“We should stop him.”
“Yeah, we should, but you know he won’t listen. He thinks he can fix this. Let him try.”
Eddie nods reluctantly. “I guess you’re right. It just sucks. Rich is a good guy, and girls make fun of him because of his face. It’s sad.”
“It really is.”
We spend the next hour and thirty minutes watching the movie without Rich, both of us sitting there in silence. When Rich shows up just as the credits roll with tears in his eyes, looking defeated and rejected, we pop in another bag of popcorn, restart the movie, and watch it again.
If there’s one thing I’ll always be, it’s there for my friends. I don’t care what time of night or day. If one of them is in trouble, I’ll be at their side, fighting whatever fight they’re in right alongside them.
Because that’s what best friends do. And these are two friends I’ll have for the rest of my life. Nothing, not even a girl like Zoe, can damper this friendship.
Well, maybe there’s one girl. I just don’t know if I’ll ever see her again.
The next time I see Poppy Kiplingler, she’s in the deep recesses of the library, nose buried in a physics book, scribbling notes frantically into a notebook.
“I always knew you were a smart girl,” I say playfully, breaking her concentration.
She glances up, glares, then mumbles under her breath, “Go away.”
I plop onto the seat in front of her, unfazed.
“Whatcha studying?”
She points to the wordPhysicson the cover of her book and rolls her eyes. “God, not only are you a degenerate, but you’re also illiterate, too. Go figure.”
“You gonna tutor me, GCG? Teach me how to read and all that fun shit?”
She never looks up from her book. “And waste precious hours of my day? Absolutely not.”
One of Zoe’s friends, Morgan Cooper, picks that exact moment to walk by, smiling at me with the same look she gives me anytime she’s nearby.
“Hey, Wesley. How are you?” she questions, ignoring Poppy so she can sit on the table, her little skirt riding up just enough for me to see her floral panties beneath.
She smirks when I look up at her, gulping.
“I’m fine, Morgan. How are you?”
She flips her blonde locks over her shoulder. “I’m amazing now that you’re here.”
Poppy scoffs, causing Morgan to acknowledge her.
“Oh, didn’t see you there, Poppy. How are you?”
Poppy looks up briefly and paints on a fake smile. “Fine, just studying.”
“Are you tutoring Wesley in Physics?”
Poppy laughs mockingly. “Like he’d understand it. Last I heard, he just learned his colors and how to count to ten.”
God, it’s hot when she insults me.
Morgan laughs. “Is that true, Wesley? Are you just learning your colors?”
Her hand curls under my chin, her touch soft and light.
“Something like that.”
