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“You don’t seem to know how things work around here,” I defend for her own sake. “I’m blacklisted. If Malcolm or the others see you talking to me or being nice at all, they’ll make you pay.”
“I’m not scared of them,” she insists with a shrug of her shoulders. “Anyways, I grew up with Malcolm. We’re cousins. It’s hard to see him as a threat when our moms used to throw us in kiddie pools with each other as naked toddlers.”
I want the image to be humanizing enough to make him less scary. But then I quickly remember the time he overpowered me on his couch, trying to force himself on me. Or the way he looked when he was ganging up on Emmett with his dad and the others. Maybe Emmett would have thought Malcolm wasn’t so scary either. They had grown up together too, after all. But he was quickly proven wrong.
But her defiance of their rules is admirable, even if it does seem suicidal. It’s the same kind of rebellion I’d be bolder about if there wasn’t so much at stake right now.
“You were great out there today,” she adds. “I heard you would be, but man…you were even better than I expected.”
“I had a lot on my mind today,” I explain resentfully. “Nothing pushes me harder than a bad day. So I guess I can thank you for that.”
“Thank me?” she laughs. “What the hell do I have to do with it?”
“You’re an Elite,” I remind her. “So little stunts like that mass text this morning and the big show in the hall…You’re a part of all that whether you want to be or not.”
“What stunt? Texts? What are you talking about?” she stares at me with her mouth twisted and brows wrinkled.
Her ignorance makes me angry at first, assuming this is all a part of some trick. But I look at her more and realize she really doesn’t know what I’m talking about. “Were you not in the hall this morning? When everyone started harassing me and Emmett?”
“I listened to Malcolm rant and rave about the kinds of things kids did at this school for years,” she tells me. “Up until recently when it turned into him bragging about everything he’s done or what he plans to do. People around here are crazy. When my parents told me we were moving here from California so my dad could start working with Uncle Liam, I made a plan right then to follow along but keep my head down. I get here early in the mornings and go straight to class. I prefer to stay out of it all.”
“Good luck,” I jeer, remembering when I once thought it was possible to just keep my head down and stay out of their way. “You’d be surprised how easy it is to offend them. And then they’ll make you sorry.”
“It’s different now,” she argues. “The old Elites felt entitled to their roles in this town. The new ones are more focused on money and business. They’d much rather sit around and get drunk coding some software than go after some kids they don’t like at school. Not to say they won’t. I’m just saying they have bigger things on their mind is all.”
“I don’t know if that’s better or worse,” I shudder in the cold.
“It’s freezing,” she hisses. “What are you doing after you shower and clean up?”
“What am I doing?” I ask blankly, genuinely confused as to why she would care.
“Yeah. Wanna grab something to eat? Catch a movie?” she asks innocently, but I’m still too thrown to answer. “We can go to the next town over, so no one sees us,” she insists. “I get tired of hanging out with my family all the time. I could use a new friend.”
I squint my eyes at her, trying to discern if this is some kind of trick. Everything I know about the Elites tells me there’s no way this won’t end in something horrible happening to me. But there is something different about Bridgett. A certain laid back, down to earth vibe about her that matches her claimed sentiment of wanting to stay out of all the drama. Hanging out with someone besides Emmett does sound great. As much as I love him, I have been craving some time with a girl my age. Something I haven’t experienced ever since Lily turned on me and went off the deep end.
“I don’t have my car,” I tell her, hoping that’ll ruin what she had in mind. It’d be easier if I didn’t have to make the choice of whether or not to trust her.
“We can take mine,” she offers. “I can take you home afterward. But whatever we do, let’s get into the locker rooms. It’s too fucking cold to stand out here and talk about it all night.”
I nod and run in after her. Once the others are around, Bridgett does what is expected of her and ignores me completely. But the moment I’m dry and bundled up in regular clothes outside again, she finds me around the side of the building with no one else in sight.
“So, what do ya say?” she asks again, looking hopeful.
So much of me screams to play it safe and turn down her invite, but I do so desperately need a friend who isn’t my mom or my boyfriend. Bridgett is close to my age and she’s a runner. I want more than anything to be able to put all the dumb Elite bull shit aside and just have some fun with a girl from school.
“Fuck it,” I exhale finally. “Let’s go.”
“Sweet,” she smiles back at me. “My car is just over there. I don’t think anyone will see us walking together if we go right now.”
I nod and follow behind her, but of course, a figure appears around the corner as we get closer to her parked car. At first, we turn in different directions, putting distance between us.
“Oh wait,” I call over to Bridgett. “It’s okay. It’s just Emmett. Come over and say hi.” I announce it casually but really my heart is pounding. I was hoping to avoid him altogether this afternoon.
Bridgett runs over and catches up to me before we’re within earshot of Emmett. “Hey,” she grabs me and whispers into my ear. “Are you sure he’s cool?” she asks nervously. “I’m not afraid of Malcolm or anything, but…well…I’m not stupid either, you know. You sure you two aren’t just going to punish me for whatever my stupid cousin has done to you?”
I sigh with relief, realizing all at once that Bridgett is just as wary of us as I am of her. “I promise it will be okay,” I assure her. “Even if he’s weird about us hanging out, he would never do anything to you.”
Emmett’s face wrinkles as he gets closer and I have to hope my last promise to her is one I can keep. The Emmett I have come to know would never maliciously hurt another person, but with everything that happened this morning, how things used to be are too fresh on my mind.
