Page 13 of The Bad Boyfriend Curse
Finally, Lainey, who’s in shorts and her yellow windbreaker again, slams her hand onto her clipboard to get our attention. “Hope you’re all ready for more hard work! Today half of you will be weeding like yesterday, and the rest will work with Jeff from the parks department. The trees at the far end of the park badly need some maintenance.” She looks to the table of boys to her right. “Okay, how about those at this table weed again.” Then she points at my table. “And the rest of you will work with Jeff. Tomorrow we’ll switch roles. Choose your own partners, because I don’t want anyone working with someone they don’t like while having access to sharp pruning shears.”
I exhale. None of these people likes me.
“I’ll be your partner,” Kennedy says to me. She still has that wide smile, and I can’t tell if she’s being serious. Maybe she decided we should be friends since we’re the only girls here? Or maybe she wants to steal my phone this time.
“Nah, Kennedy,” Noah says. “Meera and I said we’d be partners again today.” My eyes widen at him. When exactly did he and I decide to be partners again?
Working with flirty Noah seems like a bad idea, so I’m about to tell him I’d rather work with Kennedy, when she does her little growl.
“Stay out of this, Jacobs.” She turns to me again, smiling widely in the blink of an eye. Okay, she’s definitely acting suspiciously. “C’mon, Meera. Girls should stick together, don’t you think?”
“Kennedy, leave her alone,” Noah says with a warning tone in his voice. He gives me an intense look, and honestly, it kind of leaves me a little breathless. Noah knows exactly how to use those striking eyes of his. They’re really more warm brown than the black I thought they were yesterday. And his eyelashes are long with the slightest curl to them. And… This is why I shouldn’t work with Noah Jacobs.
I’m about to turn to Kennedy to acquiesce, but I catch Noah’s eyes—and there’s something in his expression, something that reminds me of when he backed off when I told him I wasn’t interested in him. Something that makes me think I’m safe with him. I nod slightly to Noah. “Yup. You and me again,” I say.
Kennedy growls and stomps off to go with the blond guy.
“All right,” Lainey yells. “Weeders, grab your tools and bags. The rest of you, follow me. I’ll take you to Jeff.”
I let Kennedy and Noah’s blond friend go ahead, hanging back a bit because I have no idea how mad Kennedy is. Noah also hangs back and walks with me.
“When Kennedy saw the pruning shears, she said she was going to prune your hair,” Noah says. He’s not looking at me, and he’s being quiet enough that I doubt anyone else heard him.
I wince as my hand instinctively goes to my hair. I’ve been growing it for years, and Kennedy was about to lop it all off. So much for wanting to be friends.
Why is Noah protecting me? Or is he trying to be my savior? Sadie did tell me not to trust him. But yesterday he got my earbuds back and was respectful of my boundaries, and now this. It really seems like he’s actually a stand-up guy.
But I can’t start liking him too much. I may not be able to control the curse, but like Keeley said, I can control my choices.
I adjust my hairband, also avoiding looking at him. “Thanks. It’s cool of you to help me out.”
He doesn’t say anything, just shrugs.
“Why does Kennedy hate me so much?”
He laughs at that. “Kennedy hateseveryone. She’s… had it rough, though. Don’t worry about her.”
As we follow Lainey toward the back of the park, we walk past an old falling-apart gazebo near the fence that separates the park from the LeClair grounds. It looks like it used to be white but is now grayish with chipped paint and has a ton of missing shingles on the roof. It probably used to be pretty, though, with a vented double roof and lots of decorative wood accents.
“They should tear that thing down.” I nod at the gazebo. “I feel like I need a tetanus shot, just looking at it.”
“Yeah, they probably will,” Noah says, and I think I hear something sad in his voice. “It’ll never be what it used to be. I’m sure the fancy LeClair executives in their gilded tower hate looking at the thing. I mean, that’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”
I decide not to mention that my stepfather is a LeClair executive, and an actual LeClair. “What do you mean, that’s why we’re here?”
He raises a brow at me. “You know that LeClair Industries is bankrolling this whole cleanup, right? They got tired of a place that looks likethe real Cherrybridgeright next to their perfect plant. Meanwhile, their plant is literally a factory, despite them trying to make it look like a country club or something. But that’s what this town is all about. Hiding the real in favor of the fake.”
I tilt my head. Yesterday Kaitlyn said that south of the river—where this park, LeClair Industries, and Cherrybridge High are—isn’t thereal Cherrybridgeand that the rich neighborhoods north of the river are. Now Noah is saying the opposite, but what’s the truth?
“Not that I know what the country club looks like,” Noah says, breaking into my thoughts. “Never been to it. Always been curious, though.” He chuckles to himself. “I’d love to see the looks on their faces ifIwalked in there.”
Mom and Jason’s wedding was at the country club. But like my LeClair connection, I don’t mention it.
Jeff is waiting for us when we get to the row of large spruce trees that line one portion of the back of the park. He’s a white man with red hair and skinny arms and legs, and he’s wearing a dark green polo shirt and khaki shorts. I don’t know why, but he reminds me of Animal from the Muppets. After showing us what branches to cut, he gives us one set of long-handled shears, one pair of gloves, and one paper compost bag. He tells us to get to work on opposite ends of the rowof trees. Noah takes the shears and starts walking. I quickly pick up the bag and gloves and follow him.
“So, you’ll do the pruning for a while, and then we’ll switch?” I ask when we get to the last tree at the far end of the fence.
“Sure.” He lines up the blades on an unruly branch and snips it off. I pluck it off the ground and put it into the paper compost bag.
