My first instinct is to deny it, but how fucking obvious would that be? So I don’t do that. Instead, I keep silent, making sure my stare never falters under the weight of her gaze.
Her laughter sets my nerves on fire. There’s nothing funny about what she knows or what shethinksshe knows. And if anyone hears her or I hear this coming out of anyone else’s mouth, the only one who will be fucking giggling is me when I shove my foot down her fucking throat.
Still chuckling, Marie places her hand on my leggings and says, “Relax. I’m not going to say anything. Your secret is safe with me, I promise.”
I don’t know what her promise means or the weight it holds, but for this moment, I have to trust her.
“I’m not fucking him,” I reply, not exactly denying her claims. I’m simply just being honest.
I haven’t fucked Mr. Ellis, but tonight… well, that’s going to change.
“But you are doing something with him. Right?”
“Why? Why are you asking me this?” I question, biting through my lip to hold back the snarl. My fists quake in my lap, begging to reach out and impale her shoulders with my sharpened nails. Just a quick shake, that’s all I need, and after I rattle the conviction from her mind, I’ll feel better.
“I saw you,” she says, jumping from the bed to pace the open space.
“What do you mean?”
“When you didn’t come back from the bathroom, I went looking for you. I wanted to make sure nothing happened, and you weren’t fending off an attacker from somewhere in the shadows.”Well, that’s kind of her.Maybe I should calm the itch to rip her vocal cords from her throat and let her finish.…
“I was on my way to the fourth-floor bathroom because that’s where you said you like to go, but then I heard you. It sounded like whimpering.”
I hold my breath as she tells the story achingly slow. I want to scream for her to get it over with, but the air is trapped in my lungs.
Exhaling forgotten, I’m fighting the urge to pass out when she continues. “The door didn’t make a sound when I pulled it open, although, from what I saw, I doubt any noise would have gathered your attention.”
“And what did you see?” I rasp, swallowing the blood spilling from my cut lip.
Looking down at her white-painted toenails, Marie rocks back on her heels. Her smile exposes sparkling teeth and how they shine against the vibrant cherry red of her lipstick. “I saw Mr. Ellis with his belt dangling in his hand… and you bent over his desk with your bare ass hanging out.”
My initial thoughts are,that’s it?But then I remember that it's enough to get him fired and ruin everything we’ve started. And that’s not something I’m willing to let happen.
“Marie,” I begin, keeping my tone low and calm while I deliver my threat, “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about… but if I were you, I’d keep this bullshit to yourself, or you and I are going to have a fucking problem, and Ipromise, you don’t want to have a problem with me.”
There she goes again with the fucking laughing. The only difference between then and now isnowI’m up and in her face.
“Back the fuck up, Scarlett. I’m not going to say shit about you and Ellis,” she says, forcing me back with a hard shove. “Fuck! If anything, I’m here tocongratulateyou! Do you know how many girls have tried to get in his pants?!Dozens!But you, the new girl, do it in two fucking weeks?! Bravo, my friend.Bra-fucking-vo!”
Righting my stance, I glare into Marie’s eyes and search for deception in her golden swirls. I spot none, and her smile is more than genuine. It's downright ecstatic.
I’ve always been one to trust my gut, and my gut is saying she’s being honest.Trust her; it guides. Reluctantly, I do. If it keeps me from losing a friend and the man who is quickly becoming the love of my life, I’ll accept her word. But if I find out she’s lying… “I’ll fucking gut you. Do you understand? If you say a word of this to anyone, I will flay the skin from your body and turn you into fucking art.Capisce?!”
“Yes! You fucking psycho, I get it! Not a word,” she agrees, continuing to laugh despite my fury.
Marie takes my hand and draws us both back onto the bed. We sit across from each other, our legs crossed, while she stares with a million questions rippling over the surface of her eyes.
“What?” I snap, still on edge from our secret being discovered. I need to tell Theodore. He’s going to be pissed… he might even end things with me. The thought brings tears to my eyes.
He can’t… he can’t leave me.
I-I love-
“How did you do it?”
“How did I do what?” I ask, swallowing back the emotion clogging my throat.
“Get Mr. Ellis to fold?!” she shouts, making the bed shake with her exuberant motions. “Girls have tried. Many of them going as far as to proposition him with gifts, sports, and whatever else they could get their parent's money on. But you-” Marie mumbles, frantic eyes softening as she explores my face. “You have this man, this sexy, smart,marriedman, on his knees for you… how?”
