As far as anyone can tell, Xavier is this great, stand-up kid. He’s faithful to his girl, wields just as much talent on the court as he does in the classroom, doesn’t go around stirring up trouble—well, until now.
Xavier spends all his time with Finn and Theo, the two of whom have pretty much slept their way through the entire cheer squad, and yet… Xavier’s been in a serious relationship with Brie for over a year now.
Everybody knows Finn and Theo eat this shit up: the parties, the whole town following every game like a religion, the groupies. In the ladies’ defense, Silver Springs, North Carolina, isn’t exactly “hot guy central”—downside of living in a town with a population of 5,658. If you ever find yourself lucky enough to spot a fine specimen roaming freely, you can bet your ass twenty other girls saw him, too.
But Xavier?
He actually seems a little… bored. Bored with the easy victories, the after-game ragers, the eyelash-batting girls. To the world, Finn is that jock who tackles a kid in the hall, and Xavier is the jock who helps the kid to his feet.
But I don’t buy it.
Not for a single second.
Just because Xavier’s slightly lessawful than the rest of his friends doesn’t make him a saint in my book. In fact, I must not know the same guy as the rest of the world because Xavier Emery’s never been anything other than a royal ass to me. Sure, we were eight the last time we interacted, but potayto, potahto.
Finn, Xavier, and I used to be sort of friends when we were eight. We’d have playdates at Finn’s house every Sunday morning during my sister’s singing lessons, eat brunch, annoy the fuck out of each other while our moms gossiped.
And by annoy the fuck out of each other, I mean Xavier and Finn annoyed me. RIP to all the Barbies they tossed into the barbecue that summer.
Of course, that was back when our moms could still stand each other. Turns out the only thing my mom and Delilah Emery, Xavier’s mom, ever had in common was their friendship with Nora Richards. So, when Finn’s mom died in a tragic boating accident that summer, the trio fell apart.
Then everything changed.
There were no more brunches, no more playdates, no more suffering at the hands of evil little boys. Then Xavier and Finn transferred elementary schools, and I never gave them another thought.
Until I saw them waltz into Easton High like they owned the place freshman year.
Okay, that’s a lie.
I did think about Xavier a little after he evaporated from my life. But, only because of what happened at the park the last time we played together. To think we had no idea Ms. Richards would meet a tragic fate twenty-four hours later.
Right before her son’s eyes, no less.
I was hiding under the big slide in tears, choking on my snot with blood gushing out of my knee after Xavier pushed me down the jungle gym. That has to be the first andonly time I’ve ever seen real emotion in this boy’s eyes.
And the emotion in his eyes was guilt.
A lot of it.
“I’m sorry. Please stop crying,” he begged. I think he was afraid of getting in trouble. It was one thing to tease me, another to literally hurt me. “I swear I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry. Please, don’t tell my dad.”
This was also the first time he’d ever been semi-nice to me.
When I didn’t stop weeping, he panicked and added, “What do you want me to do? Just tell me. Want me to kiss it better?”
I remember looking at him like he was mental for suggesting to kiss my bloody knee, and he laughed at the realization. Then he grabbed my face, wiped a tear rolling down my cheek…
And kissed me instead.
Believe me when I say that shut me right up.
Xavier Emery was my first kiss.
But he’s still an asshole.
“—heard he and Brie got into a big fight about it. She deleted some of their pics from Instagram, too.”
I snap back to reality, nodding along to my best friend’s story and wondering how she knows everything about everything. It’s barely been three days since the guys’ prank.