She scoffed and patted her face with a damp paper towel. I leaned against the sink next to her, waiting for her to explain what happened. “We were having fun. Everything was great until some of his groupies came up to us. You should’ve seen him. Instantly he wason–his popular, football player persona. It was like I wasn’t even there.”
I felt her pain. I knew what it was like tolikea guy who had eyes for other girls. “What’d you do?”
“I found someone else to dance with. And I had more shots. More dancing. More shots…”
“Gabby…what happened after that? Why is Cade so mad at you?”
She sighed before continuing. “I hooked up with someone. And he found out about it. He caught me leaving Axel’s looking like…well, like I’d hooked up with someone. He said he’d been worried about me because he didn’t see me after we stopped dancing together.”
“Holy shit,” I said in disbelief. I never knew my friend to have random hookups.
“I know. I wasn’t myself. I wasn’t thinking. I was just somadwatching girls fawn all over him and he didn’t do anything to get rid of them. I thought he might actually like me. Isn’t that stupid?”
“No. It’s not stupid, Gabby. You’re funny, beautiful, and smart. Why wouldn’t Cade like you? Maybe he was trying to make you jealous or something. Who knows. Wait…who did you hook up with?”
Silence. Gabby dropped her head and shut her eyes before speaking. “Everett.”
“Whoa,” I gasped. “Were you with him in the den? That room off the foyer?”
“Yeah, and the jerk left me there without even a word. And then you sent that text that you were getting a ride home from him and I didn’t know how to tell you what happened. I should’ve told you sooner. I know you two had your thing a few months ago, and it’s gross I had sex with my best friend’s ex. You’re not pissed at me too, are you?” She asked, finally turning away from the mirror to look at me.
I tried not to laugh at the idea of being mad at her over Everett. “I’m not mad at you. Everett and I were together one night. It didn’t mean anything. I don’t even know the guy.”
She sighed in relief and smiled slightly. “Thank god. I was so worried you’d be mad. Girl code and all that.”
“The only way I’d be mad is if you tried something with West. Then I’d have to get my knife out, there’d be blood everywhere, and the cops would be called. It’d be a whole production,” I smiled at her, only sort of joking.
She laughed and hugged me tightly. “You and West are a thing now, huh? So much for younot liking him.”
“We’re definitelynota thing. We’re just having fun. He’s a good distraction from everything I have going on.”
“Mhmmm.”
“I swear!” I tried to hide my smile because Gabby was in pain, but thinking of the last few days with West…I couldn’t help it. “The sex is…beyond anything I’ve ever had. That’s all it is. Sex.”
Earth-shattering, mind-blowing sex that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.
“If you say so…” She said as we made our way out of the bathroom and headed for our next class. “I screwed things up with Cade. Whatever it was we may have had is officially done.”
“Cade has no right to be mad at you. You didn’t do anything wrong. If he had deeper feelings for you, he should’ve said something to you. Or at least kept his fan club at bay.”
“I guess,” she muttered. Poor thing had a crush on Cade for years and he never noticed her. Now he was pissed she had fun with another guy for a night.
The rest of the day passed by with stares, whispers, and snickers from my classmates. I blocked out all talk of Instagram and blowjobs and looked forward to my last class of the day–art. Since my class before art was on the other side of the school, I was always one of the last people to enter the room. Once I got there, I noticed Cade and West had switched places with the two freshmen who shared the table with us. My stool was on the end of the table next to West as usual, but he and Cade faced Mr. Reynolds’ desk instead of the windows.
“What’s with the seat swap?” I asked as I sat on my stool.
“Wanted a change of scenery,” West said with a wicked smile. He had something up his sleeve and it likely involved fucking with Mr. Reynolds.
He had mostly kept his distance from me, and other than discussing the piece I wanted to submit to the local art gallery, he hadn’t spoken to me at all. I would catch him looking in my direction every once in a while, but he would quickly avert his gaze.
Cade smiled in my direction, acting as if nothing was amiss. I didn’t want to put my nose in his and Gabby’s business, but I wasn’t going to let what happened slide. I certainly wasn’t going to cast my best friend aside at lunch because Cade was salty about her and Everett.
“Alright class, it’s the last day to work on your painting assignments,” Mr. Reynolds said. Some of the students groaned before he continued. “I’ve already given you more time than you need. You are to present whatever you’ve completed to your group before you leave this room. Tomorrow we will start on our sketch unit, so we will be moving on from paint,” he said as he stood from his chair, starting his lap around the room. “Any other questions before we begin?”
No one responded so everyone got up to fetch their paintings from the drying rack. Mine had been done for a few days, so I didn’t have much to worry about. I didn’t feel like going around the room to help anyone, either. Most of these assholes spent the day laughing aboutthe photoso I wasn’t feeling inclined to help them.
“Princess, you think you could give me a hand?” West asked me, a smile still playing on his lips.What are you up to, Moretti?