I knew the source of the gossip and bullying was Stacy Griffin. I wasn’t mad at her, though; I just felt sorry for her. At first, I went out of my way to ignore her, much like I did when she and Jason dated for a few months last year. But when she cornered me and in explicit detail told me how she fucked my boyfriend in the back of his car when they dated, I saw red and stomped off to find him. That was the only time I was weak and let anyone make me jealous. I told Jason know what she said, and he and Matt both laughed hysterically at something I didn’t find even the littlest bit funny.
“Babe,” Jason grabs my face, cradling it between his hands, “I swear, she never even saw my dick, let alone came close to getting on it.”
“I can attest to that,” Matt adds, his hand over his heart as he fights a grin. “He was more scared of her hurting his balls than getting them any action.”
“Eww.” I stomp my foot. “That’s so gross. Why did you even date her then?”
He steps in closer to me until his mouth grazes mine. “I told you already. It was a mistake. I thought you said yes to a date with that kid and I wanted to make you jealous.”
“You’re a dork,” I tell him, before rising up to lightly kiss him.
“Yours though,” he responds and kisses me again.
“Is she going to be a problem?” Matt asks, his fingers tapping lightly on his jaw while trying to ignore us.
I snort. “No. I have it under control. It was stupid to let what she said get to me. It won’t happen again. Everyone else is already straightened out.”
“Wait,” Jason pulls back, dropping his hands from my face and sliding them down my arms, “who else is bothering you?
I flick my wrist. “It’s nothing. I handled them already.”
“Of course you did, boss.” Matt winks at me and I feel instant gratification that he trusts me. If our plan to rule this empire someday happens, we’re going to make sure our loyalty is to one another.
Now, months later, things have finally simmered down. We’ve found our new normal. Matt never seems bothered by my relationship with Jason and only gives us crap when Jason has his moments and we argue. Which is exactly what will happen tonight if I don’t get moving.
“I’m out of here!” I call, while slipping into my Chucks and grabbing my denim jacket from the closet.
“You aren’t staying to meet him?” My mom peeks her head from the kitchen.
“Mom,” I turn to face her, “I’m already late. It’s the first game of the season. I also told you Matt wanted us to be there because it’s our rival school. Plus, the majority of Savage Lakes students are going, including our priority targets.” I leave out the fact that it’s our junior year, which means our class gets to prank the seniors this year. We planned it out all summer and I cannot miss it.
“So Lauren will be there? And Matt?” she asks, probing for information. Lauren arrived at the beginning of summer, and we became friends instantly. She’s one of those people you can’t help but want to talk to. She likes to cause trouble, so she fits right in with my little family. After Julia and her parents moved away last year, I haven’t let another friend who’s a girl get that close to me. Usually girls wanted to be my friend because they thought I was weak and would allow them to use me in order to get to Matt or Jason.
I roll my eyes. “Yup, I’m meeting Lo at Matt’s with Jason, and I assume Erika will be there too.” I really have no idea if Erika will show; she doesn’t really like big crowds, but if my mom hears her name then maybe she’ll back off. Erika is one of our priority targets and I know my mom dotes on her.
Erika has never been overly friendly with me. She started to warm up when Jason and I started dating. The distrust in her eyes never fully eases though. The only person she comes to life around is Matt. And my poor best friend can’t figure out if the best way to win her over is to get her flowers or to defend her honor. I see the way he watches her. It’s almost creepy, except that I’ve seen her sneak glances at him too, when she thinks no one is watching. I hope they’ll figure things out someday. I want Matt to be happy and he seems drawn to Erika in the same way I am to Jason.
“Okay,” she relents. “Just don’t stay out too late. Your dad will be back with Calvin around nine.”
“I’ll try, Mom,” I tell her, before dashing out the front door.
I don’t even make it to my car before headlights flash in my direction. “Let’s go girl!” Lo calls from the back seat of Matt’s SUV.
“What are you doing?” I jog over and lean into her window.
Jason appears at my side instantly and pulls me into a hug. “Your mom said you were cleaning when I called so we figured it would be easier to just pick you up.”
“Of course you called,” I tell him, before winding my arms around his lean waist.
“We’re going to be late,” Matt calls over his shoulder. For the first time I notice Erika is in the passenger seat.
“Hi Erika.” I wave, and she nods back with a shy smile.
Jason opens the door for me and I slide in, getting comfortable between him and Erika. Matt cruises us through town, his radio blasting Nelly’s “Country Grammar” the whole way there. Lo left her window open and strands of my long hair twirl in the space around us. Jason’s arm shifts so that he’s holding my back to his chest, with his hand clamped on my thigh. I love that he always has to be touching or holding me. The fabric of his thick hoodie feels soft against my skin, and he smells amazing. I breathe him in, not even caring if he notices. Whatever the boy uses for body wash is delicious. I can tell he showered recently too because his long hair is slightly damp. My fingers flex, wanting to run them through the dark black strands, but I hold myself back. When I’m with him, everyone else fades away, which can be a dangerous distraction. If Jason ever guesses how obsessed I am with him or the strength of love I already feel for him, I wonder if he’d take off. I feel like I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop. As if our relationship is too perfect and maybe we aren’t allowed more. It’s why I’ve held my feelings in for so long. His birthday is tomorrow though and I’m thinking of putting my heart on the line for him.
Matt and Jason continue to talk about the game and who we need to look out for tonight. “I’m telling you,” Matt says, glancing in the rearview mirror. “This needs to be a thing. We need more people at these games every week. Do you have any idea how easy it could be for the right person to recognize and snatch one of our targets?”
“Add it to the list,” I tell him, nodding my head in agreement. We have a running list of all the things we want to change and improve on when Matt takes over. It’s years down the line and we’ll need a ton of assistance and connections, but I know we can make it work.
“Speaking of which, Matt,” I lean forward to tap his shoulder, “Do you know who the kid is that my dad is bringing home tonight?”
“Ex-mobster heir.” Matt glances at me quickly. “Dad said it was a sad story but I haven’t looked at his file yet. I’ll check it out over the weekend, before school on Monday.”
I nod in response and settle back into Jason. Calvin and his family ties are soon forgotten as we approach the football field. The parking lot is already jam-packed. Matt pulls up to a spot in the back and parks. We climb out and head into the crowd. Lo stays with Jason and me while Erika goes off with Matt.