Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 129986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129986 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Dread settles over me as I drop my bag. I have my whole bookbag with me today because I think I’ll eat outside again. I need a break from the nonstop bullshit.
“Hey, there she is,” he says with a shit-eating grin, nudging Dare. Then, loudly, he says, “Think she’ll sign it for me?”
Dare turns slowly, clearly surprised to see me over here in the corner. He frowns, stands, and grabs the paper out of his friend’s hand without looking.
He balls up the paper on his way over. I look up at him, a little relieved, but a bit nervous, too. He hasn’t famously been fantastic to me in front of his friends, and I’m not sure what’s coming.
“Have you been in this class all year?”
I nod. “Sure have.”
“Huh. And here I thought I was observant.”
I crack a smile. “I’m easy to miss. My class before this one is so far away, I barely get here on time, and I sit by the door so I can be the first one out.”
“Good strategy.”
I nod, glancing at his friends. They’re watching, a bit confused. I guess I can see why. The way Anae’s video framed it, I sent this picture of myself to him unsolicited. Even though people saw us arrive at school together last week, I guess they didn’t think he actually liked me.
Which, again, makes sense if he still has a freaking evil girlfriend.
Haven’t been able to get confirmation on that yet. Maybe I would have at lunch, but there’s no way I’m putting myself through the cafeteria today. Everybody has an opinion about us even though literally none of them have any of the facts.
“What time should I come over tonight?” he asks.
The girl in front of me turns around to steal a not-so-subtle look at us.
I clear my throat and look up at him. “I don’t know, like six?”
“All right.”
The way he looks at me makes me feel melty. He’s not trying to, I just really like him, and I feel like him coming over and talking to me in front of everyone like this is partially to get some of the heat off me.
The bell rings, so he glances at the teacher, then back at me. “Guess I better go.” His lips tug up.
I smile faintly, but my face feels so hot because I can feel people watching and I hate it. “Okay. I’ll see you later.”
He touches my shoulder, then turns and heads back to his seat.
At least after that, none of his friends in this class smirk at me or say another word.
___
Knowing Dare is coming over later, I utilize my lunchtime outside to eat the food I packed myself and get started on my homework.
I’m relieved when I head back in to know I only have two classes left and then I can go home. Unfortunately, on the way to my next class, I get a text message.
It’s from Anae. Not her fake number she sent the disgusting video from, but her own number.
My stomach sinks when I see it’s another video from her social media—this one isn’t intended to overtly humiliate me, though. Just to hurt my feelings.
It’s a video of her and Dare in his car with the windows down on the way to school this morning. Her caption reads, “When you and the BF decide to carpool.”
I hate myself for feeling so disappointed.
He never said they broke up.
But he did come to my house with the express intention of fucking me when he knew I didn’t even want to kiss him when he had a girlfriend.
I had hoped that meant…
My heart cracks a little more when I see that Dare liked the video.
What?
When I went through her stuff before, it seemed like he never liked her shit, so for him to like this feels… deliberate.
Not deliberate in the sense that he expected me to see it, of course, but like maybe he has a guilty conscience and thought since he fucked someone else last night, he should give his actual girlfriend a little extra attention.
I close the message without responding and tuck my phone in my bag. I feel sick to my stomach.
People still stare and whisper on my way to class—kids at this school love their gossip, after all—but I don’t even pay them any mind.
I want to go home and curl up alone in bed, but I’ve already missed so much school, I don’t want to miss more for no reason. I’m useless in class, though, and when the bell rings and school is over, like an absolute masochist, I hurry outside because I know Dare tends to leave first since he parks up front, and I want to see if she gets in his car.
She said they carpooled and implied it was today. He was wearing the same shirt he was wearing in English so I’m probably grasping at straws, but he did say she banks footage. Maybe she posted that today, but the footage was old. That would be far preferable to him actually leaving my house after taking my virginity and sleeping in my bed all night and then deciding to drive over to his girlfriend’s house and give her a ride to school an hour later.