“You gonna cry over spilled Coke? Or are you gonna fill me in on the dirty, nasty details of the school slob?”
I quirked an eyebrow. “There a third option?”
Roy clicked his tongue. “Come on. Really? You’re gonna hold out on me like that? I tell you every little fun detail with Marina, but you’re not going to tell me about bagging the school sass-mouth? That’s just wrong, dude. On so many levels.”
“How is Marina doing, anyway?”
“Oh-ho-ho, she’s fantastic. Really taking a liking to the taste of my dick after her lunch banana.”
And as he launched into his latest escapades with his girlfriend, I started up a new race for us, hoping it was enough to distract him from the fact that I’d never divulge those details with him.
Because I sure as hell didn’t need the questions that would conjure.
23
Raelynn
I pulled my ponytail out and ran my fingers through my hair while Allison fixed her makeup beside me. I’d been spending lunches in here with her, especially since I hadn’t been hungry. All this week, I’d been worried about Clint. Worried he was hurt, or in the hospital, or worse. And when I showed up at his house yesterday after school, I got shooed away and laughed at.
I wondered if he was embarrassed of me. It sure seemed like it, with how quickly he tried to get me to leave.
Allison sighed. “How are things with your mom?”
I rolled my eyes. “About as good as you can expect.”
“Didn’t D.J. show up last night? I think that’s what you said before you hung up the phone.”
“Yep. To apologize, like always. He brought flowers for Mom. A nice dinner I was forced to sit down and have.”
Allison scoffed. “What was his present for you this time?”
I shook my head. “Money. Money I didn’t want to take, but Mom made me. I’ve got it in my wallet, but I don’t even know what to do with it. I’m thinking about slipping it in my mother’s purse later.”
“Why don’t you use it to get ahead on your lunches? So you don’t have to keep using your money from work.”
I shrugged. “I might just put it in my savings account. Get me a hundred dollars closer to my goal.”
She paused. “He gave you a hundred dollars? Just like that?”
I nodded. “Yep. Just like that. And now, it’s simply a game of wait until they fight again. Which should be soon. They can’t go more than a couple of weeks without repeating the cycle.”
“You know you’re always welcome to come over. My parents love you. For all they care, you could live with us.”
I giggled. “Don’t say shit like that. I might just take you up on it.”
“How do my eyes look?”
I grinned. “Like Michael wants to get lost in them.”
I watched her blush a bright shade of pink and I thought it was the cutest thing. This crush going back and forth between her and Michael was awesome to watch unfold. I mean, I knew he’d had the hots for her ever since eighth grade. All this time, I’d been telling him she might never return his affections. Allison had always been driven by her future. By school. By her architecture and her life’s aspirations. As far as I knew, she hadn’t even been kissed.
Because if she had been, I’d certainly know about it.
“Want some?” she asked, holding out her mascara.
I scoffed. “And who the fuck would I be wearing that for?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Clint Clarke?”
Marina’s voice wrapped around us as my eyes fell onto her reflection. I watched her walk out of one of the stalls as Allison’s jaw dropped open. Holy shit, she’d been in there the entire time. Listening. Eavesdropping. Learning shit about my life I certainly didn’t want her to know about.
Marina giggled. “Sucks about your mom. But money talks. And good dick.”
Allison snarled. “What the heck do you want?”
Marina grinned. “Such harsh words. Might want to tone it down there.”
“What, Marina?” I asked flatly.
She smiled sweetly before she came over to the sink beside me. She washed her hands with meticulous precision, cleaning underneath her fingernails. I slowly looked over at Allison, watching my best friend silently glower at this girl. Whatever was coming, it wasn’t good. And with Roy finding out about my affair with Clint yesterday, it didn’t shock me that I was now having a run-in with his girlfriend.
Marina reached for the paper towels. “So I heard a little rumor.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure you did.”
Allison scoffed. “What rumor, Marina?”
She smiled brightly. “A rumor that says your friend is fucking the brains out of Clint Clarke himself.”
I peeked over at Allison and watched her face pale.
I sighed. “I take it you heard this from Roy?”
Marina wiped her hands off. “Let’s just say a little birdie told me.”
“A little birdie you’re fucking around with.”
She threw the paper towel away. “What’s it to you if we are?”
Allison went to say something, but I held up my hand. It would be nothing but wasted energy. And this was my fight, not hers. I didn’t know what Marina had up her sleeve. I didn’t know what she was trying to do. But I didn’t want Allison caught up in it. I wanted her to enjoy her senior year.
Not be dragged down by a decision I’d made in a moment of weakness.
“What do you want, Marina?”
She giggled. “I just want to hear it from you. That’s all.”
“Well, then you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
She snickered. “Figures. You’ll freely talk about your mother hoeing around. But you certainly don’t want to talk about you doing it.”
Allison took a step forward. “That’s enough.”
I turned around, pressing my hands against her shoulders. I leveled my gaze at her as Marina threw her head back with laughter. I shook my head. The last thing we needed was some girl fight where we pulled at each other’s hair and eventually got expelled. Michael had almost blemished his perfect record with the fight against Clint. I wasn’t about to let Allison throw her acceptance to UCLA away because she wanted to claw this bitch’s eyes out.
“Let me handle this,” I whispered.
Then I turned around to face Marina.
“I’ll ask you again. What is it you want?”
Marina leapt for me, getting into my face. “I’ll tell you what I want, you little slut. I want you to know your place. I want you to know exactly where you stand with a man like Clint. You’re nothing compared to him. He’s got the world at his feet, and you’ll be drowning in squalor. Fucking men in an effort to pay your bills. Whoring around like your mother does. We already see you turning into her. You look like her. Smell like her. Talk like her. Walk like her. And soon, you’ll fuck like her, too. The town mattress, ready for a good ride whenever you’re drunk enough.”
I shrugged. “Too bad I don’t drink.”
Marina scoffed. “Just like Clint beat the snot out of your friend, I’ve got no problems beating the snot out of you. Or your little friend behind you. You think you’re tough, but you’re nothing, Cleaver.”
I grinned. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say this was coming from a place of jealousy.”
She paused. “So the two of you are fucking.”
I shrugged. “Why do you care if we are?”
Marina lunged at me and I heard Allison squeal. But I held my ground. I didn’t flinch. I didn’t blink. And I sure as hell didn’t move. Marina ran her eyes down my body before moving along beside me, brushing her shoulder against mine.
“I’ll be watching you, you piece of trailer trash,” she said.
I snickered. “I’d have to live in a trailer for that title, Marina. Or do you not know the difference between a house and a trailer?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll get Clint to educate me this weekend at my pool party. You know, once he’s done making out with the girls in the hot tub. That’s his favorite pastime. And it really is a treat to watch once those girls get to grinding in his lap.”
I bristled at her words as she left. I heard her giggle fade down the hallway, her heels clicking against the tiled flooring. I slowly turned around to Allison, who was visibly trembling with anger. The embarrassed tinted blush of her cheeks had turned to a full-on crimson rage, her fists clenched at her sides.
“Allison, breathe. She’s not worth the effort.”
She shook her head. “She is an absolute, raging bitch.”
My eyebrows rose. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you use that word.”
“Well, it’s true. Marina’s nothing but a—a sleazy, good for nothing rollercoaster boys can have a good ride on before bouncing to the next one!”
I giggled. “Wow.”
“What?”
I paused. “I kind of like this side of you.”
“I sucked down what happened with Michael. I mean, he’s a guy. He can take care of himself. But watching it happen to you? That’s completely different. I’m done with this… this stuff. I’m done with Clint and his cronies screwing around with you just because he’s—”