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Ely-Boo.”
    “Matt!”
    “And I want weekly reports on what’s happening with Dale.”
    “I can’t believe you’re taking his side.”
    “Are you joking? I can’t wait to see this!”
    Yup, Ellis was doomed.

Chapter Three
     
     
    ELLIS HATED eating in the cafeteria. He hated eating there alone even more, but he’d had no choice today. Anna was somewhere in the school making out with Rick, after Ellis had insisted he’d be fine, and he didn’t have other close friends who would sit with him at lunch. Yep, this was really a bad Friday.
    He glared at his plate and pushed the broccoli around, but it didn’t help make it look more edible.
    “Don’t you know you should never eat the cafeteria’s vegetables? They’re toxic.”
    Ellis sighed. “What do you want, Dale?”
    Ellis watched as Dale put his tray on the other side of the table, in front of Ellis, and sat down. Dale looked around and asked, “Why are you alone? Where’s the girl from the other day?”
    “With her boyfriend.”
    Dale grimaced. “That sucks.”
    “Why are you here?”
    “Because I need to eat.”
    Ellis couldn’t refute that. Dale was wolfing down his french fries as if he expected someone to steal them. “But why here?”
    “Why not?”
    Ellis resisted the urge to strangle Dale. “You can’t hurt him,” he mumbled to himself. “You still need him to work on the English project with you.”
    Dale shot him an amused glance. “You often talk to yourself?”
    “I hate you.”
    “Aww, thanks.” Dale stuffed another fry in his mouth, and Ellis looked around. They were drawing the attention of more than a few people in the cafeteria. Several curious glances were directed their way, half the school would know Dale had eaten with some random guy by the end of the day. Great.
    “What do you want, Dale?”
    Dale wiped his fingers clean with his napkin. “Can’t I be friendly without a reason?”
    “Why? You never said even one word to me in the years we’ve gone to school together. Why now?”
    “’Cause I like you, you moron.”
    Ellis froze. “You what?”
    “I like you. In a totally platonic and friendly way, of course.”
    “Of course.”
    “Yeah. I mean, you’re funny and smart, and we have a lot in common.”
    Ellis cocked a brow. “We do? Because I’m not sure I can think of even one thing we have in common.”
    Dale looked around and leaned toward Ellis. Ellis unconsciously mirrored him before he could stop himself. “I like Harry Potter ,” Dale whispered, his eyes moving to see if anyone was listening in.
    “What?”
    “Your T-shirt. The other day.”
    “Oh.”
    “Yeah, you said you didn’t know how many people would’ve got it, but I did because I love those books.” Dale moved away.
    “That’s all?”
    “Aww, come on. We started talking six days ago. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of other stuff we have in common. Besides, Harry Potter is as good a basis for friendship as anything, if not better.”
    Ellis narrowed his eyes. “Who’s your favorite character?”
    “Snape, hands down.”
    “Huh. Maybe you’re not so bad after all.”
    “Told you so.” Dale gave Ellis a satisfied smile and started eating again.
    “What about your girlfriend? Doesn’t she want to eat with you?”
    “Nah. We’re going out tonight anyway. It’s not like we’re joined at the hip or anything.”
    Ellis saw Stephanie at the table she and Dale normally shared, talking with her group of friends. She looked up and her eyes locked with Ellis’s. He suddenly felt uncomfortable, but she just smiled at him before turning back to her conversation.
    Dale smiled smugly. “See? Told you she doesn’t care.”
    Ellis looked up again, but this time it was Mark’s eyes he met. Ellis immediately lowered his gaze, not waiting for Mark to make his usual silent threat. He’d seen the guy crack his knuckles too many times to want to see it again. It did work as a threat, though, and Ellis had to admit he was tempted to run