Page 98 of Foolish Games

The thought of seeing Vivienne again fills me with dread, but I must have some masochistic tendencies, because it’s the only thing that gets me out of bed and back to school the morning after break. I look for her in the hall and hurry to science in hopes she’ll still be in the classroom. At lunch, she doesn’t show up at our table. Of course not. The only reason a nerd would be accepted at the jock table is when they’re dating.

“Where’s Viv?” I ask Robert when I don’t see her at the nerd table, either.

“Don’t fucking worry about it,” he says, glaring at me.

“She okay?”

“She’s fine,” he says. “Better than fine. But you should go sit over there with the other losers. I think your welcome here is over.”

I glance around and see that a bunch of the guys are giving me resentful looks. They probably don’t care much that I lied to them, but I broke the code. I fucked my best friend’s sister, and if I did that, what would I do to the rest of them? I’m the fuck up, and if we’re taking sides, they’re all going to take Rob’s. Besides, he’ll be here next year, running the team and being the blueblood king. Football season is over, so I’m over.

I wait for someone to tell him to lay off, but no one does. All my friends play football. Without them, I’m as alone as Vivienne after she and Chaz broke up. It’s funny how that one thing can tie you to your friend group, and once it’s gone, they’re gone with it.

I toss my lunch and walk out. I’m not hungry anyway. I sit on the wide staircase in the middle of the lobby, the first thing you see when you come in the sets of doors at the front of the school. There are plenty of other entrances, but this is where I first saw Viv, four years ago. I still remember how cool she looked striding in, with her sexy bedhead and her elegant figure, prepossessed as not many freshmen are. I’d already been in the school, since football practice started before the rest of the school year, but I didn’t move with that kind of confidence. I was a scrawny little freshman who was lucky to make the JV squad.

But when I found out who she was, I was too intimidated to talk to her. A girl who looked like that, from a family like that, would never give me the time of day.

The next year, Robert started high school with us, and then we became friends, and I saw her around all the time, even went to their house. It was easier to talk to her when I got used to how pretty she was. It was easier to tease her, to treat her like an annoyance and keep my distance, since she was off limits. I couldn’t be with my friend’s sister, after all.

Now that I broke the rules, I remember why it was such a bad idea in the first place. I should never have pushed her further than she wanted to go. I told myself it was good for her, but really it was just one more way I had to win. And now it’s bitten me in the ass, and worse, it’s hurt Viv. That was never in the plan. We were supposed to keep things shallow, but there’s nothing surface about the way I feel for Vivienne. I’m in way too deep, and I never want to get out. I want to jump in with both feet this time, no faking it. I want to go so fucking deep we both drown.

On Tuesday, I go to the library during my study period just to see her. I can’t find her anywhere else in school, and I have to explain and ask her for another chance. I’ll go crazy if I can’t see her one more time. I don’t have tutoring this semester, but she’s there, sitting at our table in the library. Our eyes meet, and I’m that same stupid freshman kid who was too intimidated to talk to the gorgeous, cool girl. Someone’s already sitting at the table across from her, his back to me. When I reach the table, I’m surprised to see Robert.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“Waiting for your dumb ass,” he says, standing and glowering at me. “I need to have a word with you.”

He shoves my chest, and I take a step back. Here comes the ass kicking.

“Rob,” Viv cries behind him.

“Get in there,” he says, shoving me again, backing me against the door to the AV room. I remember fucking Viv in there, and how that was the first day we were really together. After that, we’ve been inseparable. Did she tell him?

He grabs the handle and yanks it down, and the door opens under my weight. I stumble backwards into the room. Adrenaline is coursing through me, but I don’t want to fight. I don’t deserve to hit back after what I did. Getting my ass kicked will be penance. I always knew it would happen, and I chose to proceed anyway. Now I face the consequences.

“Hey!” protests Chiclet, who’s at a computer at the back of the room. She’s sitting in front of a Wampus Cat painted onto the cinderblock wall, with a light aimed at her.

“Out,” Robert orders her.

“You can’t just come barging in here!” she says, standing from her chair. “I’m doing tomorrow’s announcements.”

“We’ll only be a minute,” Robert growls, grabbing the front of my shirt.

The girl huffs and leans down, messing with her equipment to get everything shut down. Then she flounces past us and out of the room. Rob kicks the door closed behind her, dragging me close and getting up in my face.

“What the fuck is this I hear about a bet?” he snarls.

Well, shit. I guess now that I’m no longer friends with the guys on the team, they’re not going to protect me.

“Nothing,” I say. “No bet.”

“Don’t fucking bullshit me,” Robert yells. “You fucked my sister!”

“I’m sorry, man.”

“You fucked my sister, and you took money for it,” he rages. “You bet the guys you could fuck her? Is that all she was to you? A fucking paycheck?”

“No,” I say. “I told you—”

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