Page 26 of Bullied By The Bad Boy

Not as disgusting as another girl having her mouth on Daniel’s dick. “Did Vance have a party?”

Maria fakes a gasp. All hail the drama queen. “Look who started reading the gossip,” she says.

“Um, yeah. I was bored. I just took a look.”

Laughing, she flops down on the bed and drags her phone from under the pillow. I point at the table with different nail polish, and she nods. I skitter to it and return with two colors. Purple and red. Red for me and purple for her. She stretches a hand to me, and I start applying the polish.

“Vance had a party last week or so. I don’t remember the date,” Maria continues from where we left off. “Daniel sent some pictures before it started. Not many pictures after the party ended.”

Because he was with someone else. “Did he go alone?”

“Well…he didn’t go with me.” She wiggles her finely plucked eyebrows. “So yeah, he went alone.”

I almost laugh. She is not his girlfriend yet, so he can go to parties with other girls. But we won’t discuss that now because a relationship with them might never happen.

“How was the game?”

Maria shrugs. She offers me her right hand when I am done with the left. “Cool. He was at the game,” she whispers. This is not the same girl who called earlier. “Might be why he canceled.”

Our knees touch when she draws closer. I bite my lips and concentrate on doing a great job on her nails, but she clears her throat. I don’t want to talk about boys. I don’t want to think about them or a certain big brother by the name I shall not mention. He shouldn’t have told me about Vance’s party.

“Say something.”

“Something?” I tease. I feel her eyes on me before I look up. “You might be right.”

Maria curls and uncurls her hands. She would have run her fingers through her hair if her nails were dried. I set the nail polish aside and rotate my shoulders.

“But…” she whispers. She knows I have more to say, but I’m hesitant to do so.

I smooth the creases on my sweatpants and focus on the red nail polish. “I don’t think so, Maria. If he really cared, he would have asked you to go to the game with him.” She hums, and my eyes meet hers. “Everyone knows you’re a cheerleader. You would have definitely been at the game.”

Maria blinks, and the sad look is gone. “I guess so. I guess he doesn’t like me anymore because I was willing to miss it for my date.” I click my tongue like her mother would if she found out Maria missed the game for a boy, and she hits me on my forehead. “You should have seen Ben.”

The image of him ruffling Asher’s hair flits through my mind, and my heart skips. He made his brother wait because of a game. Ass. Maybe I need a chill pill since Asher wasn’t mad at him.

“He was everywhere, motivating the boys. I don’t think we would have won without him.” Her flirty smile has my insides knotting. I don’t like this feeling. Maria falls back on the bed. I mimic her position, and we stare at the ceiling. “If he wasn’t dating that bitch, I would totally do him.”

Something strange claws at my heart, something that wasn’t present when Ben pecked Olivia. I shut my eyes so tight my face pulls into a grimace. I shouldn’t feel this way. I hate that boy.

“No, you won’t. You like Daniel.”

Seventeen

Broadway Heights is backto normalcy by Monday morning. The hallway is crowded with various groups chatting and laughing. I laugh at something Maria says, and she gives me a look.

“What? It’s true,” she says.

“It’s not,” I reply, trying to keep the flatness out of my voice. My best friend is a clown. She watched a ‘fire’ show and convinced herself it was real. Her dramatic gasp amuses me. She grips my shoulders, but I don’t allow her intense look to keep me from saying, “You cannot walk on fire without getting burned.”

“You know nothing, my dear,” she retorts.

Maria scurries ahead of me with a wicked laugh and stops in front of her locker. I join her. She hums to herself while taking out her books for the first period. I mimic her movements, stuffing my bag with more notes than required. I snicker when the weight of her books drags her arm down. Her textbook drops to the floor, and my eyes fall to the purse strapped around her waist.

Already sensing my snarky remark, she squats to pick up the textbook. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Fashion before comfort, huh?” I tease. I don’t know who gave her the idea that the tiny excuse of a bag that fits only a phone and a few pencils is ideal for school. It can’t even fit two phones. But yeah, it’s the best choice for her outfit because a backpack will ruin its beauty. “Smartass.”

Maria’s mouth opens to fire a snide reply I am sure will annoy me. “You…” she trails off. Her eyes dart behind me, and she scowls. I follow her gaze to Daniel walking up to us with worried green eyes. She pulls me in for a quick hug and places a sloppy kiss on my cheek. “See you later.”

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