Delcan had walked off with who knows who, and I grabbed my things quickly before a teacher could begin talking to me. When I’d almost made my way to one of my A.P. classes, I was tapped on the shoulder by someone. When I turned around, I felt annoyed to see Brielle Rushton with her hands on her hips, a smile on her face.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTTM7BuUR8
Brielle is nice, if you stay on her good side; athletic, if any boys are around; and smart, able to manipulate anybody she wants. Actually, not that I’m thinking about it, that may be the reason why I made out with her at a party in 9th grade. She’s pretty similar to Delcan, and that makes me a bit confused.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFA7BfQh6a
Am I into bad people?857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XZpFcvvCu
“Hi, Ezie,” she said. She’s probably the only person at our school who calls me that. “How have you been?” 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡveM6EteYnH
I shrugged, then gave her a sweet smile. “Good,” I told her. Lying again. “You?”857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbr8h6VmXQS
Brielle Rushton looked me up and down (she was shorter than me, clearly, so it made the entire situation even more awkward) before taking my arm. “I heard about you and Haven,” she said. Her face turned straight into sympathy and I did everything I could to roll my eyes. “Sorry about the break up.”857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4iFk0Tnqz
She told everyone.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInF0twNXh8
“Yeah…” I said. “Things just weren’t working out.”857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3LudE22pIy
Brielle smiles. “I understand,” she said. Brielle’s outfit was probably inappropriate for school. She was wearing a short dress that went past her lower thigh, though I felt no need to comment on it. Her strawberry blonde (okay, actually her hair is naturally a light brown color like my sister’s, but she died it after making the dance team) was in a new style today, and she was twisting it in her hands. Finally, she stopped, and looked up to me. “What happened between the two of you?"857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLSwRppUM2b
I hesitated. Too long, I thought to myself. “We had a mutual break up,” I told her. “Neither one of us really wanted to be in a relationship before, so we just broke things off.” I hated telling anything to the most popular girls in school, since most of them love to gossip about anything new. 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAxlEyng3C
“Okay,” Brielle said. She took my arm and began rubbing up and down on it. “Wel...text me if you ever wanna hang out or something, now that you’re available.”857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwj7xI6WtTX
Oh. 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWK0Dza6Jv0
Oh-oh. 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHcBMCDJVn
Crap. 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKmPB22Gv3
“I’ll try,” I told her, pretending I was straight for a moment as I gave her a charming smile. My smile, of course, was nothing like Delcan’s. She probably assumed she was the reason why I was suddenly blushing. 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Qv9C9EnAe
Lots of girls have liked me before. I’ve gotten used to it, though I tend to stay away. Brielle and I met in 7th grade at a party that I wasn’t really supposed to be at, and her friends told me she had a crush on me. Afterwards, I did my best to stay away from her, since I already had a girlfriend and couldn’t risk being called a cheater. In 8th grade, at my first party where there was alcohol, Brielle got a bit tipsy and she began flirting with me.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rayeJTm2J
The guy I had feelings for at the type was crushing on somebody else (my sister, and I hated her so much for it...even though it wasn’t really her fault), so I pulled Brielle close to me and made out with her. Her lips tasted like vodka, so I guess you could say I drank alcohol that night. 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFnuS5NNMh
Evvie and I faked a fight for attention. 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvxagiEl0s6
“Could you leave him alone, Brie?” Haven asked from behind her. She was annoyed, and had her hands on her hips. Brielle rolled her eyes as she turned around and looked at Haven. Her strawberry blonde hair made the sound of a whip, as if a ponytail could have that much power. “I need to talk to you,” Haven told me.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyrA3Ce1KxU
I stopped for a moment. “What about?” I questioned.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVWNDtSGMF
“Just...now, Ezra, okay?” she asked me. Haven gave Brielle Rushton a glare before taking my arm and dragging me into a classroom that they weren’t using this semester. I sat up on the teacher’s desk, looking at the family photos Mrs. Rodgers had.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymj56bJjFQ
I wondered if any of her children were lying.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2s6KgHVpC
“What are you doing talking to her?” Haven asked me.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7OysXgmar
She was standing, her hands on her hips, and her hair normal. It was...weird to see her without any differences in her hair. She always did something with it. Though her hair did not look the same, her hazel eyes stared me down, wanting an answer. 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8povmBAixi
So much for avoiding confrontation. 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYP0RDwECj
I answered her question with a question, because I knew she hated it. “What do you need to talk about?”857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuev6qldlw3
She sighed, and then I realized she wanted something. “What now?” I asked her, making sure I sounded angry.857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YjaI7p0jK
“Excuse me?"857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOF2wDY152q
“I know you want something from me,” I told her, making eye contact. “I don’t know what it is, but you have no reason for it. Basically everyone will know we broke up sooner or later, so you have no reason to pretend you love me anymore.” Harsh enough, my brain told me. Meanwhile, my heart sank to the ground. 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHX1BhEKTbb
Haven crossed her arms over her chest. “Tonight,” she said. 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5DEym4CPfo
Tonight, seriously? 857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gOrQC6m5I
I gave her an eyebrow raise. “You might as well tell me.”857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXs0p0FKkC1
She ignored my annoyance by replacing it with her own. “I need you to tell my parents.”857Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5DwoaSDAF
