I should have just minded my own business, but of course, I’d never been able to control my impulses. I turned around, my curiosity more than peaked.
“What did West do?” I asked.
Both guys froze, staring wide-eyed at me like deer in headlights. One of them went to open their mouths, but the other nudged him in the ribs. “Don’t, Kyle. She’s like... his.”
Wow. “Uh, definitely not,” I scowled at them for a moment. “But I might be able to help you.”
The guy to the right shook his head. “Don’t do it. Getting expelled is way better than getting murdered.”
Bellamy was a dick for sure, but murder sounded extreme. “Did he sell you weed?” I asked.
They looked at each other before the one named Kyle broke. “It was a test.”
His friend hit him in the arm.
“He what...sold you a test?”
They both nodded. Bellamy really was into anything and everything bad. But that was worthy of expulsion? Screw it, I didn’t care about the how, only getting out of this awful school and away from that psycho. The slightest concern whispered in the back of my mind that getting kicked out might jeopardize my college acceptance. Then again, my dad had paid them to keep me after one expulsion and as important as it was to me, the bragging rights were more important to him.
Principal Brown’s door creaked open. An excited thrill shot through my veins. Fuck Bellamy and fuck this school. I was getting out of here.
I turned to the two guys. “Look,” I said, feigning distress. “Just don’t tell Brown I sold you the tests. I’ll refund you the money.”
Both guy’s faces washed white. Principal Brown cleared his throat. When I turned to face him, he had both hands on his meaty hips, his cheap dress shoe tapping the floor.
“Would you like to step into my office, Miss…”
12
Bellamy
When I closed my locker, Kyle and Robert, two guys from the computer club, stood a few feet away, staring at me like weirdos. One pushed the other forward a few feet.
“I don’t know what happened,” he whispered. “We were just sitting there.”
I shouldered my backpack on a glare. Nothing good ever started with that kind of defense. “What are you talking about?”
“We got caught with that test...”
The slow throb of my pulse pounded my temple. If one of these dipshits ratted me out… “Go on,” I said through a clenched jaw.
“And uh. I mean, we didn’t tell on you. We’d never do that. But...” He gnawed at his lip, then inhaled a breath. “That new girl...”
I swear to God, if Drew tried to get me in trouble for that shit, I would go to Wall-E-Mart and buy Hendrix an economy-sized box of matches, and we’d burn her shit to the ground. “What about her?”
“She said she sold them.”
“To Brown.” Robert blurted. “She said it to Brown! And then she got in trouble.”
She’d voluntarily taken the blame. For something she had nothing to do with. What in the hell?
“We didn’t drop her in. We were just sitting there, freaking out because we didn’t want you to murder us and we didn’t want to get expelled, and she overheard us. When Brown opened the door to call us in, she said it was her. And Brown suspended her. We didn’t know what to do.” He took a deep breath. “Please don’t beat us up.”
I lifted a brow. As long as I wasn’t the one getting in trouble, I didn’t care who they accidentally ratted out.
“We know she’s kinda your girl or something, and you’re probably really mad, but…” The other one’s face washed a little white, and he clutched at his stomach like he was going to puke.
“Whatever, man. I don’t give a shit.” I mumbled, turning to head out of the school.
I made it to the exit before it sunk in. Brown suspended her. That’s why she had done it. She was trying to barter a stolen test for the keys out of hell.
And the devil didn’t like that.
The sun beat down on me while I leaned against the bumper of my car, staring at my phone.
Me: Where you at, baby girl?
Of course, she didn’t respond. But thanks to Hendrix snatching her phone in the hall earlier, all I now had to do to find her was swipe to the FindAFriend app. Which I did. That little blue dot still hovered above a house two blocks over, just like it had done for the past hour. I couldn’t deny it was genius to have Hendrix add my contact in that stupid app—even if the thought that she was probably at some Barrington prick’s house getting pounded right now did piss me off. It was worth it for the simple fact of my being able to pop up like a genie anytime I wanted was guaranteed to aggravate the shit out of her. Because we weren’t done until I decided we were.
The little blue dot finally moved, and I took off my shirt then reclined back on the sunbaked hood of my car. I figured her walking up in her drive and finding me sprawled out with my abs tensed would get her flustered, and I’d thoroughly enjoy that.
I watched puffy, white clouds pass by, drifting behind the tree line before a huff came from the end of her drive. Seconds later, a shadow fell over me.
“You’re blocking my sun,” I said, sitting up and adjusting the cross on my necklace.
Her gaze fell to my stomach, and I flexed a little. Just to be a dick. “I’m surprised you didn’t just let yourself in.”
I would have, had she not moved the spare key. “I’ll be sure to make a copy of the spare next time.” I slid off the hood.
Drew backed up a step, then halted like she was forcing herself to stand up to some bully, and brought her arms across her chest. “What are you doing here?”
“I texted you.” I kept moving toward her, and she didn’t budge.
“I was busy.”
“Nah…” I swept a hand over her cheek, cupping her jaw for a second. My attention went straight to her parted lips, and dammit if I didn’t have to fight the urge to slam my lips to hers. “When it comes to me, you’re never busy, baby girl.”
Her breath caught, and her gaze slipped to my mouth. The thing about it, she may hate me, but she couldn’t hide the fact she was attracted to me. Just like I couldn’t hide my attraction to her. Girls like her only followed guys like me out to a van when we measured up to every sordid fantasy they’d had. And the magnetic pull that kept us coming back was nothing short of raw sexual urge. Drew could hate me all she wanted. Hate never kept anyone from fucking, only from falling in love. And that’s all I wanted from her—a good fuck and a challenge.
So why did I almost feel high by being near her? Why did it bother me when I thought that the most likely reason why she wanted out of Dayton so bad was so she could get away from me? I moved closer, dragging my thumb over her plump lip and smearing her lipstick. “Stealing my thunder to try to get a little vacation?”
Huffing, she pulled her face out of my hold. “I was trying to get expelled.”
“For stealing a history test that wasn’t even a final?” I barked out a laugh, slapping a hand over my slick chest. “Jesus Christ.”