He drew his brows together. “Is something wrong?”
Thankfully, the bell rang before I had to answer him.
All through class, I tried to imagine what was so important yesterday that he failed to call me back. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t forget that smirk on Summer’s face this morning. He’d probably spent all day yesterday with her, reassuring her that she was his true girlfriend and that I’d been a momentary distraction.
Or worse, plotting some sort of revenge against me. I already knew where Taylor’s loyalties lay. Were Brett’s in the same place?
But just when I was about to write him off for good, the bell rang and he stayed in his seat.
Sanchez called to him from the front of the room. “You coming?”
Brett shook his head. “Next time.”
Whatever he’d turned down, he’d done so to stay next to me. But why?
“Hey, want to get lunch?” he asked.
“What about your friends?” I nodded toward the door, where Sanchez joined a few other football players.
“I can lunch with them any time.” He gathered up his books. “Besides, I’d rather hang out with you.”
I wanted to believe him. I really did. But I couldn’t shake that evil, conniving grin from my mind.
I stood and tucked my laptop in my bag. For the first time since I’d promised Richard that I would give him a ride to his driving test, I felt relief. At least I wouldn’t have to lie. “I wish I could, but I already have plans. Richard needs a ride.”
“Oh, well, maybe tomorrow?”
“Brett, I—”
Summer saved me from confessing my doubts. She came a few steps into the classroom and narrowed her eyes a split second at me before adopting a completely helpless simper. “Brett, I need your help with something.”
He let out a heavy sigh that bordered on a groan. “What now, Summer?”
Her gaze flickered to me. “It’s something I’d rather discuss in private.”
“I was just leaving.” I slung my bag over my shoulder, half-tempted to linger to piss Summer off and maybe catch her in whatever lie she was spewing.
A shout from out in the hallway diverted my attention. I rushed to the door to see what was going on, phone already flipping into camera mode.
Sanchez and his crew had surrounded Ajay Patel, one of the juniors on the debate team who was notable for the bowties he wore to school every day. His wardrobe choices alone made him the target for bullies, but this time, Sanchez and associates had upped their game. One of them had Ajay’s backpack and was tossing it to his accomplice, while Sanchez whirled Ajay’s bowtie like a lasso.
“Hey geek, debate this,” Sanchez said with a snicker, whipping the tie out of Ajay’s reach when he jumped at it.
Ajay turned to catch his backpack, but the other football dweebs had turned it into a game of keepaway.
I snapped a few pics before rushing in to intervene, but Richard beat me to it.
My best friend shoved one of the jocks back and intercepted the backpack. “Grow up, guys.”
“You want to play, too, fag?” Sanchez asked.
“Oh, please, as if your pencil dick could ever entertain me,” Richard shot back as he returned the backpack to Ajay. “Now hand over the bowtie because that shade of green is so not your color.”
My chest swelled in pride as I watched Richard face down the bullies. He was more than ready to fill my shoes after I graduated, and I snapped a few more pics to capture the moment.
But my pride morphed into worry at warp speed as Sanchez and his goons ganged up on Richard and shoved him against the wall.
I rushed forward to break it up, but Fata Tauaalo pushed his way through the crowd. The Samoan offensive lineman towered over our classmates and probably weighed a hundred pounds more than Richard and Ajay combined. He peeled back the bullies one by one and moved between them and their victims. “Do you want to be benched before the Skylake game?” he asked in his deep, quiet voice.
“Just having a bit of fun,” Sanchez said with a grin.
“Well, stop.” Fata plucked the tie from Sanchez’s hand and glared at them until the gang retreated.
Once they were gone, he turned and held out the bowtie in one of his massive hands. “Sorry about that.”
“We had them under control and all, but thanks,” Richard replied with a blasé wave his hand. “Let me know when I can return the favor.”
Fata nodded and turned around. I didn’t miss the condescending stare he gave Brett as he passed. It probably matched my own.
Brett could’ve stepped in and said something if he hadn’t been distracted by Summer. He should’ve said something. He should’ve called Sanchez out for his behavior. He was a team leader, after all. But when I looked at him, he turned around without a word and followed Sanchez and his teammates down the hall with Summer trailing behind him.
One more chink in the Golden Boy’s armor. One more flaw that kept me from thinking he was perfect. One more reason why I had trouble trusting him. Because when push came to shove, he was in too thick with the in-crowd.
I crossed the hall to where Richard was fussing over Ajay.
“Let me help you put that back on.”
“I’m fine.” Ajay held out his arms and backed away from Richard, his cheeks flushed. “Really. Thanks, though.”
Richard watched him disappear down the hall with a wistful expression on his face. “I can’t wait for that boy to come out of the closet.”
“You think he’s gay?” I asked in surprise.
“He’s totally setting off my gaydar. I sincerely hope I’m right, because I have a serious thing for those little bowties he wears.” Richard shivered with a grin of delight before growing serious. “What’s up with you?”
“Let’s do lunch.” I linked my arm through his and led him toward the parking lot. “My treat.”
“Something tells me there’s a story to this.”
“I told Brett I had plans, and you’re my reason I turned down his invite.”
“You know I’m always up for some juicy gossip when it comes to him.”
“This is going to be a doozy. You up for skipping school before your driving test?”
“You’re encouraging me to skip school?”
“Worried?”
“Please. I think I might have a few bruised ribs that would excuse me the rest of the week.” He winced, and anger flooded my veins.
“Need to see the school nurse first?”
“Why? All she’s going to do is tell me to take some Tylenol and suck it up. Besides, I really want to hear the latest drama in your life.”
“Who said there was any drama?”
“Girlfriend, I know you, and something tells me you have all kinds of drama to talk about.” Richard gave me a hug. “But I’m here to soak it all in for you.”
“Thanks, Richard.”
I hoped once I unburdened my soul to him, I’d leave with a few more answers than I had now.
But for now, I needed to make sure Richard passed his driver’s test. After that, I had more than enough evidence for my next blog post.
***
My blog post went live later that night. I called out Sanchez and his accomplices while praising Richard and Fata for intervening. I figured balancing out the good and the bad would be healthy for my karma and maybe keep Principal Lee off my case.
But my disappointment in Brett lingered. If he’d just put Summer on hold, maybe he would’ve been able to stop his teammates.
The next morning, the quiet whispers and lowered gazes when I walked through the hallway proclaimed that my status as the Queen B* had been reaffirmed. They feared me. They revered me. They didn’t want to get on my bad side.
I’d just finished my morning stop at my locker when someone came up behind me and slammed the door shut. I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was. The scent of Brett’s body wash was seared into my memory. But something in his action cautioned me to
turn around slowly. “What?”
“Why did you do it?” he asked.
“What?” I asked in mock innocence.
“You know what.”
I put on my best bitch face. “Because I can.”
“You should’ve let me handle them. I’ve already reamed them for yesterday. They’re going to be in hot water now because of you.”
“No, they’re in hot water because of what they did.” I brushed by him, refusing to look back. “Maybe now they’ll learn their lesson.”
He didn’t come after me or try to plead their case. Not that I expected him to. He was fully integrated into the popular kids’ hive mentality where they thought they were above reproach.
But once again, my blog proved them wrong.
I waited for some whisper of gossip about the repercussions, but by the time fourth period came around, Sanchez was still in his seat.
Sitting next to him in a show of solidarity was Brett.
I didn’t have to worry about sharing my table today.
Sanchez glared at me and muttered something under his breath that sounded like a growl. He started to rise from his chair as I passed, but Brett slammed him back down.
“Don’t make it any worse,” I overheard him say.
I made my way to my table in the back of the room and waited for the bell to ring, acutely aware of how much I was missing Brett by my side.
Ten minutes into class, the loudspeaker crackled to life. “Will Angel Sanchez please report to Principal Lee’s office?”
Brett gave his teammate a couple of solid thumps of support on his back as Sanchez gathered his stuff and disappeared from the classroom.
When the bell rang, Brett looked back at me. The expression on his face mirrored the disappointment I’d felt earlier, only now, it was directed toward me.
What if the past few weeks had been all part of a plot to get me to stop calling out his peers? What if he thought a few kisses would soften me up to the point where I’d let things slide? What if he was just using me to let his friends get away with their pranks and bullying?
If he’d been trying to make a sucker out of me, then I’d shown him that he’d failed. I refused to look at him as I left. He could go cry on Summer’s shoulder for all I cared. I was done.
Chapter Sixteen
Richard pounced on me the moment I arrived at school the next morning. “Oh my God, Alexis, you won’t believe what happened yesterday!”
“Adam Lambert dedicated a song to you after you passed your driver’s test?”
“Oh, I wish, but no. Principal Lee called me into his office after class yesterday and asked me if I wanted to head up an anti-bullying campaign. Talk about a resume builder.”
He bounced up and down in excitement, but I had my doubts. “You’re more than welcome to take over my blog whenever you’d like. It’s about the most effective anti-bullying tool I’ve come across.”
“Speaking of which, Sanchez, Moody, and Bates were all suspended for the rest of the week yesterday. They won’t be playing in Friday’s game, and there’s some talk about benching them for the Skylake game next week.”
“You know they won’t do that. Skylake’s our biggest rival, and Sanchez may be a dick, but he’s the best wide receiver on the team.”
“I know, but it sounds like Principal Lee wants to make a stand, especially after that whole video debacle.”
“It’s about friggin’ time.” I walked inside the building to the same wave of fear and awe I’d come to expect from the student body. “At least he has the balls to take it on.”
“Well, he’s not banging one of his faculty members, unlike his predecessor. God, I loved the fallout from that exposé. It was golden.”
The Eastline Spy had reported the affair—complete with pictures—between the former principal and one of the teachers, which led to their terminations. It wasn’t the first time I’d cost a faculty member his or her job, but it was the first time I’d targeted the administration. The post had lifted my blog to the level of the community outside of Eastline, and had put it on the radar of the school board and parents.
I slowed down my steps when I found Brett waiting at my locker for me. It was the second morning in a row, and I wondered if I needed to resort to drastic measures.
“Dream Boy’s waiting for you,” Richard whispered.
“He’s not a Dream Boy.” He was flawed, imperfect, one of them. “Stay with me, just in case.”
“You got it.” Richard gave him his falsely sweet smile while I worked my combination lock. “Hi, Brett.”
Brett cleared his throat and lost about fifty percent of his intimidation. “Um, hi, Richard.”
I muffled my snicker as I opened my locker.
“Alexis, can we meet up after class today? I really need to talk to you.”
I focused on my making my morning dropoff as efficient as possible. I knew the more time I spent alone with him, the more likely I’d succumb to his charms. “Sorry, but I have plans.”
“Lexi, please.”
I snapped my locker closed. “Sorry, but I’m busy.”
Richard seemed to sense that I needed a quick getaway, so he looped his arm through mine and waved to Brett. “Laters.”
Once we were out of earshot, he lowered his voice. “Do you really have plans today?”
“No, not really, but I know I don’t want to be around him right now.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to lose my head around him anymore.”
“Aw, the Queen B really does have her kryptonite.” He gave me a little hug. “But don’t worry. Morgan and I will always have your back.”
“Thanks.”
***
I went home after surviving another day of Brett avoidance and welcomed the cool, dark recess of the garage when I pulled into it. Another day without him. Another day where maybe I could convince myself that I was doing the right thing.
I pressed the button to close the garage, but the door only made it halfway down. It paused, then started rolling up to reveal a familiar 4Runner in my driveway. And standing just outside the garage was its driver.
I pressed the button what felt like a dozen times, but the door refused to budge.
“It’s not going to work while I’m tripping the sensor, Lexi.” Brett pointed to the small box next to his foot. “Do you want me to park in the garage, or do you want me to leave my truck in your driveway for everyone to see?”
Bastard! He must’ve followed me home, and now I was caught. I gave him a disgruntled huff that concealed the panic racing through my veins. “Fine. Park wherever you want.”
I went inside and didn’t bother inviting him in. I needed all the time I could get to pull myself together and make sure I could withstand whatever assault he had in store for me. I’d managed to fix a hard expression on my face and almost calm my frantic pulse by the time he came in.
“I thought you had plans today,” he accused.
“I do. I’m just dropping off my stuff before meeting up with Morgan at the Purple Dog.” A lie, but a believable one since I did hang out with her there from time to time.
“Then we have a moment to talk.” He closed the space between us until he was less than a foot away, invading my personal space in a most uncomfortable yet exhilarating way. “What’s come over you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we had a great time Saturday, and then—bam—you’re back to being a bitch.”
“You never called back Sunday.”
He shifted his weight and lowered his head. “Sorry about that. Something came up.”
“It’s fine. It gave me time to figure out a few things. And the rest of this week just confirmed what I thought was true.”
“And what is that?”
I could’ve backed away or turned away from him, but I needed to show him I wasn’t weak. I took a half step toward him, our faces inches from each other. “You’re one of them.”
�
��Don’t start with that.”
“But it’s true. You stood back while Sanchez and your teammates picked on Ajay, and then you stood by his side when he suffered the fallout. You’re at Summer’s beck and call, and you’re probably more pissed off at me right now because my blog caused your favorite wide receiver to get benched and therefore possibly screw up your stats and your chances of getting a scholarship at the school of your choice.”
Something flickered across his face. Shame? Surprise? Guilt? I couldn’t be sure. He took a step back. “Alexis—”
“No, let me continue.” I was on a roll, and I didn’t want to lose my momentum. I needed to say these things to him, to release the doubts that had been stirring in my chest and eating away at me from the moment he’d expressed interest in me. “You claim that we could be a couple because you don’t care what your friends think, but you’re lying. You do care. And you’ve proved it to me with your actions this week. You’re a coward, and you’re afraid to do anything that would jeopardize your standing, so stop wasting my time with all these ‘not-dates’ because I know when push comes to shove, you’ll choose them. You’ll protect bullies so long as you keep winning your precious football games and get a full ride to the college of your choice.”
My breaths came hard and quick as though I’d been physically punching him with each word instead of standing still, but they had the same effect on both of us.
Brett stumbled back another couple of steps, his face pinched from pain or confusion. “Is that how you feel?”
Oh God, the helplessness in his voice wrapped around my heart and tugged at it until I wanted to double over. I still had feelings for him, as much as I hated to admit it.
So instead of slamming the door on any possibility of “us,” I gave him one challenge to prove himself. “If every day was like Saturday, then life would be perfect because I do have a good time when I’m around you, when I’m around the real Brett Pederson and not Johnny Football Hero Popular Guy Brett. If you can prove to me that you can be the nice guy all the time, in every setting, then I’d be willing to give this relationship thing a try. Until then, it’s better if we go our separate ways.”
The Queen B* Strikes Back Page 14
