Page 11 of Good Girl

My appetite was definitely returning now that I was no longer smothered in a hot shop and surrounded by clothes five sizes too small for me. With Haley in a good mood and new clothes safely tucked into my bags, lunch sounded like a great idea. I typed out an apologetic text to my mother and promised I would come home this weekend, but even as I hitSend, I knew it wouldn’t be enough to calm her. She wouldn’t stop her barrage of contact until I turned up at the inn and groveled.

To make matters worse, as we turned the corner to a small café, the first person I saw wasPaul. He was seated at one of the outdoor tables, and Haley pulled her arm from mine, then sprinted over to greet him. She flung her arms around his neck and pressed a big kiss to his cheek, all while he continued to stare at his phone. By the time I reached them, he had at least set it down.

“Hey, babe.” He greeted Haley with a chaste kiss on the cheek. “Charlotte.”

“Paul.”

His beady little eyes always made me uncomfortable, but I could never pinpoint why. There was something about how he looked at me, like he could somehow see underneath all my clothes, that just made my skin crawl. But Haley loved him—even with all the guys she hooked up with in clubs—and I knew nothing about relationships,apparently, so I kept that to myself.

“Did you have a good day?” Haley asked, dropping into the chair next to Paul. I sat opposite them, keeping my bag in my lap and tucking the shopping under my chair.

“It was bullshit,” Paul snapped. “I have that fucking asshole professor, Samuel something, for Ethics, and he was on me all morning. Probably some fucking solidarity with that prick Derek.”

That caught my attention immediately.

“Oh, fuck them,” Haley soothed. “You know what the establishment is like. They all protect one another because they’re all scum.”

“So true,” Paul grunted. “Protecting an alcoholic who could endanger students just because they’ve all got twisted secrets to hide. It’s bullshit.”

“He’s pathetic.” Haley pressed another kiss to Paul’s stubbled cheek, and his dark, beady eyes lingered on me. My appetite was slowly waning.

“Don’t you agree?” Paul asked me pointedly, and Haley glanced at me, giving a subtle nod.

“Oh, sure.” I nodded. “He’s an asshole for... what was it again?”

“Drinking at work, duh,” Paul scoffed.

“And you saw him?”

“Yep. Dude was so drunk he could barely stand upright. Surprised he made it through the class.”

“He was that drunk in front of an entire class,” I mused, “and no one else came forward?”

Paul’s eyes narrowed to slits. “People are too scared.”

“Of the establishment,” Haley added.

“Ah.” I couldn’t pretend to understand the full story since all I had to go on were snippets from social media, but Paul’s account didn’t hold much strength.

“Why?” Paul snapped. “What are you—”

“Babe!” Haley cut in suddenly. “I’m starving, can we get some food?”

Paul looked like he wanted to say more, but with Haley peppering kisses along his neck, he seemed to rethink that and instead nodded. He kissed Haley’s forehead and stood, reaching for his wallet in his back pocket.

“What do you want?”

“Chicken strips,” Haley declared, and she leaned back in her chair, stretching her arms high above her head. “I did so much shopping today, I deserve it.”

“And you? A salad?” Paul sneered. Haley immediately smacked his arm, but the smile on her face was the smile people always wore. The polite shock but understanding that thefatgirl should eat salad and nothing else.

My appetite shriveled into nothing.

“No thanks, I’m not hungry.”

Paul scoffed in disbelief, but he didn’t stay to say anything else. He strode into the café, and Haley leaned her elbows on the table.

“I’m sorry about him. He’s just stressed y’know? Having a teacher who bullied you allowed back on campus is just... it’s tough, y’know?”

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