“What?” she asks, a defiant tilt to her head. “You were the Dog, and you got Devlin. I could get Colt.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t,” I say. “It’s just… Is he treating you okay?”
“Like Devlin treated you?” she asks. “Listen, I know I won’t be the Dog for long. I’m not dumb. Someone more interesting, more challenging will come along. I’ve got to take what I can get and hope it’s enough to make him fall for me like Devlin fell for you.”
“Just… Don’t let him walk all over you, okay? I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
We arrive at my locker, and I try to ignore Becca and Kaylee, who are standing nearby, casting ugly glares in our direction.
“She’ll get one for sure,” Becca says. “I hear she’s, like, actually dating Devlin Darling.”
“But she was the Dog,” Kaylee says, tossing her blonde hair back and making a face at me.
I roll my eyes and turn to my locker.
“No one can go from Dog to Doll,” Becca says. “It’s impossible.”
“They said that didn’t count,” Carmen says, completing the bitchy trio. “That she wasn’t really the Dog.”
“But her best friend is still the Dog,” Becca says.
“Yeah,” Kaylee says. “Why would anyone be friends with that smelly old mutt?”
They giggle in that mean way girls do, and I watch Dixie’s face redden.
“Ignore them,” I mutter to her. “They’re trying to get to us.”
“It’s just gross,” Carmen says. “I can’t believe they did that skanky dance in front of all our dads. And some people should seriously know better than to shove themselves into clothes that don’t fit.”
“I don’t get it,” Becca says. “What makes her so special?”
“It’s just because she’s new,” Kaylee says. “He’ll get bored with her, and then he’ll give the necklaces back.”
“I don’t know,” Becca whispers. “Maybe we should try to find out.”
I turn, closing my locker and smiling serenely at them. “You want to know how I landed Devlin Darling?”
“No,” Kaylee says with a sneer.
Becca glances at her friend, looking annoyed, then turns to me. “Well? How did you?” she asks, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial, excited whisper, like she expects me to tell her some big secret.
“Well, you can start by not being a bunch of catty bitches,” I say.
“How do we do that?” Becca asks.
I laugh before I realize she’s not joking. “Look, I told you before, if you want to come to the other side, I don’t hold grudges,” I say. “You can start by apologizing to Dixie, who has more balls than the three of you combined.”
“Like we’d risk being your friend,” Kaylee says. “You’ll probably be the Dog again by tomorrow. I don’t want a reputation for picking up strays.”
“Yeah,” Carmen says. “Like they say. Sleep with the dogs, you wake up with fleas.”
“Maybe if you lose her,” Becca says, cutting her eyes toward Dixie. “Since you weren’t a Dog after all.”
“You still don’t get it, do you?” I say. “You’re so busy jumping when the Darlings tell you to jump that you don’t see how silly all this is. The Darlings said I wasn’t the Dog, so now you’re just going to go along with them, pretending it never happened?”
“Well… Yeah,” Becca says.
I shake my head and turn to Dixie. “Let’s go.”