Danger! Bad Boy(30)

This had been a lesson well learned.

He'd see that he hadn’t broken me. He would never get to see my pain, my tears, my heartbreak.

Everything had been a mistake from the moment I’d met him.

Everything.

Mistakes could be fixed.

He'd never know how much he hurt me. I’d played a role before, I could do it again.



CALEB



Friday morning, I didn't know if Gianna would show up to school after what happened the night before. I wasn’t really up to going myself after not sleeping all night, but I had to be there just in case she was.

I dragged myself out of a bed that I saw no sleep in. Thirty minutes later, I was back in Broomfield, pulling my car into the school parking lot. As I looked for a parking space, I scanned the cars I passed, looking for Gianna's Jeep.

She probably wouldn’t come. Girls took these things hard. Not that I was taking it any better. I just needed to see her. I needed to see that she was okay.

After parking, I stepped out of my car and leaned against the trunk, waiting for her to show up. If she did at all.

Three minutes before the first bell rang, I was about to give up. Concentrating on the entrances to the parking lot, it barely registered with me when that Seth guy drove by me and waved with a smile on his face.

Were we friends? I didn't think so. After one date with Gianna, I’d kind of snatched her right out from under him. Right out from under Jared, too. Both guys had reason to not be friendly towards me. Not that I gave a damn.

I was still looking at the entrance of the parking lot when I heard a girl squeal, "Gianna!" I turned my head swiftly toward the sound. A group of cheerleaders were skipping across the parking lot like a herd of gazelles. My gaze followed the direction they were heading.

And I saw her.

Getting out of the passenger side of Seth's car.

Wearing her cheerleader uniform once again.

Fake smile plastered on her face.

The old Gianna was back.



GIANNA



And I’d thought school was torture before I met Caleb.

Now it was excruciating.

I ignored Caleb's presence the best I could during the two classes we shared before lunch. But now that it was lunch the questions came. I was sitting with my old friends, the jocks and cheerleaders, all of them eager to have the queen of popularity back on her throne.

I felt like pulling out my hair. I felt like pulling a Britney Spears and shaving it all off. See how much they’d want me then.

At the same time, there was comfort and a sense of security in once again being surrounded by all the phoniness. I'd rather endure their deceptions than ever experience Caleb's again. I could hide from him amongst them. Hide from reality and the pain.

I realized he’d never said he loved me but I still believed he led me on.

My lips had been sealed on the subject of Caleb, but I could tell everyone was dying to know. Even the guys of this clique were gossip whores.

Hannah glanced at me sideways with a smirk on her face. "Your boyfriend is staring at you."

I acted unaffected, even though I was so far from it. My heart was beating like a drum. "He's not my boyfriend anymore."

She raised two perfectly groomed eyebrows. "Well then, your stepbrother is staring at you. Scowling, actually."

"He's not my stepbrother anymore, either," I forced myself to say.

She smiled predatorily. "So, it's open season then."

I wanted to claw her eyes out. Rip out what I knew were expensive extensions. I calmed myself down on the inside, trying to match my calm exterior. Giving her a skeptical look, I asked, "Didn't he reject you already?"

Bullseye.

I expected her to strike back at me, instead she grumbled, "He's not that hot anyways."

Seth, who was sitting on my right side and had been listening to the exchange, put his half cent in. "Gianna is my girlfriend now."

Yeah, so I called him early this morning, asked for a ride to school and, pow, before we pulled into the parking lot he was my new boyfriend. The kind I’d prefer. The kind that couldn't hurt me.

"Funny," Hannah began and unfortunately continued, "On Monday you were Caleb's girlfriend. You’re out of school for three days and now you’re Seth's girlfriend."

I flashed her a warning look, the kind that told a bitch she’d better back down. Being the reluctant queen of the school was good for something. Power. I could crush her, have her sitting by herself in the library during lunch.

"Nothing funny about it, Hannah. We dated, it's over. Same as it was with me and Josh."

I glanced down the table where Josh was sitting. Him hanging out with this crowd was an unfortunate fact of life. But he could be ignored just as easily as Caleb.

Hannah followed my glance. "Seems like you have two ex-boyfriends pining over you." Josh was staring, too, scowling like Hannah claimed Caleb had been.