Braden stares down the table at me. “No. Rumor stays here.”
Peyton gives me a look that says she tried. Why was she trying? I never told her I wanted to sit with the cheerleaders. I need to sit here to get information, but I don’t like Braden demanding that I stay. Now it looks like I’m following his orders, which I hate.
Alyssa shows up and sits next to Kade, frowning, her eyes on the table.
“What’s wrong, babe?” Kade asks.
“I got a C on my English quiz.”
Kade laughs. “Ms. Pruitt’s back?”
“She said I didn’t show all my work. I did everything her sub told us to do. She shouldn’t be grading tests she wasn’t even there for.”
If Alyssa got a C, I probably got an F. Alyssa’s at the top of our class.
“Do you have Ms. Pruitt?” I ask Dante.
He shakes his head. “Had her last year. She’s tough. If I didn’t play football I probably would’ve flunked.”
I’m always surprised by how open they are in admitting that the teachers fix their grades. Shouldn’t that be a secret? Or at least something you don’t talk about?
“You two are back together?” Braden says to Kade.
“Sort of,” Alyssa says, glaring at Kade. “If he can keep his dick out of other girls.”
Kade just laughs.
“When did that happen?” Braden says. “You broke up on Friday after the game.”
“And got back together Saturday night.” Kade puts his arm around Alyssa. “You just couldn’t live without me, could you? Because I’m the best.”
I want to gag. These guys seriously need to have their egos knocked down. I wonder if they realize they’re not going to get away with acting this way at college. Nobody will treat them like gods or fix their grades. It’s going to be a huge shock when they have girls rejecting them and telling them they’re assholes when they say shit like Kade just said to Alyssa.
She gets up from the table. “I’m going to study.”
“What about lunch?” Kade says.
“I don’t have time to eat. See you after school.”
She walks off, and Braden says to Kade, “Might be time to trade her in. She’s being a bitch.”
“Really, Braden?” Kristen scoffs.
“What? All she does is complain. And he’s been with her long enough.”
Kristen turns to Braden. “Maybe if you treated women better, you’d actually get a date now and then.”
Wow. Kristen finally said something I agree with.
“I don’t have fucking dates because that’s what I choose,” Braden says, getting angry. “I’m not wasting my time taking some girl to dinner. She can get her own damn dinner.”
“And you wonder why we didn’t last,” Kristen says with a sigh.
“We didn’t last because you’re a—” He stops, pursing his lips as he tries to hold back what he was about to say.
Kristen smiles at him. “I’m awhat, Braden?”
“Nothing.” He shakes his head. “It doesn’t fucking matter. Go be with Novak. See if I fucking care.”
