Page 12 of Silk Sheets

“Yeah,” I breathlessly said, each of us carrying a heavy box.

All the cheerleaders—and some of our friends—were helping set up for the car wash.

As soon asSweet Dreamsby Eurythmics boomed through the speakers, everyone froze, immediately shifting their eyes to Darnell. He was sitting next to the speaker with his phone in his hand.

He awkwardly smiled before jumping up on a chair to start singing, using his phone as a microphone, and performed for us. A few people, including myself, chuckled before continuing with what we were doing.

“No, Agatha. That’s all wrong!” Celeste—looking like the epitome of a cheer captain with her pitch black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, accessorised with a huge red bow—groaned in annoyance. “Do you want us to be the laughing stock of the school?” she rhetorically seethed.

“My name is Amy,” the girl corrected Celeste, who didn’t pay her any mind and proceeded to fix the sign herself.

Amy stepped back, and I shot her an apologetic look.

“Just go ruin something else,” Celeste waved Amy away, heavily exhaling.

I watched Amy wrap her arms around her stomach as she hurried away in embarrassment.

“Oh! Girls! What do you think?” Celeste beamed at Daisy and me, doing jazz hands in front of the sign.

“Ithinkyou need to be nicer to people whovoluntarilydecide to help you,” I stated, and she dramatically dropped her hands, the smile vanishing off her face in an instant.

“Oh, come on, Daffodil,” she rolled her eyes, jumping off the chair.She calls me that because I remind her of one.“The girl was doing everything wrong. She painted the cars brown when I specifically said blue, black, red, and or leave them white. Then she added glitter to the water on the posters and as much as I love glitter, even I know it doesn’t belong in the water for a car wash poster,” she rested her hands on her hips, utterly agitated. “She was a mess.”

“I’m sure she was trying.”

“Not hard enough,” Celeste mumbled, and Daisy and I shared a knowing look. “Okay, okay!” she defensively threw her hands up before crossing her arms over her chest. “Stop giving each other that look that says you’re silently judging me,” she wiggled her finger between the two of us.

“Promise me you’ll be nicer,” I pinned her with a look.

“Fine,” she murmured. “I’ll be nicer,” she averted my gaze.

“Thank you,” I sighed, turning to drop my box on top of Daisy’s.

Celeste had her good days, but you didn’t want to be her enemy. She was as vile as they got, and unfortunately for some girls—and guys—on campus, they’ve fallen victim to her.

“Genevieve!” Celeste forced through her teeth as she clenched her fists at her side.

The girl’s name was Jenna. Celeste couldn’t be bothered to learn the real names of people. Unless they were her friends, she simply didn’t care.

I stood upright, noticing that Jenna was on the receiving end of Celeste’s glare.

Carefully, I slipped my arm around Celeste’s waist, and she immediately tensed, looking at me.

“Isn’t Jenna just working so hard and doing her best?” I asked, and she opened her mouth to protest but simply stared at me.

“Uh-huh,” was all she could get out, and I smiled.

“You should probably tell her,” I leaned in to whisper.

Celeste smiled, looking at me, and I nodded encouragingly.

“Good job, Janine,” she forced through her teeth, trying her best to have the nicest, most convincing smile.Good enough.

“I’ll be right back,” I said to Celeste, shifting my attention to Daisy. “Has Solace arrived yet?” I asked as her and I headed towards the booth we set up for payment.

“I think I saw her dragging Asher towards the back by his ear,” she pointed her thumb over her shoulder.Okay, that’s weird.Maybe he just made her mad again.

I brushed it off, and Daisy and I continued doing our part, even getting distracted now and then.