“Rachel Freaking Carter.”
My brows draw down as I glance across the cafeteria to the girl in question. “What’s your issue with her?” I ask as we watch her prance across the cafeteria like the princess she claims to be.
“She’s next on my list,” Nessa explains with a sigh, clearly not too pleased.
“You mean your ‘somehow get everyone I’ve ever wronged to like me again’ list?”
“Yep. That’s the one,” she says. “Kirsten got her extensions put in yesterday and loved them then somehow got a mani/pedi out of me too. Though I’d deny it if you ever repeat this, but it was kind of worth it. You should try it one of these days. Being kind actually makes you feel pretty damn good.”
Booming laughter comes up and surprises the shit out of me and I don’t know whether it’s because she’s suggesting I should try being nice or because she’s about to attempt the impossible.
I skip straight over her ‘kind’ comments and go for the juicy stuff. “Dare I ask what you did to Rachel for her to put you on her shit list?”
Nessa grins and for a moment, it’s nearly as devilish as one of Damian’s. “What haven’t I done to that girl?”
“Seriously?”
“Oh, yeah. The first I can remember was in grade four when she asked to borrow some hand sanitizer, but she would ask me every single day and use it all up, so I sort of filled it with super glue.”
She laughs to herself as I suck in an intrigued breath. “You didn’t.”
“Yeah, her hands were glued down on the table for most of the day. Our teacher had to hand feed her lunch while the school nurse tried to free her. They were there for hours.”
“Bullshit,” I laugh.
“I swear to God,” she says, holding her hand over her heart. “It’s been war ever since then, but she brings it on herself. She’s a self-righteous bitch. She puts on this fake, innocent smile and pretends to be a victim, but we all know that she’s the devil in disguise.”
“And you want to make up with her?”
“I have no choice. It’s on my list.”
“Shit, I can burn the list if you want me to. We can pretend it never happened.”
“No,” she groans, getting up and then pulling on my arm. “Come on, we have to do this.”
“Woah,” I say, yanking my arm back out of her grip. “No one said anything about ‘we.’ This is all you, baby.”
“Come on,” Nessa pleads. “This’ll never work if I go in alone. She’s going to jump straight down my throat with the rest of the cheer skanks, at least with you by my side, she’ll pause long enough to maybe hear me out.”
I scrunch my face, so not wanting to do this. I’ve always prided myself on being a loyal person, despite what Slade currently thinks. If Nessa and I are going to have a shot at a great friendship, then I need to have her back just as I’d hope she’d have mine.
“Fine,” I say, stepping out from behind the table. “Do you even have a game plan or are you just winging it?”
“Are you going to go running for the hills if I told you that I was going to wing it?”
I consider her statement for a short second. “I don’t know,” I tell her. “I wouldn’t go running for the hills either way. If you fuck it up, you’re going to be known as the one who can’t close, but if you miraculously pull this off, you’ll forever have my respect.”
“Well, damn. I didn’t realize we were upping the stakes.”
“Gotta keep it interesting,” I wink.
“Speaking of keeping things interesting,” she murmurs, lowering her voice so the tables we’re weaving through don’t overhear our conversation. “That whole turning Slade blue thing, that wasn’t you, was it?”
I grin wide and not another word is needed.
“I fucking knew it,” she cheers. “That was so fucking epic. I was sitting there through that whole damn game trying not to laugh at him.”
At the mention of Slade, I find my gaze sweeping across the cafeteria to find him and I’m not surprised to find his intense stare already on me. As we start approaching Rachel and our target becomes obvious, his eyes narrow in suspicion. We take one more step in Rachel’s direction and his control slips.
Slade throws himself from his chair, clutching onto the back of it as though it has the power to keep him grounded. I shake my head at him. I know Rachel is unpredictable and has a mean streak, but high school bitches are my forte. Besides, I don’t need his protection, I can handle myself. If anything, Slade Cruz has one important lesson to learn in life; he needs to stay in his own damn lane.
I guess it doesn’t matter anyway. If I’m no longer Slade’s girlfriend, then I don’t need to play nice with Rachel because Damian likes to use her as a fuck toy. I mean, I’m still friends with Damian so technically I should be respecting it, but I really don’t think Damian would give a fuck if I had an issue with her. Hell, he’d be the first one on the sidelines, cheering us on and praying for a catfight while throwing bikinis and jello at us.