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can i fucking help you?

    "Explain."

     I don't know how I ended up here, but right now I have TJ cornered into a wall, facing me with such a boastful posture that he clearly isn't smart enough to avoid. Because I'm going to ruin him.

     And all he's doing is grinning at me.

    "What do you want me to say?" he casually says. "You wanted intel on Reynolds, and that's what I gave you."

    "You didn't say it was common knowledge!" I demand. "What the hell?"

    "I did tell you that you weren't the first person to come up to me about her," he yawns, and I'm forcefully hit with the realisation that he's right. "I just gave you the same info as I did with the other losers who think they have a chance with Justine. Not my fault she already knew the game."

     I internally groan. How could I be so stupid? 

     But TJ couldn't have not known about that. He would try to get his hands dirty on anything worth whispering about. Missing that tiny detail is just too sloppy for him.

    "You knew, didn't you?" I squint at him. "That Justine would see through it all."

    "It was a guess. Or a hopeful wish." I resist the urge to smack him. "Jesus, Hale. Was it really that bad?"

    "You made him look like — " I stop, realising my mistake.

    "Ah." He leans forward now, intrigue in his eyes. "So you are just a spokesperson for someone else. Playing their strings."

     I roll my eyes, but I'm secretly a bit worried. God knows what TJ would do if he found out that Dalton High's certified heartbreaker was trying to win Justine Reynolds' pants — I mean, heart. "It's none of your business."

   "Whoever he is, he won't make it," he calls after me, as I walk away. "None of them ever do!"

***

    "So? How'd it go?" Trey asks persistently. "Did you punch him in the face?"

     I let out a scoff. "Trust me, I would love to. Didn't want to give him the satisfaction."

     We're walking near the back of the school where there's not much people. It's crazy how secretive we're trying to be; I wouldn't have imagined this task to be as difficult as it is.

    "So, we're busted, aren't we?"

     I look at him for a while, and he seems to be genuinely disappointed at the turn of events. And suddenly I'm having a serious deal of determination to prove Justine — and TJ — wrong. It just really stings when people already think you're a lost cause, and hell, if both of them truly believe it, then things needed to change.

    "No," I deny. "We're not. We just need to think outside the box."

    "And what do you suggest?"

     I thought about it, rubbing my chin in my hands. "How about a pick-up line?"

     Trey rolls his eyes so far up ahead I think he's going to disappear into another galaxy. "Those are boring and overrated. My face has proven to be enough."

    "Yeah, and that worked so well with Justine."

     He glowers at me, and I internally pat myself in the back. Finally, some real emotions instead of artificial grins all the time. "I'm beginning to question if I found the right person or not, Addie. You're giving me second thoughts."

    "Then help me help you."

     We're both silent for a while, minds on other ends. Then he suddenly whips his head at me. "Give me that little note you made."

     He's referring to the note I had listed on Justine's character from TJ's intel. "Okay?" I frown, reaching into my side pocket. "But why — "

     He grabs it and skims the paper. Then he snaps his fingers, eyes wide.

    "Her brother. Her twin brother."

     I raise my eyebrows. "Okay? Dude, I'm completely lost here."

     Trey shakes my shoulders like an excited child. "The only way we'll truly get to know her is if we actually get to know her. Forget about the gossip mill and whoever-that-guy's-name generic facts. Someone needs to get into her inner circle. Find out all the little details that's not published online. And Justine's close with her brother. Get close to him, and it's an automatic pass to gain her trust. It's a two-way ticket."

     The fact that he's saying all this while looking at me makes me nervous.

    "I don't like where this is —"

    "Adelaide Hale," he grins, circling us back to the main entrance. His eyes scan the crowd like he's searching for someone in particular. "Meet your new best friend — Jude Reynolds."

***

     Jude.

     Jude Jude Jude.

     The guy that I basically just stalked on Facebook.

     He's five feet away from me.

    "Go on," Liv pushes. She's enjoying this a lot. Seeing me nervous is like her early birthday present.

    "He's talking to his friends," I hiss.

    "Are you blind? He's alone." She looks over the tree and heads back in. "This is one of those rare times when his flock of jocks aren't surrounding him, Addie. It's now or never."

     She's slightly exaggerating, but she's right. Jude is usually flanked by his other bulky friends. This should be your golden opportunity, Trey would say.

     I still can't believe he's making me do this. His whole reason was that if I made an effort to get close to her brother, it wouldn't be as suspicious if Trey did it. And he does have a good point. But I'm dragged into it. My role has turned from passive to active. I'm thrown into the limelight right now.

     So much for being the Remy to Trey's Linguini. 

     And the worst thing is, I'm not even that objected to it. Because I actually want him to win this stubborn girl's heart just for the sake of proving people wrong.

     I take a deep breath and step out of the tree.

     Walking closer with my back straight and chin held high, he finally glances up from his phone to look at me. But his stare only rests for a second — doing a short once-over — before going back to his phone. Like what he sees definitely isn't in his interest.

     Okay. That doesn't hurt at all.

     I'm literally standing in front of him right now. None of us makes a move. He obviously knows I'm here but he chooses to ignore me. Or he's waiting for me to speak first.

     I clear my throat.

     He raises his eyebrows at me. That one movement makes me want to melt into the ground. I just don't know whether it's because he's hotter in real life or just terrifying to look at.

    "Can I fucking help you?" he asks in his deep masculine voice.

    "Uh..." I stutter. What do I say? I didn't think I could've made it this far! "You're not allowed to smoke in school grounds."

     I'm an idiot. I know he's not smoking, but I spot the pack of cigarettes peeking out from his pocket, so that's what popped in my mind. He shoves that pack further deep.

    "I'm not smoking," he says roughly. "But if I were, who's gonna stop me? You?"

     I gulp. I'm not making him my enemy, am I? "There's teachers — "

    " — who've also seen a lot of us smoking. They don't do shit about it." He pauses. "If you came all this way to give me a lecture about how I'm going to die young, you can go back to your tree. I've heard enough."

     Oh my God. "I wasn't... that was my — "

    "Friend," he finishes. "With your friend." He actually looks past me and gives Liv a stiff wave, his eyes not softening a bit. Just as I look back, I catch Liv ducking into the said tree. Not from me I suppose.

     I'm facing him again. He stares hard at me, as if daring me to challenge him. Jude's mouth turns up a bit. 

     Great, he finds this amusing.

    "We weren't stalking you, I swear," and my cheeks turn red, realising that's exactly what stalkers would say. "We just really care about the environment. Hence why we were... behind that tree. Protecting the environment."

     Damn. Nice save.

    "Uhuh," Jude mutters, still unconvinced. "Well, if you're done saving the world," he continues, getting a cigarette from his pack, lighting it up and taking a blow right in front of me, "why don't you save yourself from embarrassment for a change?"

     I blink, now knowing what to say.

     And when he gives me another stoic expression and walks away, I finally let out a breath that I'm holding. Then I smack myself in the face.

     The twins are more similar than I originally thought. They're blunt and clearly don't take shit from anyone. They certainly know how to see through people, and they kicked both me and Trey's asses.

     I could barely hold one Reynolds in my grasp.

     And now I get to deal with the other twin, right in my hands.

    "How it'd go?" Liv presses as I return to our tree.

     I bite my lip, the first time realising that I absolutely do not know how all of this was going to end. "We're in deeper trouble than we thought."

A/N: The Reynolds twins are forces to be reckon with, I'd honestly be afraid of them if they were in my high school.