“Hey chica! First big day. We are officially seniors!” she cups her hands around her mouth and bellows the last part out before doing a shimmy dance.
Jayson bends down to place a quick peck on my lips and walks over to meet the guys. I loop my arm with Maria’s and grab my bag. “Skip walk,” I tell her, and we begin to skip arm and arm down the paved sidewalk. Our silliness gets a lot of looks from other students but we don’t care, that is, until two of those looks come from Samantha and Jacinda who are standing in the quad with what I assume is the rest of the cheerleading squad since they're all holding blue and gold pom poms.
“Skanky bitch alert,” Maria says loudly.
“Who are you calling a bitch, whore trash?” Samantha sneers as we skip past them. Maria stops and pulls away from me.
“Whore trash, really? That’s the best you can come up with? At least I don’t have to drug guys to get them to have sex with me.”
Did Maria really go there? She knows how touchy I am with what happened at the party with Jayson.
“Maria, let’s go. She’s not worth it.” I try to pull Maria away, but she isn’t budging.
Jacinda joins Samantha. “At least she can have sex whenever she wants with whomever she wants. Unlike you, little girl, whose boyfriend won’t even touch her.”Jacinda continues taunting Maria, “Tell me Maria, has Ryder popped that cherry yet? Didn't think so. I, on the other hand, got to touch him all over.” She puts her finger in her mouth to imitate giving a blowjob. The other girls on the cheer squad make woo noises. Maria pales.“What, no snappy comeback to the truth? Didn't think so,” Jacinda tsks.
“What the hell!” I shout at her. “Do you always have to be such a vapid bitch? Back off!”
Samantha pops her hip and throws her long ponytail back over her shoulder. “Don’t even get me started on you.”
She steps toward me and then steps away. I am guessing by the direction of her gaze behind me, the cavalry has arrived in the form of three very large males.
Ryder is the first to speak. “I assume that you guys are not having a kumbaya moment. Do I need to tell Fallon that you’re breaking the deal you made?”
Huh? What deal? What is he talking about? At the mention of Fallon’s name, both Jacinda and Samantha back off and turn away to retreat back to their group. Ok, that’s weird.
“Come on, Maria. I’ll walk you to class.” Without saying bye to me, Maria follows Ryder into school. Jayson takes my hand and Julien takes my bag.
“Jayson, what about Fallon? What deal?”
“Nothing for you to worry about. Come on or we’re going to be late.”
“Julien?”
“Uh uh. Nope. We are not playing good parent, bad parent. I agree with Jay. This is one thing we’re not ever discussing with you.”
I snort. “Seriously?”
I’m met with silence.
Does this have something to do with how Marshall never pressed charges, or the video of the fight being taken down? I remember both Ryder and Jayson saying that Fallon was going to fix it. I wonder if I can withhold blowjobs in order to get Jayson to crack. Hmmm. I’ll keep that in mind for future use. I can fight dirty when I need to, but I’ll drop it for now. Perhaps I can ask Fallon himself at the next race in the Fields. See, I have options.
We get to my my locker and once I drop stuff off and lock it, Jayson walks me to my first class which Julien and Ryder are also in. We find four seats next to each other and sit down. Mr. Carmichael is our teacher this year. I had him last year for trig and am excited to have him again this year for AP Calc. He’s one of those teachers that makes boring stuff seem interesting.
“Good morning seniors,” Mr. Carmichael greets us. This is it. Our senior year has begun. I can’t freaking wait.
Chapter 17
Elizabeth
Ryder: Jamie’s car broke down and I have to go get her. I’ll try to meet up with you guys at the party. Tell Jules I’m sorry I missed the game.
Me: He’s doing great. Already scored 2 goals. Haven’t seen Marshall. Did he drop his team? Not that I’m complaining.
Ryder: Don’t know. Don’t care.
Me: BTW, where’s Maria?
Ryder: No clue. Sorry, Liz. Got 2 go. See u later.
