MADDIE
“What’s wrong?” I asked Oliver after he parked his car next to mine in the student parking lot early Monday morning.
Vera zipped up her thin fall jacket, tugged on her backpack straps, and leaned against my car, watching Oliver with wide eyes. Standing next to her, I crossed my arms and arched a brow at my brother, who tore his backpack out of the passenger seat and gritted his teeth.
“We’re going to have a shit game tonight,” he said.
“You have another game tonight?” Vera asked. “Didn’t you have one on Friday?”
“Yeah, they did,” I said to her, then returned to my brother. “Why? You have Alec.”
Just his name on my tongue tasted like venom. I hated any and all things that had to do with him, especially after he had fucked some random chick after he fucked me. But that was my fault for stupidly allowing him into my bedroom.
“He skipped practice yesterday. Can’t play tonight.”
“Alec skipped practice?” I asked. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” Oliver growled. “I haven’t been able to get ahold of him.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. Well, he had messaged me last night …
“It’s too cold!” Vera said, looping her arm around mine and tugging me toward the entrance of Redwood Academy. She bounced up and down on her toes, her teeth chattering. “Why is it always so cold in the fall? I want summer back!”
“So you can wear skimpy little dresses for Blaise?” I hummed, smirking.
She cut her gaze to me. “No … maybe.”
When we finally stepped inside the building, a wall of heat hit us. Vera relaxed and tugged off her jacket, scanning the halls and finding Piper at her locker. Vera dragged me down the hallway toward Piper, who met us halfway.
With heavy bags under her tired eyes, Piper swiped a hand across her face to push some pink-blonde hair off her forehead. “God, how are you this bubbly already? It’s too damn early for school to start.” When she made it to us, she rested her head against my shoulder. “I’m so tired.”
“Guess what!” Vera beamed.
“Uh, you have way too much energy for Monday morning?” Piper asked.
“No!” Vera playfully smacked her shoulder, then swung an arm around me. “Maddie slept with Alec on Friday night!”
My eyes widened, and I slapped my hand right across her mouth to shut her up. Why was she screaming this in Redwood’s hallway on a Monday freaking morning? Didn’t she know that people had nothing better to do than eavesdrop and spread rumors here?
“Can you not scream that?!” I whisper-yelled. “Nobody can find out. My brother would kill both of us!”
Especially after what had happened with Spencer. And besides, nothing would ever happen between Alec and me. I squeezed my hands into fists and gritted my teeth, nostrils flaring. Especially not after what Alec had pulled the other day.
“With Alec, Mads?” Piper scrunched her nose. “Why him?”
That was the damn question I had been asking all weekend. Out of all the people who could’ve flirted with me in the kitchen, tried to get me to dance with him, then followed me up to my room to fuck me senseless, why Alec?
“Hello?” Piper asked, waving a hand across my face. “Alec Wolfe?”
“He, uh …” I scratched the back of my neck. “Came on to me?”
I honestly didn’t know. It had happened so suddenly.
“Is it serious?” Piper asked, pulling some books out of her locker beside mine.
“God, no,” I said. “I want to puke at the sight of him.”
“It definitely is,” Vera said, grinning like a madwoman from ear to ear.
Piper looked between us, arched her brow, and leaned against the locker beside me, giving me that I don’t believe you, but I’m going to shut my mouth for now look. And I was glad because if anyone found out, it would spread like wildfire across these halls, and soon, Oliver would know.
“Like I told you on Friday, V, it didn’t mean anything,” I concluded.
Though I knew my words were just chaotically crafted lies.
It had meant something.
Then, he had ripped my heart out and stomped on it with a muddy boot.
“Suuure,” Vera said.
“Speaking of the king of Redwood …” Piper glanced behind me and bit back a gag.
I followed her gaze to see Sandra and her best friend, Tiffany, standing right next to Alec, staring up at him through mascara-heavy lashes.
“Gross. They’re fawning over him like he’s a god or something.”
I dug my nails into my palms, nearly ripping the skin. I’d bet those texts were from Sandra or Tiffany or both of them at the same time. I gritted my teeth and was seething as he glanced over his shoulder at me. Sandra looped her arm around his, like she always did. And he let her.
That asshole let her.
I wanted to wrap my hands around his throat and—
I blew out a breath. No.
“It wasn’t anything serious,” I whispered to myself, but my words came out through clenched teeth.
Vera bumped her hip against mine. “Someone sounds jealous …”
I slammed my locker closed. “I’m not jealous.”
Piper gave a dry laugh. “You really like him, don’t you?”
“No.” I flared my nostrils. “I hate him.” I glanced back over my shoulder at him, just to remind myself that he was the biggest player at Redwood Academy and that I, Maddie Weber, didn’t like him, not even in the slightest. “He’s a dick.”
Walking backward down the hallway toward us, Alec raised his hand to wave to Sandra. “See you later, Sandra!” he shouted loud enough for the entire school to hear. And then he bumped into me, shoving me against my locker, purposefully.
“Watch it,” Alec said, turning around to face me.
“You watch it.” I ground my teeth together but felt those tingles zip across my body when he brushed his hand against mine briefly. He felt like he had on Friday night, but better somehow, and I hated it. Fucking hated it. “You bumped into me.”
Alec curled his lips in disgust, but those dark brown eyes were softer than usual.
“What’d you say?” Alec sneered at me.
Gathering all my courage, I stared him right in the eye. “I said, watch it.”
Alec had had no reason to walk over to me, to bump into me, to say a word to me. But he had. Which meant that he wanted something from me. And if he wanted to fuck me again, then I would punch him right in the face.
Instead of walking away, he smacked his large hand across my books, shoving them to the ground, our hands grazing against each other again. Then, he leaned closer to me and lowered his voice so only I could hear him. “Can’t wait to see you bend over to pick up those books, Cupcake.”
I hurled my fist back and slammed it into his jaw. “I hate you, you fucking dickhead.”
While Alec didn’t stumble back, he grasped his jaw and chuckled, which made me angrier with him. Who the hell did he think he was?! Flirting with Sandra all night at the party, sleeping with me, then another girl, flirting with Sandra again, then with me?! He was giving me a goddamn headache.
“Don’t laugh,” I scolded quietly. “Pick up my books.”
When he leaned down and grabbed my books, I widened my eyes. He was really …
He handed me the stack of books, his fingers lingering on mine, his smirk gone, and his eyes suddenly duller than usual. “Can we talk?”
“No,” I snapped.
He drew his tongue across his teeth, walked a few steps backward down the hallway, then turned around and disappeared around a corner. We both had AP Calc first thing this morning, so I had to see his pretty—ugly—mug in less than fifteen minutes.
“He means nothing to you, right?” Vera nudged. “Because that punch sure had a lot of passion behind it.”
“I’m passionate about how much I hate him,” I said, walking down the hallway. “I’ll see you guys at lunch.”
Flustered and frustrated, I gritted my teeth and turned the corner to head for AP Calc. I didn’t want to see him again this morning. I would honestly love to never see that stupid little smirk again because I—
Before I could make it to Calc, someone slapped a hand over my mouth and tugged me into the first dark, empty classroom.