Page 4 of A Million To Fall

Not at Lily. At me.

I think.

Something in my stomach swoops.

He shuts his locker and walks toward us.

“Hey Boston,” Lily says, her voice off-pitch.

She’s been hung up on Boston for weeks now, frequently talking my ear off about pretend-scenarios in which he asks her out.

I grin at her obvious crush on him, even though a tiny, stupid part of me doesn’t feel like grinning. I shove that part down. There’s no way I’m competing with my best friend for a boy. Lily has already staked her claim—and it’s sisters before misters, after all.

“Morning Boss.” I smile.

“What’s up guys?” Boston’s gray eyes are bright.

“Not much, just about to fail my physics test,” Lily whines.

“No, you won’t,” he assures her, chuckling. “You’ve been doing great during the practice runs.”

“Well, you’re a good tutor.” Lily flashes him a smile, then does that thing where she shimmies her shoulders to emphasize her chest.

Boston doesn’t seem to notice. His gaze lands on me. “Congrats on winning the regional championship, Stormy.”

The smile on my face is immediate—both at the nickname he still calls me and his praise.

After months of competing against other high school mock trial teams in and around Minneapolis, my team took home the regional trophy and qualified for the state championships. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, I won the award for best plaintiff's attorney in the fake wrongful death case loosely based on the death of the lead singer of a band that was famous decades ago.

Considering what my dad does for a living, I was over the moon. And so were my parents.

“Thanks, Boss,” I say, beaming. “I didn’t think anyone knew.”

He holds up his phone. “The school posted it this morning. You looked really nice in that black suit.”

Not sure if the janitor turned up the thermostat in the building, but it’s suddenly very hot in here.

“Thank you.” Pretty sure I could fry an egg on my face.

He swallows. “I actually meant to ask you—”

“Boss!” someone calls from down the hallway.

Jake grins as he approaches with Pacey and Lily’s cousin Jonathan in tow. “You’re coming to my party on Friday, yeah?”

“Dude, I told you I’ll try, but no promises,” Boston says.

Pacey scoffs next to Jake. “I don’t know why the fuck you even bother, Jake. Boss hasn’t been to a party in forever, man.”

Jake jumps to Boston’s defense. “Because unlike your lazy ass, Boss works and shit.”

Pacey just rolls his eyes, then leans against the locker next to Lily and plasters a grin onto his face. “You’re going to be there though, right?”

Only recently has Pacey started flirting with Lily. It’s a strange new dynamic because we’ve known him almost as long as we’ve known Boston and Jake. Weird how these things happen sometimes, how it’s possible to go from friendship to wanting so much more without even realizing it until you wake up one day and see the person you’ve known practically all your life in this whole new light.

“Sure am,” Lily breathes.

“Sweet,” Pacey drawls.