I turn around and stomp my way back to him. “You know well and good I am not going to make these pictures public in any manner.”
He shrugs. “I know nothing of the sort.” He bends over and gets in my face. “Because I don’t know who you are.”
Oh no, he didn’t. “You do know who I am, you freaking imbecile! But you don’t remember, because, sorry to repeat myself here, you’re a freaking imbecile!”
He growls. “I am an officer of the law. You can’t call me an imbecile without repercussion.”
“Fine!” I throw my hands in the air. “Arrest me. See if I care.”
His brow wrinkles as if he can’t understand what my problem is. My problem isn’t hard to understand. Being teased by someone during your entire high school career and then promptly forgotten is enough to make a person go a bit cray-cray.
“Give me your name. You’re going to have to tell me your name for me to book you anyway.”
I stand on my tiptoes and get in his face, too angry to care about how stupid it is to aggravate a police office. “You might know me as Heartsick Hailey.” I stare at him as a wait for his synapses to connect. When his pupils dilate, I nod and take a step back.
“It was not nice seeing you, Officer Barnes. Let’s not do this again.” I wave as I walk away. He doesn’t follow. Of course, he doesn’t.
Yep, my high school nickname was Heartsick Hailey. I dare you to come up with a more embarrassing nickname. Trust me. You can’t. And how did this nickname come about? It’s all Aiden-Mr. Perfect-Barnes’ fault. I had the biggest crush ever on him. Quarterback, popular, smart. I didn’t stand a chance. Not when I was a drama geek who starred in all the school plays. What can I say? Shakespeare is a god amongst men.
Needless to say, I was not subtle about my crush. Nope. I followed quarterback Aiden around like a lovesick puppy. Big brown eyes included. It wasn’t long before everyone in his click was calling me Heartsick Hailey. And when the popular kids call you a name, the entire school follows. Even the senior yearbook has my nickname listed under my actual name.
The thing is, I always thought Aiden didn’t like it when his friends called me Heartsick Hailey. No, my deluded teenaged self convinced herself Aiden was merely afraid to break rank from his friends. Snort. I’m such an idiot.
I rush down the stairs and practically run to my car. I know Aiden isn’t following me, but I swear I can feel his eyes watching me. And I don’t like the feeling. Not at all.