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I could feel anger licking at my heels. “How can it be all over school when I never hooked up with her?” I bit out. “I was home last night.Alone.”
Dillon must have sensed my irritation because he said, “Uh…Hector said that he heard if from Marsha Croman. Supposedly, she heard it straight from Rosa’s mouth.”
While there’d been lots of exaggerated rumors about me and girls over the years, I’d never had a girlfriend before, so I hadn’t overly cared what had been said about me. I’d never been the type to kiss and tell, but if a girl had ever needed me to clear up a rumor about them that involved me, I’d always been happy to do it. I’d never been the kind of guy that felt as if he’d had something to prove, so rumors had never bothered me. Honestly, shit wasn’t a problem until it was said to my face, and no one at Lakeside had ever been that stupid.
“Rosa’s telling people that we hooked up?” I echoed.
“Supposedly,” Dillon replied. “Maybe…maybe she’s just hoping that the rumor gets back to Hart. I mean, why else would she say that she hooked up with you if she didn’t?”
I stood up, forgetting all about my project, and Dillon stood up with me. I could feel my hands shaking, and I tried to remember the last time that I’d ever felt this ready to explode. Not only was I angry at the audacity that was Rosa Venice, but if Edie got wind of this rumor, I’d lose her. Edie might be inexperienced, but she wasn’t a doormat. No way would she suffer the humiliation of being cheated on when she knew her worth, and Edie Draven knew her worth. Talon had raised her to know exactly what she brought to the table and to not settle for less in return.
“Listen to me carefully, Dillon,” I said, doing my best not to take my anger out on the messenger. “I didnothook up with Rosa or any other girl last night. Apart from some mild entertainment last week, I haven’t fucked around with a chick in weeks.”
Liar,my brain yelled.
Edie isn’t some chick,my heart yelled back.
His eyes widened a bit. “Look, I just-”
“Forget it,” I bit out, grabbing my shit. “I’ll handle this.”
“Dude, what’s the big deal?” he asked, no longer whispering. “Rosa Venice wants to ride your dick, Lars. Why would you turn her down? Have you lost your mind?”
I wanted to tell him that my mind was exactly where it belonged. My heart, on the other hand, now belonged to a girl with a genius IQ and that was destined to change the world. Edie Draven was too good for me, but that didn’t mean that I was going to do the right thing and give her up. Yeah, no. I was going to talk to her brother, let him kick my ass, then hand the rest of my life over to Edie.
“I already told you that I wasn’t interested in a girl that just wanted to use me to make her ex jealous,” I semi-lied. “I’m not attracted to girls that are comfortable playing games, Dillon. I’d rather take my pick of the dozens of girls that are actually drama-free.”
“Dude, it’sRosa Venice,”he repeated like she was the second coming of Jesus.
“Thenyoufuck her,” I shot back, leaving the library in search of Edie. She had PE for fifth period, and though I’d see her in sixth, I knew that we weren’t going to have a chance to talk during class.
Making my way down the hallway towards my locker, I thought about skipping seventh since it was just PE, but Edie’s study period was during third, so I couldn’t see her ditching calculus to fight with me, because I had no doubt that we were going to fight. Even if she hadn’t heard the rumor yet, why would she believe that I hadn’t been with Rosa last night? My reputation would make it hard for her to believe me, and I really couldn’t blame her for any doubts that she might have.
It wasn’t until I shut my locker that I heard my name being called. “Hey, Lars.” I turned all the way around to see Rosa walking up to me, a sly grin on her face. “I was hoping we could talk.”
“What a coincidence,” I replied, doing my best to keep my voice calm. However, by the time that I was done with Rosa Venice, I doubted that she’d ever speak my name again.
Chapter 16
The vision that is no longer blurry.
Lars~
Edie had ignored me all through sixth period, answering any questions that I might have had about her hearing the rumors about me and Rosa.
When Rosa had approached me earlier, I hadn’t said a word as she tried to flirt with me, playing off the rumors like they were no big deal. I also hadn’t said a word when she suggested that we make the rumors true, and once upon a time, she wouldn’t have even had to ask. Nevertheless, that was then, and this was now.
After letting her tell her story, I’d made it clear that I wasn’t interested. However, I had also made it clear that we were going to have problems if my girlfriend got wind of the rumors. To her credit, she had apologized profusely, swearing that she never would have suggested such a thing had she known that I had a girlfriend. She’d also added that she’d never do that to another girl, knowing what it felt like to get cheated on. At that point, I’d had no choice but to tamp down my anger because no one knew that I had a girlfriend. Hell,Ediedidn’t even know that she was my girlfriend. Granted, that hadn’t stopped me from lecturing Rosa on spreading rumors, even though I really hadn’t been in the position to sit on my high horse.
So, after Edie ignored me all through fourth, staying after, pretending to need to speak to the teacher just to avoid me, I was ditching practice, waiting outside her seventh period classroom. I could handle fighting with Edie all day long, avoidance, not so much.
As soon as she walked out of the classroom, I reached for her arm, then ignored her sputtering as I dragged her behind me, looking for some privacy. With everyone done for the day, the hallways were packed, so that had me dragging Edie all the way towards the back of the library.
When I finally had her cornered underneath the alcove near the backdoor of the emergency exit, those incredible blue eyes of hers flared with annoyance. “What in the hell, Lars?”
“Want to tell me why you’re ignoring me?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.
Her eyes widened, pretending to be confused. “How do you figure that I’m ignoring you? Because I chose to pay attention in class?”
