I nod, quite pleased with myself for being able to banter with him a bit and turn to face the table again.
“I like her! Want to go home with me and play Clitar Hero? I have the high score.”
The hand holding the fry I was about to eat freezes halfway to my mouth and then I turn slowly to look at him in disbelief.
“There is something seriously wrong with you.”
Jude wiggles his eyebrows at me. “Yeah, maybe. but I think you like that a little bit. Don’t you?”
I roll my eyes and turn away and mutter “Maybe” under my breath, causing him to shoot a fist into the air in triumph.
Beckett has somehow managed to clear half his tray by this point and he points a rolled-up pizza slice at me. “Alright, storytime Cinderella.”
BECKETT
The little mouse in front of me tears apart the bread roll I added to her tray while shooting looks over at the table a bunch of sorority girls are sitting at, including her sister.
When Tate first told us he was going to fake date some girl to keep the skanks away from him, I thought he was losing his edge. When I met this girl at the party the other night, I thought he was working a con like that movie, She’s All That. He was going to take this nobody and give her a makeover, turn her into some popular girl just to prove he could. Savage, but also kind of entertaining. It reminded me of how brutal he could be back in our prep school days.
Now I’m not really sure what his game is. Savy came over this weekend, spent hours working with him on his assignments, and never once showed any sign of being interested in him or any of us. It was weird and kind of refreshing. I can’t remember there ever being a girl in our house that one of us wasn’t nailing.
He asked us to keep an eye out for her and shut down any trash talk we might hear about her. I didn’t really give it much thought until I heard that uber bitch calling her a lumpy pile of dirt and a slut. Normally, I’d slide right on past that kind of girl drama but for some reason, I decided to get on board the Savy train. Might as well use the little bit of power I still have for some good before it’s gone. It’s a bit of a joke how much power the football players wield at this school but I wasn’t complaining about it when I was on the team. Now that I’m on the sidelines, who the fuck knows how long my influence will last.
“Come on, darlin’, spill the tea.”
She bites down on her lip and looks over at the bitch table again with a sigh before pushing her big, black-rimmed glasses higher on her nose.
“My dad married Vanessa’s mom when I was ten. I was nervous but also excited to have a sister. My mom died having me so it had been just the two of us, me and my dad, for my whole life. I was…was homeschooled so I never had any friends and the idea of having a sister was thrilling. Turned out, not so much. Her mom wasn’t really interested in having another daughter and she poisoned that well before we even met. Vanessa was a mean girl right from the start.”
Her forehead furrows and she wraps her sweater tighter around her body like she’s trying to give herself a hug before she goes on.
“My dad…died…two years after they got married leaving me in the care of someone who never wanted me in the first place. It…it wasn’t a great environment to grow up in. I think they both probably resented being stuck with me. Celeste made me go to a real high school with Vanessa and let’s just say she was the queen bee there and made things really uncomfortable for me. We don’t see each other that much anymore now that I’m away at school so it hasn’t been too bad. But now that Vanessa has transferred here, well, she’s got me back in her crosshairs again.”
I look over at the other table and spot her sister glaring our way and smirk. I don’t get women and the way they can tear each other down. From a distance, the sister is the total package. Too many sharp angles for me but she is pretty, blond, thin, and stylishly put together. Sitting there surrounded by other girls of her caliber, she looks good but she’s got that ugly look of superiority look about her too that’s a real turn-off.
I turn back to Savy and give her a closer look. She’s the complete opposite. I think she might be halfway cute but she hides it. Her dark hair is tightly wound up in a bun so I don’t know if is long or medium length. She doesn’t have a lick of makeup on and her large, plain glasses do a good job of dimming what could be really pretty blue eyes. The three times I’ve seen her, she’s been wearing oversized, shapeless clothes that hide her form but she’s definitely not a slim girl. All in all, her appearance screams “Don’t look at me.” But there’s nothing there that would give anyone a reason to target her for bullying. Savy just appears to be a nice girl with no style and no friends. She’s someone easily overlooked and forgotten.
“Hmm, so just an everyday, basic cunt, then? You didn’t torment her growing up to make her hate you? Cut all her barbie’s heads off? Steal her boyfriend in junior high? Nothing?” Jude asks her with a gleam of mischief in his eyes.
Savy rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “No, and I’ve never had a boyfriend, hers or mine.”
Her eyes go big and a blush fills her cheeks like she didn’t mean to divulge that.
Jude makes an exaggerated shocked face. “What! You mean to tell me that your very first boyfriend is…” he whispers, “fake? And you don’t even get to do the no-pants dance? That is so not fair.” He turns to me with a conspiratorial look. “Beck, come on, we need to step up and be the heroes here and help this little lady out. She deserves to be rewarded for taking on all the shit duties of being a girlfriend. We can give her the peen prizes she deserves!”
I shake my head at him as Savy turns bright red in embarrassment. I love the guy but sometimes I wish he had an off button. I try and take some of the heat off of her by asking, “You going to the game today?”
She makes a face but nods, picking at her food and not really eating anything.
“You don’t like football?”
She glances up at me and cringes a bit. “Sorry, are you on the team too? I don’t mind watching the game, it’s interesting but I’m not a huge fan of the party after it that Tate wants me to go to.”
“Of course it’s interesting! How could it not be with me leading the way to every victory? You’re going to cheer for me this time right, Am…uh…Savy?” Jude asks while hitting her with puppy dog eyes.
I get what he’s doing, trying to deflect so I don’t have to answer her. He knows how hard it’s been for me being out of the game. I stack all my trash and stand from the table.
“Gotta go. See you guys later.”
