Chapter 8 – Shnookums #2
But I was glad Liam didn’t say anything.
I wasn’t even technically lying. I was just withholding information.
Sort of. And I didn’t have a choice. Jacob didn’t understand.
And I was almost positive he would have asked me not to go if I told him the truth.
Or shown up and somehow scared the kiss thief off before I could unmask him. I couldn’t risk it.
This was better. For everyone. Definitely.
RJ sat down on the other side of me. “Excited for Friday, baby doll?”
“Stop calling me that.” I gave him a hard stare. And I hoped he understood that he shouldn’t say anything about Friday night.
He winked at me.
Okay, cool. I guess he understood.
“I’ll change the subject,” he whispered to me. “Have you guys heard about the new it couple?” he said much louder.
“No,” I said.
“Unless you’re talking about us,” Jacob said and put his arm around my shoulders.
“Old news,” RJ said. “I’m talking about...”
“What the actual F?” Sophie said. Her chicken sandwich fell out of her hands and onto her tray.
“What?” I asked.
Sophie didn’t respond. She was awkwardly chewing a big piece of lettuce that had stayed in her mouth after the sandwich fell. “I’m going to be sick,” she said with her mouth full.
“Sophie, just spit it out.”
“I can’t utter the words.”
“What words? I’m talking about the lettuce.” I reached across the table and pulled it out of her mouth.
She gagged.
Liam slapped her on the back. But he was barely paying attention to her. He was staring at something over my shoulder.
I started to turn around.
“Don’t turn around,” Liam said.
“Why?” Jacob asked. He’d been about to turn around too.
“Just...don’t.”
“Good thinking,” Sophie said. “Maybe that way they won’t come over here...shit, they’re coming! Everyone try not to hurl.”
What were she and Liam talking about?
“It’s such a plot twist,” RJ said, just as Axel walked over to our table.
But he wasn’t alone. His arm was wrapped around Gigi’s waist.
She laughed even though no one had said anything and put her hand on Axel’s chest.
I did feel like hurling. It was a reflex reaction to any girl touching Axel. This shouldn’t have affected me anymore. And I wasn’t sure it would have if it wasn’t freaking Gigi.
Georgia and Gemma walked over too.
“Remember how I said I had some fun news to share?” Axel said. “Well...this is it.” He pulled Gigi even closer. “Meet my new girlfriend.”
I didn’t need to meet her. I already knew who the she-devil was!
“Traitor,” Sophie said.
Axel laughed. “Soph, be nice. Gigi and I are actually really serious.”
What?! How could they be serious? Axel was single at homecoming three days ago. And he told me he wanted to be single for the rest of the year. Because dating someone for several months before going off to college would just be...well...unserious!
“You don’t mind if we sit with you guys, right?” Gigi asked. She smiled in that fake sweet way of hers.
Georgia and Gemma already started to sit down.
“There’s not enough seats,” Liam said.
Thank goodness. He was right. There were only three seats.
Gigi laughed like that was hilarious. “Then the freshmen should probably leave.”
Liam laughed. “We’re not going anywhere. This is our table.”
Sometimes my little brother was actually amazing.
“That’s fine,” Gigi said. “I’ll sit on Axel’s lap. Right, shnookums?” She looked up at Axel.
Shnookums? Gross.
“Right.” Axel sat down and pulled Gigi down onto his lap.
She laughed.
“I’m sorry,” Sophie said. “How exactly did this happen?”
“It all started with that kiss on the first day of school,” Axel said. “I haven’t been able to get her out of my head ever since.”
It felt like my blood stopped pumping in my veins.
And oxygen wasn’t reaching my lungs. Axel had told me that kiss meant nothing.
That she’d kissed him and he’d pushed her off.
It was like I was seeing it happen all over again right in front of me.
One of the worst moments of my life on repeat.
And everything Axel had said about it was a lie. He’d liked it. He’d liked her.
“Right, sweet cheeks?” Axel said.
Ew. Sweet cheeks was as bad as shnookums.
“Mhm.”
“And the she sent me soup when I was sick,” Axel said. “It was super sweet. She even somehow guessed my favorite.”
“Minestrone,” Gigi said. “Everyone loves minestrone. It was a lucky guess.”
That wasn’t his favorite kind of soup! He liked chicken noodle. Or...had he been lying about that too? Had he just tossed the soup I sent him on sick days in the trash for years? Something about that really stung.
“It wasn’t luck,” Axel said. “We’re just so in sync. You knew exactly what I needed.” His eyes trailed down her body. “When I needed it.” He said it so seductively.
Gigi leaned in and kissed him.
And the two of them started making out.
Axel buried his fingers in her hair. For just a second, before he closed his eyes, he stared at me while he mouth raped Gigi.
I quickly turned away.
Sophie pretended to hurl again.
“Aren’t they the cutest?” Georgia said.
Whatever, George. I couldn’t believe that just a few minutes ago I thought that Axel was my kiss thief. Sophie was right. He was not into me at all.
“Definitely,” Gemma agreed.
“You know who’d be a cuter couple?” RJ said.
“Who?” Gemma asked.
“Us, baby.”
Gemma laughed instead of shoving him off his seat.
Axel was dating Gigi. And RJ was flirting with Gemma. I’d never been more grateful that my brother already had a girlfriend.
Liam gave me a sympathetic smile.
“You okay?” Jacob whispered in my ear.
His breath on the side of my face reminded me to breathe.
And it was actually easier than I thought it would be. It was always easier to breathe around Jacob.
I turned to look up at him. Axel was dating my nemesis. And the triple G’s would apparently be sitting at our table for the foreseeable future.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I said. Normally, I would have been tempted to flip the lunchroom table. But I felt kind of okay. Not great. But...oddly okay.
After all, Jacob’s arm was around me. And if I screamed in my head I could almost drown out the sound of Gigi moaning into Axel’s mouth.
This was some kind of new hell.
But for the first time ever, I had a boyfriend while Axel had a girlfriend. And that made everything more bearable.
I really didn’t know if it would bother me if he was dating someone other than Gigi. But the what-ifs didn’t matter. He was dating Gigi. And apparently it was serious. I’d told him I wanted him to be happy. And if that’s what happiness looked like to him, so be it.
“Do you want some ice cream?” Jacob asked.
The fact that he knew I needed ice cream when I was upset was next level boyfriend material. But I wasn’t upset. At least, I didn’t want to be. “No, I’m okay, really. Besides, I have this amazing sandwich to eat.”
Jacob smiled.
I wanted to be as good of a girlfriend as he was a boyfriend. I chewed my bite really slowly as I kept my body turned toward Jacob. No one needed to see whatever was going on behind me.
“I’m excited about the party on Saturday,” I said.
“Me too.” He kept his arm around me as he started eating again with one hand.
I’d come clean about everything at the party. My kiss thief would be unmasked by then. And I’d have no reason to lie about anything ever again. I just really hoped Jacob would forgive me.