by Sherri Renee
I stared straight ahead, ignoring the group. Just before I passed her, Brianna stepped out of her little huddle and bumped her shoulder into mine.
“Ouch.” I whipped around and glared at her, rubbing my shoulder. Thankfully, whatever sensitivity issues I’d had appeared to be under control, so I wasn’t actually hurt. But I was ticked. “What’s your deal?” I spun to face Brianna head-on.
Brianna looked down her nose at me. “Stay away from my boyfriend,” she whispered. “Or else.”
I shot a look from Brianna to her glaring friends and back before I burst out laughing. “Oh, my gosh. Are you kidding me? ‘Or else?’ What are you? Five?”
I shook my head with another laugh and headed toward my locker, making sure to catch her with my shoulder as I passed, because, well, it might hurt me more than it hurt her, but I firmly believed in payback.
Brianna let out a huge gasp. I could only imagine the surprise I’d see on her face if I looked back. She wasn’t worth a second look, but I couldn’t stop from smiling.
“Or else.” I snickered, sticking my books in my locker.
What exactly did Brianna plan to do? Spread mean rumors about me? There was only one rumor that could hurt me, and that was the fact that I was dying. As long as Brianna didn’t get her devious little cheerleader-mitts on that information, there wasn’t anything else she could say that would bother me.
I carefully laid my completed project on top of my books in my locker and closed the door. It had stolen hours of rest time from my weekend, and I was glad it was finally finished. It was the last big project I had for the year, and that meant I was one step closer to reaching my goal of graduating.
I headed to class, and my thoughts drifted to what would happen after graduation. I hadn’t applied to college because I didn’t really see the use if I only had a few months to live. I wasn’t physically up to getting a job since I was always so tired. Maybe I could do something part time as long as I felt well enough. Or I could just spend lots of extra time making memories with my brothers.
I settled into my seat and stuck my bag under my desk. My chest felt tight, and I blew out a slow breath. I’d take my future one day at a time. In my situation, that was really all I could do.
Closing my eyes, I let myself escape to my safe-place for a minute. A tropical paradise filled with sandy beaches and blue waves that stretched forever.
It would suck to die without seeing an ocean, but that was probably the way it would be. Traveling wasn’t a good idea in my condition. Unless I had a major breakthrough, I wouldn’t be going far from home anytime soon.
“Hey, girl.” Ginger slipped into her seat, and my eyes snapped open. “How was your weekend?”
“Oh!” I said, leaning forward and widening my eyes dramatically. “It was amazing. All the green juice I could drink. Lights out at eight.” I rolled my eyes but laughed. “I’m sure I had so much more fun than you did.”
Ginger wrinkled her nose. “It wasn’t that great,” she said. “We had to spend half our time in the children’s department for my sisters. I did find an adorable bikini, though.”
I fought back the jealousy that wanted to rear its head. Ginger’s whole family was going to an all-inclusive beachside resort in Cozumel as her graduation present. I couldn’t even imagine anything better. It was literally my dream, and my best friend would be the one who got to live it. It wasn’t easy, but I struggled to replace my disappointment for myself with happiness for Ginger.
“What else did you buy?” I asked. Ginger pulled out her phone and started showing me pictures of the cute outfits she’d bought on her shopping spree.
“I love everything,” I said honestly. “How are you going to stand being away from Max for two entire weeks, though?” I teased.
Ginger wrinkled her nose. “That’s if we’re still together by then.”
I jerked back. “Seriously? I thought things were going great.”
Ginger put her phone away and ran a hand through her hair. “Things are great, I guess. Sometimes, oh, I don’t know how to explain it.” She shrugged. “Sometimes I just see a different side of Max that I don’t like quite as much. But it usually doesn’t last long. For the most part, we have a great time together. I’m just not sure how much of Max’s alter-ego I can put up with.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I guess I haven’t seen that side of him yet.”
“Consider yourself lucky.” Ginger rolled her eyes and turned to face the front as our teacher started class.
I hated that Max already wasn’t living up to Ginger’s expectations. They hadn’t been dating that long. I guessed that was what dating was all about, getting to know the good and bad of each other before making a more permanent commitment.
My mind drifted to Lucas, and I smiled as I thought about how he’d called me “surfer girl.” As much as I feared getting close to anyone, I wondered what I would discover if I had a chance to get to know Lucas better.
Would I find out he had an annoying alter-ego like Max apparently did? Or would I keep finding new things I liked about him? Like his deep side, or his goofy side.
I rested my chin on my fist. I had a feeling that nothing I discovered about Lucas would disappoint me.
Chapter 13
I thought about Lucas way too much throughout the day. I caught a glimpse of him at lunch, but to my disappointment, he didn’t sit with us. I tried not to let it bother me. Friends didn’t spend every second together. I had no doubt if Lucas and I ran into each other, he’d talk to me. I just foolishly wished he’d seek me out again.
One more hour to get through, and I could check another day of school off. I didn’t want to rush it too much, considering my life could end shortly after it did, but it always felt good to leave school behind at the end of the day.
I just needed to turn in my project for last period today. The rest of the class would be study hall, so my day was pretty much over already.
I made a point of walking extra slow as I passed Lucas’s locker. I felt fine. I just really wanted to see Lucas, but no such luck. I’d either missed him, or he hadn’t gone to his locker between classes. Was it too much to ask for one random—totally planned—encounter with the guy?
I finally gave up on him and headed to my locker. I swung the door open, and the smell of smoke hit me. “What the. . .?”
Peering inside, I saw what was left of my project right where I’d left it. Only now, it was over halfway charred.
My stomach fell. I grabbed the unburned portion of the notebook between my finger and thumb and carefully pulled it out. Black flakes that represented hours of work floated to the floor, and over half of the paper dissolved into ash.
I couldn’t wrap my head around what had happened. It hadn’t spontaneously combusted in my locker. But how else could it have caught on fire?
“Oh, look at that,” Brianna’s voice floated from all too close behind me. I whipped around to find her and her friends gathered around me in a half-circle.
Brianna watched me with a mean smile. “It looks like someone’s a pyro.” She and her friends laughed like that was hilarious.
I ignored her jab as realization hit me. “You burned my project?” I shook my head, my brows bunching tight. “Why would you do that? Do you know how long I worked on it?”
Brianna’s smile grew harder. “What do you think or else means?” she asked. Her eyes locked with mine, glittering with triumph. For a second, I was scared of how far the chick might go to protect her guy. But then anger started pumping through me.
“Are you kidding me?” I shoved the charred book against her creamy pink blouse. “You torched my project because I talked to Lucas? What’s wrong with you?”
Brianna looked down at the charred remains of my project now ground into her shirt. “How dare you?” she screeched. She brushed a hand over the black ash, only succeeding in smearing it even worse. “Argh!”
She narrowed her eyes at me and shoved my chest with both hands. My eyes w
idened in surprise. I didn’t picture Brianna as a physical fighter. I figured all of her dirty work was the subtle kind. Like burning projects. Or spreading rumors.
Caught off guard, I crashed into the locker behind me and squeezed my eyes shut as my head made contact with metal. Crap! If I hit a weak spot in a vein, it could pop.
I took a quick appraisal of how I felt. No worse than usual, I decided. Come on, veins. Hold tight. I did not want to give Brianna the satisfaction of seeing me go down in a crumpled heap at her feet. As twisted as she was, I had no doubt she’d consider that a win.
Opening my eyes, I found Brianna’s murderous expression filling my vision. I probably should have been quaking in my cute little strappy sandals. I weighed all of a hundred pounds now and was pretty sure I couldn’t do a push up to save my life. But at that instant, my fingers itched to slap the creepy smile off of Brianna’s face.
Ginger pushed through the gathering crowd. “What’s going on?” She looked from Brianna to me. I tipped my head toward the pile of ash at my feet.
“I’ll tell you exactly what’s going on,” an excited voice called from the edge of the crowd before I could say anything. “And I’ve got video to prove it.”
We all turned as one to find a younger girl holding up her phone. She had golden hair almost identical to Brianna’s, but hers was caught in a simple ponytail rather than styled into elaborate waves. She wore a loose graphic T-shirt and jeans with holes in the knees.
“Riley!” Brianna yelled. “I told you to stop sneaking around and videoing me, you little freak! Give me that phone right this second.”
Riley shrugged and handed over her phone. Brianna’s face relaxed, but not for long. Riley had something else up her sleeve.
“I sent a copy of the video to Madison.” Riley shot me a grin. “She can do with it what she wants.”
“You. Little. Brat.” Brianna screeched. “I’m going to tell mom.”
“Tell her what? That you’re the school bully? I’m sure she and Mr. Brink would both love to know all about that.”
Ginger and I exchanged glances. I raised my brows, rather in awe of the sassy little girl. Mr. Brink was the school principal, and he had a strict no-bullying policy.
Color dripped from Brianna’s face as she slowly turned to me. She looked terrified, and I wanted to laugh. Served her right for destroying my project.
“What’s it going to take to keep you quiet?” Her voice quivered, but her jaw was tight.
A big crowd had gathered by that point, but no one knew what had happened other than Brianna and her friends and me and Ginger. If Riley had really sent me the video, I could show everyone what a terrible person Brianna was. Or I could hold on to it as insurance that Brianna would back off.
I was so mad about my project that I really wanted to show everyone, but I had no doubt Brianna would be back for revenge if I did. With the way my heart thumped against my ribs from this small encounter, I knew I didn’t have it in me to play her kind of games. I’d be lucky if I hadn’t injured something when she’d shoved me against the locker.
I glanced at my project and put my hands on my hips. “You want me to keep the video to myself?”
Brianna glared at me but gave her head a quick nod.
“Then you’ll redo my project and have it ready for me to turn in by the end of the day tomorrow. And it better get me an A.”
Brianna spluttered. “I can’t do the whole thing in a day. There’s a game tomorrow. We have to practice.” Her friends nodded helpfully.
I shrugged, unmoved. “Not my problem. I’ll give you my notes and whatever you can salvage from that.” I tapped my toe against the remains of my project, sending up a flurry of ash. “I think you can do it.”
“No.” Brianna clenched her fists and appeared to gather courage from her friends. “I won’t do it."
“Okay.” I dug my phone out of my purse and clicked on my email to pull up the video. I was almost surprised to find that her sister really had sent something to me.
I held my phone above my head and faced the crowd. “Who wants to watch the show?” There were cheers and people pushed forward.
“Stop it!” Brianna reached for my phone, but I yanked it away.
“Last chance,” I said.
Brianna eyed my phone. I could tell she was weighing her options of physically wrestling it away from me. I tightened my grip and prepared for her to try.
“Teacher,” someone hissed the word. The crowd dispersed like it had never been, leaving Brianna and me standing face to face.
“Is there a problem here, ladies?”
I arched a brow at Brianna. “I don’t know? Is there, Brianna?”
Brianna’s eyes fell to narrow slits before her normal cheery mask slipped back into place. “No problem at all, Mr. Callan. I love that tie, by the way. Pink is such a strong color.”
Mr. Callan arched a brow at me, apparently waiting for a response. I shrugged. “Um, I like your tie, too?”
Mr. Callan shook his head. “Keep it civil, ladies. Let’s end this year without any marks against you.” Apparently satisfied that we wouldn’t cause any trouble, Mr. Callan continued down the hall.
Brianna glared at me. “I’ll do your stupid project, but I’m not joking about Lucas. Back off.”
I gave her a half-smile. “You’re talking to the wrong person. I’m not the one who asked him out or who sat at his table.” I shrugged and brushed past her. Riley caught up with me.
“You’re so cool,” she said. I frowned over to find her watching me with something that resembled admiration.
“You think I’m cool?” I laughed. “You’re the one who’s cool. I can’t believe you videoed your sister burning my project. That’s so awesome. I owe you big time.”
Riley bunched her lips to the side. “I didn’t actually video her.”
Chapter 14
I stopped in the middle of the hall and looked down at Riley in confusion. “What do you mean you didn’t record Brianna?”
Riley slid the toe of her shoe across the floor, tracing a thin crack. “I overheard Brianna making plans to destroy your project, so I followed her. I thought I was recording her, but I never actually hit the record button.” She peeked up, bunching her lips to the side.
“So, all of that about sending me the video was a bluff?”
“I did send you a video. Of my cat chasing a laser.”
I stared at her for a full minute before I burst out laughing. “Oh, my gosh. That is classic. You’re pretty awesome. How’d you come from the same gene pool as Brianna?”
Riley’s face relaxed. She looked relieved that I wasn’t mad. “Heck if I know. She’s messed up.”
“Hey!” Ginger ran down the hall to join us. “What’d I miss?” She looked between the two of us with an expectant expression.
“Thanks for bailing on me.” I grinned at her.
“I can’t get detention. My mom would kill me.”
“We didn’t get detention,” I said. “Thankfully. The last thing I want to do with my remaining days is waste them away, sitting in an empty classroom with Brianna.”
“Yeah,” Ginger said. “That sounds awful.”
Riley wrinkled her brow. “Your remaining days of high school?”
I shot a look at Ginger. “Um, sure. Any time locked away with Brianna would be a waste. Ginger, have you met my hero, Riley?”
Riley’s cheeks turned bright red, but her smile widened, and it looked like she’d forgotten all about my little slip. “You’re dating Max,” Riley said with a nod. “I keep up with these things.” Riley’s excited gaze landed on me. “And you’re almost dating Lucas. That’s why Brianna’s so mad.”
“Almost dating?” That was news to me, but I didn’t hate the sound of it.
“Oh, yeah. You and Lucas are all Brianna and her clones talk about when they come over. It’s hilarious.”
Humph, that was kind of hilarious. Lucas and I had talked less than a handful of times, and Bri
anna was losing it.
“Lucas and I are just friends,” I said firmly. Ginger rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
Riley was more vocal. “Why? He’s obviously interested. Do you have a boyfriend or something?”
“No,” Ginger snapped. “She doesn’t have a boyfriend. She’s free as a bird. There’s nothing stopping her from starting a new relationship.”
I widened my eyes at her. She knew exactly what kept me from any relationships.
“Lucas is cool,” Riley continued. “He always talks to me when he comes over. Brianna’s other boyfriends act like I’m invisible. Probably because I don’t have my boobs yet.”
She bunched her lips and looked down at her chest. Ginger and I both laughed.
“You’ve got more than I do,” I joked, turning to the side. Riley grinned at me. “Plus, if a guy is only interested in your appearance, he’s not worth your time.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” Ginger added so strongly that I wondered if she was talking about Max.
“So, what are you going to do about Brianna?” Riley asked. “She doesn’t take losing well.”
“Oh? I kind of thought things were over between us. As long as she thinks I have the video of her, I doubt she’ll mess with me.”
Riley shrugged. “It’s hard to tell with her. She once shaved my cat because I ate the last PopTart.”
I cocked a brow. “Nice,” I said.
“Yeah, she’s vindictive.” Riley glanced back. “I need to get to class. Let me know if I can ever help you.” She shot me a crooked smile. “You’re not nearly as bitchy as Brianna said you were.”
I let out a startled laugh as Riley hurried away. “I’m not sure if I should be disappointed or happy about that,” I told Ginger. “You know I work very hard on my bitchiness.”
“Too hard,” Ginger muttered. “But look at you now. You’re already cracking your shell. You’re nice to Max. You’ve hung out with Lucas a couple of times now, and horror of horrors, Brianna’s little sister actually seems to like you. Make some friends. Enjoy the rest of your senior year.”
