Beware of Bad Boy(27)

“Hi, Josh.” Deciding that was polite enough, I kept walking.

Some girl I’d never seen came up and touched Caleb’s arm, hanging on as if she were afraid to let go. He smiled charmingly at her and she giggled like an idiot. I had the urge to pull her bleached hair. At least my naturally dark blonde hair didn’t look like straw. I couldn’t believe I was getting jealous again over a player. It defied logic. A guy like him shouldn’t even be taken seriously.

I ignored their flirting and walked to my locker. So much for Hannah, I guess she was last week’s flavor like I’d thought. Speak of the she-devil; she was waiting by my locker.

“Hi, Hannah.” Turning the dial, I unlocked my locker and unloaded a book from my backpack to replace it with another. Finding a Gatorade I’d left there on Friday, I opened it and took a big gulp. What my mom didn’t know didn’t hurt her.

“Do you know what your stepbrother did to me on Friday night?” Hannah hissed angrily.

I thought to myself, do I want to know? But I instead said to her, “Nope.”

She stomped her foot, and I thought, oh my god did she just stomp her foot? “I asked him if he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend!”

Oh no, the G-word. That was taboo with Caleb.

“And do you know what he did?” she asked insistently.

“Nope,” I repeated, hoping she would just go away.

“He laughed and told me, ‘As long as you’re okay with an open relationship.’ What the hell is that, Gianna? I can be his girlfriend as long as he’s allowed to be with other girls. That defeats the whole purpose of being his girlfriend!” Hannah screeched, oblivious of the attention she was drawing to herself. Two sophomore boys were her rapt audience.

I managed to hold back my laughter, but at the same time I thought, what a creep Caleb was. But then, it’d been his whole purpose, to discourage Hannah from thinking relationship-type thoughts.

Before I had to suffer any more of Hannah’s whining one of Josh’s friends came up to me. “Hey, Gianna, can I talk to you for a minute?”

I gave him a grateful smile. “Sure, Seth, do you want to walk with me to class?”

His green eyes lit up. “I’d love to.” I’d always liked Seth. He was such a sweet guy. He was kind of cute, too, with brown hair and green eyes. He played on the football team with Josh and we’d chatted in the past.

While we were strolling down the hall, he cleared his throat nervously. “Josh told me about you two breaking up. I’m sorry.”

“I’m not,” I told him. Truthfully, I really wasn’t sorry at all. Josh suffocated me with his attention and possessiveness. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, the weight of a smothering ex-boyfriend.

His expression transformed from nervous to relieved. “I know this is kind of soon, but I was wondering if maybe you’d want to go out with me after the game on Friday night?”

Hearing an obnoxious giggle, I turned my head around to see Caleb and that idiot girl leaning into each other in a flirtatious manner. I spun back to the guy next to me. “That sounds like fun, Seth.”

His shocked face made me smile. Seth reached out for my hand. “Thank you.”

“What?” I asked, laughing. Did he just thank me for agreeing to go on a date with him?

“Oh, I mean, I’ll meet you in the parking lot after the game,” he rushed to say, blushing.

“Okay, see you later,” I responded, entering my first class. I’d never thought of Seth in a romantic way before and I hoped I didn’t regret going out with him. I hadn’t foreseen him asking me out, being Josh’s friend and all. I probably would’ve said no, but seeing Caleb flirting with another girl after the weekend we just had made me jealous as hell. So, I figured, why not?

My first few classes were a nightmare. News spread fast about me and Josh breaking up. I’d had three more guys ask me out already. I declined by saying I was already dating someone new. Hopefully news would spread just as fast about me being off the market again. A lot of girls liked Josh so he was probably going through the same thing.

Hurrying to third period across the building, I felt someone grab me from behind and pull me out of a set of doors leading to football field. As I was pushed up against the brick wall, I saw it was Josh who’d yanked me out of the building.

“What are you doing, Josh?” I yelled at him, getting scared at the hostility in his eyes.

“I should be the one asking that,” he gritted out. “What’s this I hear that you’re already dating someone new, Gianna? Since when? Were you cheating on me the entire time?”