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on the Popularity Fringe between Notable and Not able. Which explains why he just nodded at me and kept walking without saying a word. Or maybe he thought it’d be best for me not to come to Notable attention.
    The girls giggled at something Patrick said, and I couldn’t help wishing they would choke on their lattes or get massive brain freezes. I felt like such an idiot plastered against the side of Logan’s shiny black car while I stared slack-jawed at the Notables. There was no way the Evil Trio had missed me. And yet none of them so much as waved in my direction. I was still standing there when Logan walked out holding our drinks.
    “Logan!”
    Again, not me. The squeal came from Chelsea, and since she was bringing over her essay in a few hours I thought she was overdoing it. Not that Logan seemed to mind. He just raised an eyebrow at her enthusiastic greeting. Maybe that’s how girls like Chelsea got boyfriends: by showing lots of enthusiasm and cleavage.
    “Hey, man.” That came from Patrick. I tried not to laugh. It just seemed so … forced, like he had wanted to say, “Yo, dude. What’s up?” but knew he would sound like a moron, so he was settling for moron lite. Which, in my opinion, was totally adorable.
    I took a deep breath.
Okay,
I ordered myself,
time to stop being such a wimp.
Any second Logan was going to hand me my drink and the other Notables wouldn’t be able to pretend they hadn’t seen me.
    So I made the first move. I walked right over to the group of them, keeping my eyes on the mocha Frappuccino the whole time so I could act cool. That didn’t work so well when it was in my hands.
    “Um, thanks,” I muttered. “I’ll pay you back later.”
    “Don’t worry about it,” Logan said easily. I guess when your college tuition is squared away, you don’t have to be stingy about money. I couldn’t help being a little envious. It seemed so nice to spend money without wondering how much each item would set back your timetable for a college laptop.
    “I’ll pay you back later,” I insisted.
    “Hey, are the two of you dating or something?” Patrick said uncertainly. I choked on my drink, but it had nothing to do with laughter.
    “Good one,” tittered Chelsea. “Like the two of them would be dating!”
    She was a darling. Really.
    “Um, no. No, no, no.” Maybe I should’ve stopped after just one “no.”
    Patrick grinned and I felt my knees weaken. He just looked so sweet with his chocolatey brown eyes all melty—like the mocha Frappuccino I was holding in my hands. I inched a little closer to him. I just couldn’t resist—the smile pulled me in.
    “Just getting some coffee,” said Logan.
    “Yeah,” I confirmed. “Because it increases alertness and is a great study agent. Did you know that coffee has been used as currency before?”
    Patrick shook his head slowly to silently communicate that I was committing a huge faux pas. The girls stared at me in disbelief while Logan sipped his drink and looked amused.
    “Why would we want to know that?” Chelsea asked snarkily.
    “Um … because it’s interesting?”
    I kept my eyes on Patrick so that my insides would stay soft and gooey. I’d freeze up instantly if I met one of the Evil Trio’s cool-eyed gazes. Logan put his hand on my shoulder (shutting me up instantly) and said, “I’ll see you guys later.” Then he steered me to the car. I waited until we were both buckled before I turned to him.
    “It would be cool, right?”
    “Yeah, it’d be cool.”
    I hadn’t expected him to agree with me. He was looking at me intently, evaluating with his suspicious gray eyes, and I tried not to squirm in my seat.
    Sometimes it felt like he was the tutor and I was the one failing the tests.

Chapter 6
    “I had no idea you were into Patrick.” Logan’s voice was bland with just a hint of amusement.
    “Wh-What makes you think
that?
” I managed to stutter.
    “The way you were drooling over him was kind of a hint.”
    I stared