“Where is she?” Ryan’s gaze darted around. Sarah was nowhere to be seen.
“When did you ask her to meet you?”
“I texted her last night.”
I nodded, scouring the area around us.
“Hey Holden.” Trent, a wide receiver on our team, waved in my direction. “Hey, Ryan.”
I said hi and waved. Ryan barely glanced in his direction. His jaw was tense and twitched slightly the way it did when he got angry.
“Maybe she’s just late or something,” I said, even though I knew that wasn’t the case. The most likely scenario was that once Sarah sobered up she’d regretted sleeping with Ryan. But I didn’t want to stand around and watch this train wreck, or deal with Ryan when he got angry. So I stepped away from him. “Good luck, man. I’m gonna head to class.”
“Fine. I’ll catch up with you later.” He waved me away with a flick of his wrist, while still searching the parking lot. “What are you looking at, loser?” He hollered toward a small kid wearing braces. I was sure the kid hadn’t even meant to look at Ryan. He was just walking into school. Not that that would matter to Ryan. Logic wasn’t his strong suit. “Get the hell outta here before I kick your ass.”
My chest tightened. I watched the kid scurry off, and I blew out a breath. Smart move. If the kid had mouthed off to Ryan, I was pretty sure he would’ve regretted it. Ryan seemed like he was out for blood today. And when he realized that Sarah wasn’t going to show, he would lose it. That was something I didn’t plan to be here for. In all the years of friendship with Ryan, I’d learned when to walk away.
“Oh look. It’s the band geeks,” Ryan shouted from over my shoulder. “Doo-doo-doo-doo.” What the hell was he doing? I spun around in time to see Ryan marching in place, holding an invisible instrument in his hand. “I’m a band geek. The only thing I’m good at is looking like a big, fat loser.” Looking past him, I saw who he was making fun of, and my stomach dropped. Chloe and her two friends walked past Ryan, all of them wearing expressions of disgust.
“Yeah, you do look like a loser all right,” Chloe muttered under her breath.
“Look, Holden,” Ryan hollered in my direction. “Marching band chick just insulted me.” He clutched his chest and chuckled like it was the funniest thing ever. “Oh, it hurts. It really hurts.” His laugh heightened.
Chloe followed Ryan’s gaze until our eyes met. Frowning, she shook her head. My insides knotted, and I wished I had gotten out of here sooner. Now Chloe would associate me with him. She’d think I was like that. Before I could say anything to defend myself and make this better, Chloe grabbed her friends’ arms and guided them away from Ryan and me. Holding my breath, I watched her, hoping she’d turn around. Hoping she’d give me something. Anything to show that she was upset with Ryan, not me.
But she didn’t look back. Not once.
“You’re really a dick sometimes, Ry,” I spat.
“What the hell is your prob, dude?” Ryan looked thoroughly confused, and I knew that no matter what I said, he’d never understand. So I didn’t even bother.
“Nothing,” I muttered under my breath before walking away from him.
CHAPTER 10
Chloe
It was like he had a split personality. Like he was one person outside of school, and a completely different one in it. And I wondered which one was the real Holden. Was he the guy who spent Saturday nights watching movies with his mom, the guy who seemed interested in my music? Or was he the guy who stood by while his friend bullied me and my friends? Perhaps he was neither. Perhaps he was both. Either way, I knew I wasn’t okay with it. Bullying was never all right. And in my opinion, standing by and letting it happen was just as bad as participating in it yourself. Besides, who knew? Maybe Holden did participate. I mean, there was no way he was innocent if he chose to hang out with Rude Guy. I’d seen the two of them together multiple times. Clearly they were friends. I had known that even before I met him at the spa this weekend. And now I mentally chastised myself for my lack of self-control. I should have known better. I should have stayed far away from Holden. It was obvious that we were too different. He may have seemed like a nice guy, but clearly there was another side to him. A side I didn’t like at all.
Other girls might be able to overlook something like this. They’d make excuses like, “He makes me happy.” Or “He treats me well, so isn’t that all that matters?” But I wasn’t like that. Integrity was important to me. Kindness was important to me. And if a guy didn’t have those things, he wasn’t going to have me.