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Thrusting away from me, he positioned his hands on his hips and levelled me with a pointed look. “You think you’re changing anything by doing this?”
“Why not just kiss her? You’re using her to make a point, right? Or to hurt me? That’s what this is. You want to push me away, make me hate you so it won’t matter whether you can say it. And then, just maybe, you can fool yourself into thinking you don’t feel it. So, go ahead… what’s stopping you?” I asked, almost breathless, emphasising every word.
His jaw clenched so tight, I expected shards of tooth to come flying out of his mouth. His body whirled from me, one hand slapping down hard against the opposite wall with a heavy thud while the other grasped the nape of his neck. The fight in me evaporated. My breath left me in a heavy exhale.
“You don’t have to do this, Ren. You’re scared to lose anyone else; I get it. You’ve lost so much already. But doesn’t that mean you should hang onto the things you have? I’m here, Ren, right here, and I’m telling you I’m going nowhere.”
The line of his shoulders tensed, bunching up around his neck. Closing the slight distance between us, I placed a timid hand on his back and pressed my forehead down into the hollow between his shoulder blades. My brows pulled down and my eyes swept closed.
“I’m going nowhere. I promise.”
He straightened, pulling his shoulders back, before turning and stalking off down the hall without another word. My hand fell to my side and my heart settled somewhere in the pit of my stomach. I tracked his departure until he disappeared from sight.
“Handled that like a boss, babe,” Liss praised gently as she pushed through the double doors seconds later, a sandwich in each hand.
Falling into step beside her, I took the sandwich, wrapping both hands around it. “I’ll get yours tomorrow,” I said.
“After that display? Not necessary. Free subs for life.”
A wry smile tugged at my lips as I shook my head. “Excessively generous but I accept, and no take backsies.”
“Are you kidding? Did you see Raya’s ass getting unceremoniously dumped on the floor like a sack of potatoes back there? I’ll be replaying that shit in my head for years to come. You’ve more than earned a free lunch.”
If avoiding me was an Olympic sport, Reno would have taken gold, no contest. When he bothered to show up to school, he acted as if I didn’t exist. That hurt. But he didn’t let Raya sit on his lap at lunch anymore, and he seemed to ignore her as much as he did me. That made up for it a little. But if Reno won gold for ignoring me, Raya took first place for getting all up in my face at every possible opportunity. Case in point...
“Oh great,” I drawled sarcastically as she rounded the corner and strutted in my direction with an exaggerated sway to her hips, her shiny black hair fastened in a severe high pony that pulled her features taut. “And there I was just starting to worry that I might get through a day without bumping into you. Not sure how I would have coped.”
Her chin jutted out as she came to a stop and slammed my locker door shut, very nearly taking the skin of my nose with it.
Brow lifted, I faced her, and snapped, “Wanna watch it? We don’t all have a plastic surgeon on speed dial. I’m sure your guy’s booked out for the next few weeks trying to fix that botch job he did on your face.”
Hand still planted on my locker door, she leaned in. “I’d say I could recommend someone to help you out with all this.” She swirled a finger in a full circle in front of my face, glossy pout turning down in distaste. “But I don’t know anyone that talented.”
“Yeah, I see that,” I muttered. “Judging by your face, I’d say the level of talent you’re accustomed to is one step up from a trained monkey armed with a scalpel. But then, what else can you expect from a backstreet clinic that lets you pay in blow jobs.”
“Look, you pathetic bitch, I’m not interested in trading insults with you. You’re not worth it.”
I scoffed.
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Just in case you haven’t got the message yet... stay away from Reno. He doesn’t want you. I was by his side long before you came on the scene, and I’ll still be there when he’s forgotten all about you. I’m his queen.”
Leaning sideways against my locker, I cocked my head and squinted at her. “If you’re so sure about that, what’s got you so threatened?”
Her nostrils flared as her eyes assessed me like she was plotting all the ways she could murder me in her head. “Just stay away, tramp.”
My mouth snapped open, eyebrows hitting my hairline. “Oh, I’m the tramp?”
“Well, what do you call someone who hops between best friends like they’re rides at a state carnival?”
I barked out a laugh. “Oh, that’s rich! I doubt there’s a single ride at the carnival you haven’t tried out yet.”
“You know, that mouth of yours will get you in a lot of trouble one of these days.”
“And yours is what you’ll use on your future pimp to score your next fix when you’re a strung-out, coked up hooker one day.” Some part of me felt bad as soon as the words left my mouth. Even the voice in
my head said low blow. But I didn’t start this. I didn’t accost her outside of her locker and try to swipe her crooked nose clean off her face when she was minding her own damn business, now did I?
Her fist slammed hard against the locker. A loud clang traveled the length of the empty hallway. “Shut the fuck up,” she seethed, stepping closer, gaze scoping up and down the hall. Probably looking for witnesses.
