Page 73 of Bullied By The Bad Boy

What if Ben is mine, and this is the sign?

My feet guide me in his direction. I don’t know what I’ll say, but I’m happy to see him. A girl approaches him before I do, she flips her red hair, and I gag in my mouth. Abigail. I stand by the side, using my foot to draw lines on the floor while she blabs about something Ben doesn’t care to know. His gaze flickers to my face, and my brain decides to embarrass me by flooding my mind with images of our kiss. I smile at him, expecting his arrogant smirk in return, but he looks away.

Weird.

The bell will ring soon. I should leave, but the part of me that glimpsed his caring side convinces me to wait. He might be in a bad mood. Ben nods again to something Abigail says, and his chest visibly sags when she leaves. I occupy her position, standing before him with my fingers in the tiny pockets of my jeans. Ben’s face softens. I give an awkward wave, and his smile solidifies.

I like it.

“Hey,” I say with a smile, standing on my toes so I can reach his height. “How are you?”

Ben opens his sexy mouth. His eyes roam my body, and I take a step back at the disgust fueling his gaze. I don’t get it. He smiled, then the switch flipped. What did I do? Did I smile too much? I wrap my arms around my belly, wishing I had changed out of his sweatshirt. Now I seem desperate.

“Don’t get it twisted, Mother Theresa. We are not friends. You don’t get to ask me how I am.”

Forty-Two

What was I seriously thinking?That a kiss will change anything? My life isn’t a movie or a high school romance novel where the bad boy ends up with the good girl. That kiss was a godawful mistake. Hell, I will finish high school without a boyfriend, and I will die a virgin. Yay Theresa!

Ben should have walked away. I would pick his silence over his words. We are not friends, so why did he kiss me? Oh, I get it. He did it to prove a point. I was nothing but a little experiment to the jerk.

A tap on my shoulder has me straightening up. I am still where Ben left me. Daniel tries to smile, but I hold up a finger to stop him from talking. “If you know what’s good for you, stay away from me.” I shake my head when his lips part. These boys are out to annoy me today. “I don’t want to hear it. I’m not the one you need to talk to anyway. Talk to Maria and leave me out of it.”

“Tessa.”

“Talk to Maria,” I scream. A few heads in the hallway turn to us. “Leave me out of your mess.”

I have mine to deal with already. A broken heart to heal. Daniel sighs. “Fine. Have a nice day.”

“You too,” I spit at his racing figure, annoyed at myself for feeling bad for him.

Daniel did this. If he had told Maria about the video earlier, Olivia wouldn’t have found me, and the kiss would never have happened. I enter the class when Mr. Sam is already teaching. He sizes me up and wordlessly ushers me inside. Ben questions me with his stare as I plop on the seat beside Abigail. I dislike her, but I will rather sit with her instead of the rude jerk staring at the back of my head. What does he want? To gloat? How dare he look sad when I walked over to Abigail?

“Trouble in hell?” she whispers, wiggling her brows as her eyes wander between Ben and me.

“You mean trouble in paradise?” I grumble.

She shrugs. “Same difference. Baby boy looks like you killed his puppy.”

Really? I want to confirm it, but I don’t want to give Ben the satisfaction. She’s probably lying. Mr. Sam interrupts us, saving me from her questions. The rest of the day goes by without a hiccup. When the final bell rings, my mood takes another downward slope. I am a bit slow to drama club.

On getting there, the hall is empty. I collapse into one of the chairs and try to gather my thoughts. My stomach rumbles, and I retrieve the leftover chips I got for lunch. Three minutes pass without a sign of Ms. Jota or anyone else. I gulp my juice greedily and shove the empty carton into my backpack.

“Hey.”

I almost jump out of my seat. My hand goes over my chest, and I release my breath slowly. Why is everyone trying to scare the shit out of me? And why is Ben talking to me? Hold on. I scan the hall. We are alone. We were also alone the last time he was nice and spoke to me. Is he ashamed of me? In the hallway filled with students, he ignored me. He kisses me one day and treats me like trash two days after. I grab my backpack, ready to leave the hall and escape him. I will not be anyone’s doormat.

“Sharing is caring, you know?”

Ben crosses over to me and occupies the seat beside me. I try not to look at him, and my grip on my backpack tightens. “Nice shirt. It looks better on you.” Am I supposed to reply to that? He can’t keep giving me mixed signals and expect me to be cool. I push myself to my feet. “Sit down.”

My stupid knees weaken at his order, and I fall back to my seat. “I have to go,” I say to the floor.

Ben leans so close his breath fans my neck. He whispers, “Have you spoken to your coach?”

Talking becomes difficult. I want to leave, but my butt is glued to the seat. I focus on the stage to distract myself and try to picture myself acting, but every scene leads to the same thing. Romeo kissing Juliet. His legs touching mine don’t help, I adjust, and his fingers brush my neck when he slides his arm around the back of my seat. His hand is warm. Without meaning to, I lean into his touch, and he relaxes his arm on my shoulder. Ben laughs a little. God. I am such a pathetic sap.

“Ms. Jota had to cancel today’s rehearsal because of the game,” he offers. We ignore his finger on my neck and the sparks flying on that spot. I don’t keep up with the school’s games. The only update I get is from Maria, and since we are not best friends now, there’s no way to know. Not like I would have cared, but it still begs one question. I twist my chair, so I’m facing Ben. His head lowers as he tugs on the loose thread of his jeans. “She didn’t want anyone missing out on it.”

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