Crush on Mr. Bad Boy

by Lilly Purdon

  ~*~

  The dinner was held at a large fancy hotel. It was so big, even I was stunned at the appearance. His stepdad sure had money to burn.

  Once we arrived, we all filed out of Layla's convertible and made our way to the main lobby. Axel's step father had booked the place and made sure the hotel was all theirs. People in fancy gowns, party dresses, suits, and tuxes decorated the main lobby.

  Justin and Dustin grabbed all the equipment we needed and took it to a room near the dining room. No one suspected a thing because they thought they were just helping out with the dinner.

  Axel grabbed my waist. “Have I told you how cute you look right now?” he asked in a whisper.

  I turned around so that I was looking at him. “Just cute? I was kind of expecting something like 'beautiful' or 'extraordinary'.” I teased.

  His signature smirk appeared, “I'm not good at big words.”

  “Then get a dictionary, smart ass!” Layla said from behind us, making Axel glare at her.

  “Can't I have a moment alone with Rose without being interrupted?”

  A chorus of no’s were heard from three extra voices. Trent stood there proudly with the twins behind Layla.

  “What’s up, Rosaline who gets the straight A’s?” Was that necessary? “Sup, Axel, my man.”

  “I’m not your man, kid.”

  “Rosie! Rosie! Is that you?!” someone was pushing through people frantically to get to me. My eyes widened when I saw it was.

  ~*~

  Chapter 41 SCREW EVERYONE

  My eyes must've been playing tricks on me.

  There was no way in hell that could be-

  “Honey? Is that you?!” he pushed frantically through the crowd to get to me.

  There was no way he could be here, no way. How was he here? Oh right, they invited pretty much everyone. Maybe I should’ve listened to what his secretary had to say…

  Axel grabbed my hand and started pulling me away from him.

  We squeezed passed people to get out of there. The twins and Trent followed behind us closely. We kept going until we could no longer see that patch of blonde hair following us. Once we got outside, Axel spun and quickly. His emerald green eyes were stone cold.

  “They've gone too far!” he growled. It was clear he was talking about the fact they invited my-

  “Who was that?" Trent asked, clearly confused.

  “Isn't it obvious?” Dustin asked.

  “He’s old,” Justin commented, “uglier than her.”

  “Of course, what do you expect?” Dustin scoffed. “It’s her-”

  “Why the fuck would they invite him?” Axel's eyes narrowed in slits. “It's like my step dad's testing us to see if we would really pull anything with everyone here.”

  “We're not canceling the plan no matter what,” I found myself speaking. “Screw everyone; we're going on with the plan no matter what.”

  Axel turned to me with curiosity written all over his face. “You mean… you don't care if your dad sees what we're going to pull?”

  “The more people here, the more humiliated Cleo and your stepdad will be.”

  “Hold up!” Trent interrupted our conversation. “That was your dad?”

  “No, it was her mom” Axel replied sarcastically.

  “Really?” Trent asked stupidly, making all of us throw our heads back and groan. “That’s a really convincing transgender.”

  “Trent, you're an idiot,” Dustin said.

  “Good job bro, start with the little things. Insult people to build up to the bad boy image you’re desperately trying to earn,” Justin gave his twin a slap on the back, earning himself a glare from Dustin. But of course, Justin just ignored it. “But you've got to use harsher words. For example, the word 'retard' or the word 'dumbass'.”

  Layla appeared out of nowhere and squeezed through between both twins so that she was standing in between them. “Anyone wanna’ get drunk?” she asked, raising both her eyebrows.

  “Is that an invite to get into your pants?” Justin asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her.

  “Only in your wildest dreams, peasant.”

  Just then, I felt an arm drape over my shoulder. I looked up at Axel and raised my eyes, questioning him.

  “Want to play Cupid?” he questioned.

  I pretended to think. “Hmm... maybe…”

  Justin and Layla did look cute together. They were both experienced, pain in the asses, and popular… so they fit. Maybe Justin was the one Layla had her eye on...

  I almost squealed out loud at the thought. If she did have her eyes set on him, it would be perfect though. Dustin could have Kasay, and Justin could have Layla.

  What about Jaxon?

  I scratched the back of my head at that question.

  I had no idea who he would be a perfect match with.

  You...

  Who the hell said that?

  I ignored the mysterious voice in my head. He was just a friend, we could never be together. My heart belonged to only one person, and that person was Axel.

  “I bet you a make out session that Layla and Trent would make a cute couple,” he said in my ear. I almost choked at his words. Layla and Trent?! I glanced at Trent and noticed he was staring at Layla, his eyes filled with adoration.

  I wanted to turn to Axel and tell him how wrong he was, but the longer I stared at Trent, the more I noticed the dedication in his eyes. It was the exact same way Dustin stared at Kasay. I felt my heart flutter at the cute emotion. But Layla seemed closer to Justin…

  When I turned to Axel and I saw the exact same emotion in his eyes. Except in Axel's eyes, there was a hint of something else too. I cocked my head to the side. “What are you thinking about?”

  “Nothing,” he replied a little too quickly before looking away. “So what do you say, Layla and Trent a couple? Or at least hooking up before graduation?” he asked, trying to change the subject. I let it slide and smiled.

  “I was actually thinking Layla and Justin would make a cute couple.”

  “More like a disaster,” he scoffed. “If those two paired they up would destroy the human race. Both hot tempered, loud, cocky-”

  “Are you sure you're not describing yourself?” I interrupted him.

  First he looked offended, but then his signature smirk appeared on his face, “good one.”

  Layla cleared her throat, interrupting our little conversation. “It's 7:00 p.m.”

  Axel checked his watch before nodding. “Let's head back inside.”

  He took my hand in his and led me back inside. I never thought someone like Axel was ever capable of wearing a suit and tie. “We need to get the thumb drive in the computer, and hook up all that shit. Then we'll double check on Layla's plan.”

  “It'll take us less time if we split up,” I suggested.

  “With your ex best friend, ex boyfriend, and evil stepmother lingering around here? I think not.”

  “Cleo’s busy trash talking me and sucking my dad’s asshole, Ricky’s far too embarrassed about making out with that sophomore guy, and I know Jaxon- he won’t try anything.”

  Axel seemed to agree on the others, except Jaxon, “You knew he was going to go behind your back and banging your enemy?” he asked. My mouth fell open, but before I could say anything he interrupted me. “I don’t trust him, I’m afraid he’s going to pull something.”

  “He won't,” another voice cut through. We both turned around, so we were facing Layla. “I’ll make sure of it,” she promised.

  Axel hesitated. “Last time I checked you were trying to make her life a living hell. Why are you suddenly acting all buddy-buddy with her?”

  “It's called being guilty and trying to fix things, dumbass. I’m trying to set things right for once and make up for the shit I did,” she replied. “You should try it sometime.”

  He ignored her snarky comment, “how do we know we can trust you?”

  “Axel-”

  “Rosaline,” he said my fu
ll name seriously, “I don’t trust her.”

  “You know I’m right here, right?”

  “I don’t care.”

  Layla rolled her eyes, “I was stupid, I was a bitch. Well, I still am, but that’s not the point. I’m just trying to make things right, and you’re not giving me a chance.”

  Axel hesitated, glancing at me. I nodded for him to give her a chance. He reluctantly gave in, “Fine, but make sure Jaxon stays at least a mile away from her at all times.”

  “Yes, dad.” Layla rolled her eyes before grabbing my arm and dragging me away from him.

  Once we were in the main entrance she turned to me with a grin stretched across her face. “You know the shit you prepared? Like the paint, rotten food and all that? It wasn’t enough to fill up the entire place, so I brought extra stuff to replace what you brought.” She gushed excitedly, “I made sure Trent got it all in his pickup!”

  “And what exactly did you bring?” I asked as she dragged me through the halls.

  “Just some… stuff; we're going to completely trash this place!” she giggled happily. “I can't wait to see that bitch's face!”

  After a few minutes of giggling and dragging me through crowds of people, we finally stopped in the huge dinner room. “Looks like everything's set,” she said while looking up at the ceiling.

  My eyes found their way up to the ceiling too. A gasp escaped my mouth when I saw what was up there. Balloons hung all over the ceiling. There must've been at least five hundred of them because the dinner hall was huge.

  “They're water balloons,” she explained excitedly. “When the time comes, Justin will cut the strings, and all the balloons will fall on everyone. Not only that, will Trent be standing up there.” She pointed at a balcony which looking down on the dinner room we were standing in. “He'll be dumping flour on all of the guests. Just imagine all of this on video!” she gushed out.

  I had a feeling it would end up on YouTube. Kasay would get pissed how she wasn't involved. “How did you manage to get Kasay expelled anyway?” I asked without thinking.

  “I didn’t. I know you blamed me for it, but she was skipping school too much, and caught dealing drugs in the girl’s bathrooms. She hasn’t been fully charged yet, because they’re still exploring the case. She was possessing weed and some hard drugs, like meth.”

  My mouth fell open in shock. There was no way Kasay could've been dealing behind my back... “Meth?!” I gasped, “no, Kasay’s not that kind of person…”

  “Hate to break it to you, but your two best friends were both doing things behind your back.”

  I didn't get it, why would Kasay even do that?

  Axel was right when he said the two were keeping me in the dark.

  “K-Kasay would never do drugs…” I spoke, attempting to sound confident.

  “I don’t exactly know if she did them, but she was in possession of the stuff, so… she was probably dealing. Heard they found connections between her and college guys too.” Layla spoke of it so normally, like she had been expecting it all along.

  But for me, it was huge news. Never in my life could I ever imagine Kasay dealing drugs. I saw her as a different person now. What else was she doing behind my back?

  “How do you know all this?”

  “Everyone knows about it, it’s been the talk of the school. You’re just the only oblivious one around here.”

  I ran a hand through my hair. How could Kasay hide something like that from me? I guess everyone had their own secrets...

  “So let's go over the plans again,” she changed the subject.

  I pushed the disappointment I felt about Kasay down and focused on sabotaging the anniversary dinner.

  ~*~

  ---Layla's P.O.V---

  If you had told me I would be planning to get revenge on my own mother with Rosaline two weeks ago, I would've laughed in your face and reported you for taking drugs. But now, it all seemed to make sense. Hell, we even got along.

  “I think you've gone a bit overboard...” Rose trailed off after I told her our entire plan.

  How was I going overboard?

  My mother was going to get exactly what she deserved, and so was the guy who was going along with her. They were both going to get what they deserved no matter what.

  “I'm not going overboard. I'm just making sure they're going to get what they deserve.”

  “As long as Axel knows about it,” she looked down and played with her fingers innocently. I observed her actions; she always did that when she was nervous.

  “You're in love with him, aren't you?” I asked.

  Her blue eyes looked up at me in shock. Her mouth fell open and her skin paled.

  “W-what?” she stuttered.

  “Are you in love with him?”

  “W-who?” she asked innocently. She knew exactly who I was talking about.

  “Axel Storm Spencer, the guy whose initials who spell 'ass',” I quoted.

  She stuttered, “I-I-”

  “It’s so obvious. You two are obviously madly in love with each other.”

  She looked incredibly stunned by my statement. “W-we barely k-know each other,” she managed to choke out.

  “To be completely honest, I have seen you staring at each other for the past seven years,” I admitted. “And I bet you every day after school you go and stalk each other’s social media accounts too.”

  “W-we do not!” her cheeks flushed bright red.

  I envied the way her pale cheeks could do that. My cheeks could barely turn light pink. She truly was a beautiful girl.

  Suddenly, my watch started to beep. It was time. My felt myself get a little giddy inside, but I kept all my excitement at ease.

  “Let's go wait on the balcony,” I said, grabbing her arm.

  She resisted and pulled back. “What about Axel?”

  “What about him?”

  “What if he isn’t done yet?”

  I sighed when I realized what she was trying to say. “Do we seriously have to go check on your boyfriend?”

  “He’s not my-”

  “He's not her boyfriend,” someone spoke from behind us.

  We both turned to the voice.

  I felt myself die a little inside, but my posture remained the same. The red headed devil was wearing a suit with all the buttons buttoned up. Of course he was the only person to do that.

  “Yes he is,” I spoke icily. “Rose, go find your boyfriend.”

  “What about you-”

  “Go,” I dismissed her sharply.

  “Since when were you two all buddy-buddy?” he asked, sounding curious. I avoided looking into his hazel at all costs.

  “None of your business, Smith.”

  “Look,” he ran a hand through his combed red hair, “I’m sorry-”