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.838Please respect copyright.PENANAAMEofM9BgC
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.838Please respect copyright.PENANAP3WcdEs5kR
Am I into bad people?838Please respect copyright.PENANAJ91pJKSz9z
“Hi, Ezie,” she said. She’s probably the only person at our school who calls me that. “How have you been?” 838Please respect copyright.PENANA0U9fzu2u0L
I shrugged, then gave her a sweet smile. “Good,” I told her. Lying again. “You?”838Please respect copyright.PENANAxF4TPcoUzf
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.”838Please respect copyright.PENANAoxdUeR5LJu
She told everyone.838Please respect copyright.PENANAty1TKEWIIg
“Yeah…” I said. “Things just weren’t working out.”838Please respect copyright.PENANAl4eOl6uufn
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?"838Please respect copyright.PENANAP1gmiLQYd3
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. 838Please respect copyright.PENANA0xiaJkTvXY
“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.”838Please respect copyright.PENANAHUWUoQljAU
Oh. 838Please respect copyright.PENANATC9Ka47JYR
Oh-oh. 838Please respect copyright.PENANAr6NvcfD8H7
Crap. 838Please respect copyright.PENANAMj8LCeB1nK
“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. 838Please respect copyright.PENANA64Go27jG8W
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.838Please respect copyright.PENANA8BXnNPpa0r
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. 838Please respect copyright.PENANAcYfc3Y9O2v
Evvie and I faked a fight for attention. 838Please respect copyright.PENANAkL3GLSAdsv
“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.838Please respect copyright.PENANAOo8CwugzPa
I stopped for a moment. “What about?” I questioned.838Please respect copyright.PENANA5AAXFGGsi8
“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.838Please respect copyright.PENANAuEe8Sydb7N
I wondered if any of her children were lying.838Please respect copyright.PENANAJ73V2DGADd
“What are you doing talking to her?” Haven asked me.838Please respect copyright.PENANAQXtEbYNevJ
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. 838Please respect copyright.PENANAvfOYzwyKWq
So much for avoiding confrontation. 838Please respect copyright.PENANAVQe0YFEVeD
I answered her question with a question, because I knew she hated it. “What do you need to talk about?”838Please respect copyright.PENANATh7aNLDKgU
She sighed, and then I realized she wanted something. “What now?” I asked her, making sure I sounded angry.838Please respect copyright.PENANAqxLI3O6zue
“Excuse me?"838Please respect copyright.PENANAIPfggJWuXK
“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. 838Please respect copyright.PENANArmwI7waynq
Haven crossed her arms over her chest. “Tonight,” she said. 838Please respect copyright.PENANAUxYgCADL8T
Tonight, seriously? 838Please respect copyright.PENANA5JDdK95DkW
I gave her an eyebrow raise. “You might as well tell me.”838Please respect copyright.PENANAZWdeu8Njdy
She ignored my annoyance by replacing it with her own. “I need you to tell my parents.”838Please respect copyright.PENANAXtcxZpFAhe