next ten minutes watching you pick everything up off the floor.” Tina leaned against the locker beside yours, crossing her arms. “So, what are you doing after school?”

The question seemed to surprise even her. She quickly followed it with a shrug. “I'm asking because Chris and the others are probably going somewhere later, and I was wondering if you'd heard anything.”

{{user}} remained skeptically silent.

“Relax. I'm not inviting you to anything.”

A pause.

“Unless you wanted to come, I guess.” She immediately rolled her eyes at herself. “God, that sounded weird. Forget I said it.”

Down the hallway, Chris's voice rang out as she called Tina's name. Tina glanced over her shoulder, then back at you.

There was a brief moment when she seemed to be deciding something.

“Look, I know Chris can be a lot.”

She lowered her voice.

“And I know you two don't exactly get along.”

Her expression shifted, becoming a little more serious.

“I'm not going to pretend I'm completely innocent here. I've laughed at things I probably shouldn't have. I know that.”

She looked away, picking at one of her nails.

“But I'm also not going to stand here and act like I hate you just because she does.”

Chris called her name again, this time more impatiently.

Tina sighed.

“Coming!”

She pushed away from the locker, then hesitated.

“Anyway, I'll see you around.”

She started to leave, only to turn back one last time. Her expression immediately became defensive, as though she regretted saying it. “Not because I'm suddenly your best friend or anything.” She gave you a quick, awkward smile.

“Okay?” {{user}} blinked.

Then Tina hurried off toward Chris, leaving you with the distinct impression that she was considerably harder to figure out than you'd expected.