Chapter 24
Ella
Monday morning at school, Charlotte’s waiting for me at my locker.
“Did you hear the news?” she asks in a hushed tone.
“What news?” I open my locker and toss my hoodie in it.
I put it on, thinking I’d be cold, but now I’m so hot I’m almost sweating.
I think it’s because I’m nervous about seeing Briggs.
All day yesterday, I kept thinking about what we did in his room, wondering if it actually happened or if I just imagined it.
I know it happened, but telling myself it didn’t makes me feel better, because seriously, what the hell was I thinking?
For one, he has a girlfriend, and two, it’s Briggs Chadwick!
I let the guy I hate more than anyone put his hand in a place it never should’ve gone. And the worst part? I liked it!
“Parker broke up with Scarlett!” Charlotte whispers. “I don’t know the whole story, but people are saying she was with another guy.”
I close my locker. “I’m not surprised. They didn’t really seem like they got along. So how was your weekend?”
“That’s it? You don’t want to revel in the fact that one of the A’s got cheated on? You should be excited about this! Something bad finally happened to them!”
“I’m sure lots of bad things happen to them. They just hide it from people. Can we talk later? I need to get to class.” I swing my backpack over my shoulder and head down the hall.
“We still have five minutes,” Charlotte says, catching up to me. “What’s going on with you? Are you avoiding me?”
“No. Why would I be avoiding you?”
“Because you’re hiding something.” She comes in front of me and stops, staring at my face. “You did something.”
“Like what?” I ask, hoping she can’t tell that I did something with Briggs.
I’m being ridiculous. There’s no way she could tell.
“Did you have a date last weekend?”
Shit, maybe she can tell.
I laugh it off. “Yeah. With my dad. We mowed lawns all weekend.”
“You didn’t answer my texts Friday night. Or Saturday night.”
“I was doing homework. I turned my phone off so I could concentrate.”
“Or because you were on a date.”
“I wasn’t on a date, and I really need to get to class.”
As I go around her, she grabs my arm. “Wait, weren’t you meeting with Briggs on Friday?”
“Yeah, but we didn’t meet long. He was being an ass, as usual, so I told him I’d do the assignment myself and left.”
“Did he say anything about me?” She looks around the hall, making sure Briggs and his friends aren’t anywhere within earshot.
“Charlotte, I told you, Briggs inviting you to that party was just a prank. He wanted to see if you’d show up, and if you did, he and his friends would’ve done something to embarrass you. That’s all he was doing. He wasn’t asking you out.”
Her eyes dart behind me, and she’s squeezing my arm so tight she’s going to leave a mark.
“What are you doing?” I ask, trying to pry her hand off me.
“Scarlett,” she whispers.
“Hey, Trailer Girl,” Scarlett says, bumping my backpack so hard she pushes me forward. I trip on my feet, but Charlotte’s death grip on my arm keeps me from falling forward. “Aww, did I do that?”
I whip around to Scarlett. “Did you need something?”
She flips her long hair behind her shoulder. “I need more of that stuff you dropped in the bathroom.” Her lips turn up. “I might even pay you this time.”
“It wasn’t mine. Try your boyfriend. I’m sure he has a stash of it since he’s the one who probably put it in my locker.” I smile. “I mean, your ex -boyfriend. I heard he dumped you.”
“Like that would ever happen,” she huffs. “He worships me.”
Just then, Parker comes up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. “Hey, babe. Why are you talking to Trailer Girl?”
My jaw drops, but I snap it shut. Why is he calling me that? And why is he giving me that disgusted look he used to give me before the accident? All last week, Parker didn’t bother me. I assumed that meant he was done treating me like shit.
“I’m not talking to her,” Scarlett says with disgust. “I’m trying to get around her fat ass.”
“I don’t have a fat ass!” I lunge at her, but strong arms pull me back.
“What’s going on here?” I hear Briggs say as he keeps hold of my arms.
“You’re touching her?” Parker shakes his head. “Better hope you don’t get a disease.”
I turn and see a disgusted look on Briggs’ face as he drops my arms and rears back. “Shit, you’re right. Who knows what the fuck she’s contaminated with?”
What the hell is going on here? Am I in a parallel universe? What happened to us all being in this together? Why am I suddenly the enemy again?
Aubrey comes up beside Briggs, wrapping her arm around him. “Ooh, am I missing something?” Her glossy, pink lips curl up. “Are we telling Ella how hideous she looks today?” She points to my denim skirt. “Seriously, did you find that in the trash?”
“Don’t touch him!” Scarlett squeals, pointing at Briggs. “He touched Ella!”
Aubrey drops her hold on Briggs and steps away. “You touched her?”
“She tried to attack me,” Scarlett says. “Your boyfriend saved me.”
I can’t believe this. It’s like nothing’s changed, like last week never happened, and everything’s back to normal. I stare at Briggs, but he won’t even look at me. I look back at Charlotte, but she’s gone.
I storm down the hall to class, furious at Parker and Briggs, and mad at Charlotte for taking off like that.
When I get to AP History, I smile at Mr. Walker. He doesn’t smile back. He still hates me, despite admitting that a dog killed his grass, not my dad. I don’t know why he’s so mean to me. Maybe he’s just cranky because he’s old.
As I take my seat, Briggs walks in. I catch his eye as he goes to the back of the room.
He holds my gaze just long enough to make me question if what happened in the hall was all an act.
There’s no way it was real, not after all that’s happened between us.
He had me over to his house. He asked me to stay.
He confided in me. We... did things. After all that, there’s no way he’d go back to how he used to be.
But he’s not smiling at me, and the look he’s giving me doesn’t look friendly.
Seriously, what’s going on? Did the A’s get together yesterday and decide to turn against me?
They better not have, or it’s going to be an all-out war.
If the hit-and-run leads back to us, there’s no way in hell I’m letting them blame me.
I’m so angry I can’t even concentrate during class. We have a test on Friday and I need to pay attention, but all I can think about is what those assholes are up to and what I can do to defend myself.
I need to talk to Briggs, but we don’t have Chem lab today, and I can’t just go up and talk to him. People would suspect something’s going on. Everyone knows I don’t talk to Briggs, and he doesn’t talk to me, unless he’s bullying me.
At the end of class, I text him. Tell me what’s going on.
I glance at the back of the room and see him looking at his phone.
I look back at mine and see he texted back. Bleachers at noon. Don’t tell anyone.
Just before noon, as I’m heading to my locker, Charlotte races up to me. “What happened this morning?”
“If you would’ve stuck around, you would’ve found out. I can’t believe you ditched me like that.”
“Ella, you know I can’t be around them. I get too nervous.”
“And yet you were going to go to their party and hang out with Briggs.”
We stop at my locker, and she leans against the one next to mine, a dreamy look on her face. “I feel like Briggs isn’t as bad as we think, like somewhere inside him there’s a sweet, romantic guy just waiting to come out.”
I stare at her. “Sweet? Romantic? We’re talking about Briggs Chadwick, the Third, right? The guy who told everyone in school that I had a mental disorder and a contagious skin condition?”
“That was years ago. We were kids, and kids do stupid things.”
“We weren’t kids, and it was more than just stupid.
He made me an outcast at school. And what about all the other things he did?
People have been calling me Trailer Girl for three years because of him.
And what about what he’s done recently, like planting drugs in my locker?
The list is endless, and you’re defending this guy? ”
“You’re right.” She shakes her head. “He’s horrible. I think his looks are clouding my judgment.”
“Yeah, well, looks can be deceiving.” I check my phone and see it’s almost noon. “I’ll see you later.”
“Wait — aren’t we having lunch?”
“I can’t today. I need to do something.”
“What do you need to do?”
“Study for a test.”
“I’ll walk to the library with you.”
“No. You don’t need to. Just go ahead to lunch.”
She looks at me like she knows something’s going on.
“I’ll see you after school,” I tell her.
“Yeah. Okay.” She walks off, but looks back.
I remain at my locker, pretending to put stuff away.
She can’t know I’m going to meet Briggs, not after that speech I just gave her.
Telling her that reminded me of all the horrible things Briggs has done to me over the years.
Why did I even let myself think he could change?
He wasn’t being nice to me last week. He was making sure I didn’t turn him and his friends in for hitting that guy.
But why would he think I’d turn them in?
It’d be my word against theirs, and they’d make sure I was the one who got in trouble.
Maybe that’s why they’re bullying me again, because they know I can’t win.
When I get to the bleachers, Briggs isn’t there.
I walk around to the back and feel someone grab me from behind.
I know it’s him by the way I fit in his arms, and by that flutter in my stomach that happens when we’re close like this.
I hate that he makes my body react this way, but I can’t seem to stop it.
“You can’t be texting me anymore,” he says, his mouth by my ear. “You need to stop.”