“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.
