Page 130 of Kickoff

My conscience made a comeback before I did something I would regret. “Kick her ass, Chase. Far away from here. She’s bad news. And she doesn’t understand the word no.”

Seconds later, Tanya was pried away from me. “Mase. You can’t do this. What about us? Our reign over ERH? We said it would be you and me. We agreed. Don’t you remember your promise to me?”

“You’re a psycho, Tan. I never promised you anything. You are accusing me of things I never said or agreed to. Don’t come near me ever again, or you might hate the person I’ll turn into. Keep walking and forget I exist.”

“What? You can’t be serious. We had a deal.”

“Nah. No deal. You never meant anything to me, and you’re done screwing up my life.”

Hurt flashed in her gaze. “You don’t mean it.”

I stepped forward, towering her by almost a foot, forcing her to tilt her head back. “Wanna bet? I’m in a very bad mood right now. I suggest you go and annoy someone else.”

Fury poured out from her. She transformed right under my eyes from kitten to evil. “You’re a mean person, Mason Pierce. I’ll tell everyone you gave me crabs. We’ll see who’s gonna let you bang them now.”

“Do that and I’ll tell everyone you’re a lame fuck,” Chase added. “Worst I ever had.”

She rested her fists on her hips. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Watch me,” my friend said. “You’re lucky I was too drunk that night to realize I was making the biggest mistake of them all.”

I had no idea what had gone down between them, but right now, I didn’t care. I enjoyed seeing Tanya being handed her own medicine for once.

She gritted her teeth, stomping her foot. “You’ll both regret this.”

“Whatever,” I said as she scurried away, adjusting her tiny cheerleading skirt as she did.

Chase’s palm met mine, and I sighed in relief. “Thanks. For having my back.”

“I have no idea what happened to you or between you two,” he said. “I can’t wait to be updated on all the latest gossip.”

“Well, I won’t be the one feeding them to you. I haven’t seen her since the last day of school before the winter break. She’s making up stories about us in her mind.” I filled my book bag and slung it over my shoulder. “I’ll see you around.”

Before he could utter another word, I stormed away, wishing the day was already over.

For the rest of the week, I lay low, spending all my free time in the weight room of the athletic building or jogging around the indoor track, sweating my anger and pain away. I watched Melinda from afar, making sure she was okay, even though she pretended I didn’t exist. She not only looked different nowadays, but also acted different too. Every time our paths crossed, she switched directions, not acknowledging my existence. She did the same thing with Paige. Even after all this time, she still refused to talk to her best friend. Craig told me Paige had tried to mend their friendship and explain herself multiple times, but Melinda had reiterated she was done with backstabbing people, whom she couldn’t trust, pretending to play nice.

It hurt because I concluded she had included me in that statement.

Yesterday, she was having lunch by herself in the library when I walked in. I had noticed she only ate when she wasn’t surrounded by other people. At least she had food on her tray when she walked out of the dining hall, and her plate was empty afterward, which reassured me she was really doing better. Our eyes locked for a long minute, and I saw the flames banking low in hers. All was not lost. I still had a chance. Before I could say anything and break the uncomfortable silence between us, she picked up her stuff and left without a word.

My heart cracked into thousands of pieces.

I had to talk to her. No matter what it took, I had to make things right between us.

33

The big fucking thing that starts with a capital L

“Hey Mel, wait up.” I jogged after her when she exited her science class a few days later. She hurried forward, holding a textbook to her chest, not even sparing me a glance. My fingers closed around her elbow from behind, but she yanked her arm away, putting more distance between us. “Talk to me. I deserve to know what’s going on.”

My words—or my tone—must have done the job because she stopped, took a deep breath in, and spun on her heels to face me.

She looked radiant. Gone were the shadows under her eyes and the ghostly complexion, even though we were in the middle of January and lacking sunlight these days. She was wearing a golden corduroy romper over a white shirt with black knee-high socks, her hair braided over her shoulder, a light coat of lip gloss coloring her lips.

I swallowed. “You look beautiful.”

Not acknowledging me, she glanced down.