As her words started to sink in, I felt the blood rush from my skin. “You were behind all those names I was called last year?” I asked. I felt cold and dizzy, like I was losing touch with reality. Hayley had always suspected that Laurie was the one who encouraged the girls to call me names after the list came out.
“Now look what you’ve done,” Laurie barked at her sister. But Brooke walked away from her and came to stand at my side.
“Come on, Madi, let’s get out of here,” Brooke murmured.
I paused though and set my eyes on Laurie. She was looking down her nose at me, not an ounce of remorse in her eyes. I wanted to run away, but I knew I had to say what I was thinking or I’d regret it later.
“Brooke’s right. I’ve never done anything to you, and I don’t deserve your crap,” I started. I took a deep breath in before I continued. “I could plot my revenge or try to fight you over all the things you’ve done to me, but the truth is that I no longer care what you think or what whispers you spread through the school. If there is one thing I have begun to realize over these last few weeks, it’s that I don’t need anyone else’s approval. And I certainly don’t need yours.”
I let out a breath, feeling suddenly lighter. Laurie seemed surprised I’d fought back, but she also looked ready to start hurling more fury and vitriol at me.
“You ready?” Brooke asked.
I nodded and let her guide me away from Laurie before she could continue to flare the argument. It was only once we started to move away that I noticed a crowd had formed. Some kids had their camera phones out, and I could hear angry whispers about Laurie cheating on True Love. I tried to ignore it all though, because right now it wasn’t my problem.
“What class do you have now?” Brooke asked once we’d moved to another corridor.
“Art,” I replied. “But I’m almost done with my current project, so it won’t matter if I’m a little late.”
Brooke nodded and glanced back the way we had come.
“Thank you for standing up for me,” I said.
Brooke let out an uneasy laugh. “I’m sure I’ll wake up tomorrow and all my lipsticks will be broken, but it felt good to finally put my sister in her place.”
“I’m sorry if I put you in an awkward position,” I said.
She waved my apology off though. “Nah, Laurie needed a bit of a reality check, and I really am fed up with all the mean things she does.” Brooke tilted her head as she looked at me, as though she was considering something. She then gave a little nod as if her mind were made up before she spoke again. “You know that nothing happened between Laurie and Cole on the camping trip, right?”
“It didn’t look like nothing,” I said.
Brooke lifted her eyes to the ceiling like I was an idiot. “My sister is a master of manipulation. She can make almost any situation look the way she wants it.”
“She was in her underwear and Cole was shirtless,” I murmured.
Brooke shrugged. “I only know what Laurie told me the next day,” she replied. “She was all pissy when she got home because Cole had rejected her yet again. You don’t have to believe me, but maybe you should talk to Cole and hear him out?”
My stomach was doing flips as I listened to her. I so badly wanted to believe what she said, but I wasn’t sure if I was brave enough to risk my heart with Cole one more time.
“I’ve got to get to class,” Brooke said.
I touched her arm, causing her to pause and look at me. “Why are you telling me this?” I asked.
“Because unbeknownst to Laurie, I’m team Cadi,” Brooke replied with a grin before walking off.
I stood there watching her walk away, with far too many emotions racing through me. Maybe Brooke was right and I should talk to Cole and give him a chance to explain. But I knew I couldn’t do it while the competition was still on. My heart couldn’t take it if I had to watch him choose someone else, but could I handle it if Cole was innocent and I had wrongly pushed him away?
I didn’t know what the right answer was or what option I should take. Things would all calm down once the competition was over, so perhaps waiting to talk to Cole would be best. I set off toward art feeling a little more confident that I was making the right call.
I just hoped that when we finally talked it wasn’t too late.
25
Cole
Tanner’s eyes were bright as he came to sit in his usual seat beside me in math. He had a look about him that made me suspicious before he’d even opened his mouth.
“What is it?” I asked. I knew something was up.
“Massive catfight in the corridor,” he said. “Madi and Laurie were really sticking it to each other.”
I stood up before he’d even finished the sentence, but Tanner jerked me back down into my chair before I could run off.
“What the hell?” I growled at him.
Tanner shook his head at me. “It was just an argument, no one got hurt. And, if I’m honest, I think Madi definitely won the war of words. Don’t worry, your little puddles will be fine.”
I scowled at him, wishing I’d never told him some of the stupid nicknames I’d given Madi to rile her up.
“So what happened?” I asked, trying to keep my cool.
“I only caught the end of it,” he said. “But it sounded like they were fighting over you. Then Brooke snapped at her sister and defended Madi before Madi put Laurie in her place. Then she and Brooke walked off into the sunset together.”
A smile quickly spread across my face. As much as I was worried about Madi, I couldn’t help but be proud of her for standing up for herself.
“I asked a few people around me about what they'd overheard,” Tanner continued. “Did you know Laurie convinced a whole heap of guys and girls to harass Madi last year?”
“What?” My smile was now firmly gone. How had I not heard that?
“Yeah it briefly came up in their fight, I knew Madi had a bit of trouble after the list, but I hadn’t realized it was something Laurie instigated.”
“Me neither,” I replied. My grip tightened on my desk as I tried to control my anger. I wanted to hunt Laurie down and tell her exactly what I was feeling.
“But there's more,” Tanner continued. “Apparently, Laurie has been rigging the vote for True Love.”
“What?” I nearly jumped out of my seat again, but Tanner gripped my shoulder before I could launch myself from my chair. “How?”
“She convinced Angus to make her the audience's pick the last two weeks.”
“Surely he wouldn’t do that…”
Tanner shrugged. “I only know what I heard,” he replied.
“I’m going to kill him,” I growled, making Tanner chuckle.
“Dude, you need to calm down. After Sunday’s episode, people are going to think you have rage issues.”
“Maybe I do,” I replied.
“Nah, you’re too much of a softie at heart,” he said, tapping his massive hand against my chest.
I shoved Tanner away from me, making him laugh.
I let out a breath as I considered everything my friend had just told me. “It’s not going to be pretty, but I need to deal with Laurie.”
Tanner leaned closer, and his eagerness made me grin. “What are you thinking?”
“You’ll see at lunch.”
Tanner nodded and held his fist out for a bump. “I’ll be sure to get to the cafeteria early,” he replied as I bumped my fist against his. “I’ll bring popcorn.”
I shook my head at him. I hoped it wasn’t going to be that dramatic. But knowing Laurie, it probably would be.
The cafeteria was packed by the time I made it to lunch. The first thing I did when I entered the room was look for Madi. I was doing it almost instinctively now, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to think clearly until I’d spotted her. She was seated with her friends and I let out a breath. I relaxed briefly, but then remembered I still had Laurie to deal with.
I didn’t bother with the lunch
line today. Instead, I headed straight for our table. Tanner hadn’t been kidding about the popcorn. I actually laughed when I saw him seated there with a bowl full. I wasn’t sure where he could have gotten it, but the guy was damn resourceful.
Laurie was sitting next to Jake today—no surprises there. Though Jake didn’t seem quite as receptive to her flirtatious advances as he had in the last couple of weeks. In fact, he appeared to be ignoring her completely.
Laurie didn’t seem ruffled by his lack of attention, or by whatever had gone on in the corridor with Madi earlier. Despite Tanner’s hopes, I didn’t actually want to make a scene with her. I just needed to talk to her and clear the air.
She smiled up at me seductively as I approached, her hands quickly moving from where they were on Jake’s arm.
“Hey, Cole,” she said.
“Hey, can we go outside for a talk?”
She lifted one eyebrow at me, and a look of concern spread across her face, as if she could sense danger. “We can talk here. Why don’t you take a seat,” she said, indicating the free chair beside her.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’d rather talk to you in private.”
Her face transformed as I spoke, becoming hard and defiant. It was like she could read my mind, and she knew I was there to confront her about Madi. Tanner was right, she wasn’t afraid of making a scene.
She waved a hand at the people around us. “Whatever you have to say, they’ll all find out eventually. What is it you want to talk about?”
She definitely wanted to make a scene. It was like she knew she was going down, and she wanted to take me with her. People already had their phones out and pointed in our direction. Whatever was said now was probably going out to everyone who watched True Love. I was beyond tempering my words for the camera though. Everyone needed to know the truth.
“I heard what you did to Madi,” I said. “All of it.”
The room went quiet, and I could sense people shuffling in their chairs as they turned to watch Laurie and me. Tension rippled through the air, and it felt like everyone was holding their breaths as they waited to hear her response.
“And?” she asked.
“And I think you need to apologize.”
Laurie laughed. “I’m the victim in all of this. I think Madi needs to be the one apologizing to me. She wrongfully accused me of cheating. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not a cheat.”
“I don't know much about the cheating, Laurie, but I’m sure if we review the True Love voting the last couple of weeks the truth will come to light.”
Her face paled at my comment and her eyes narrowed.
“But the voting is the least of my worries right now,” I continued. “If you don’t make things right with Madi, then I’m afraid I don’t want anything to do with you.”
“Fine by me, Cole,” she replied.
She went to turn back to the table, but I wasn’t giving up so easily.
“That means you need to find somewhere else to sit at lunch,” I said. I knew it was a low blow, but Laurie was playing dirty, and it seemed I was going to have to get a little muddy too.
Laurie’s eyes flashed with anger as she looked over her shoulder at me. “This table doesn’t belong to you. You can’t just banish me from it,” she said.
“I think I just did.”
She spun around to face Jake. “Surely you don’t agree with this, Jake?”
Jake shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Laurie turned her attention on him. “Actually, I do agree with Cole,” he said. “I heard what you did, and it isn’t right.”
Laurie scowled. “So, you’re picking your ex-girlfriend over me?”
“I’m not picking anyone,” Jake replied with a sigh. “Just apologize to her, Laurie.”
I realized my mouth was hanging open as I stared between the two of them and I quickly shut it. No way did I ever think Jake of all people would have had my back.
Laurie slammed her hands down on the table and pushed herself to stand. “Fine, whatever, you guys can have your stupid table.” She looked around at the rest of our friends who were still seated. “Come on guys, we can start a new table.”
Tanner choked on a piece of popcorn as he tried not to laugh while the rest of our friends lowered their heads and became thoroughly interested in the plates of food in front of them. Not one of them was looking at Laurie or me.
I placed a hand on Laurie’s shoulder. “I think you’ll find that our friends feel the same way as Jake and me.”
Laurie shook my hand off her shoulder and stalked away from the table without looking back.
“You’re welcome back here once you’ve done the right thing!” Tanner called after her. Everyone around the table gasped, or laughed, as Laurie gave him the finger over her shoulder as she walked.
“Or not,” he added with a shrug.
It wasn’t until Laurie left the cafeteria that sound seemed to return to the room. My talk with Laurie hadn’t gone down how I wanted it to. I hadn’t wanted it to be so public, and I had hoped she’d be reasonable enough to realize that she needed to apologize to Madi. Banishing her from our table had seemed like such a petty punishment, but I couldn’t think of another way to try and convince her to do the right thing on the fly. There was nothing I could do about it now though.
I sat next to Tanner and stole a handful of his popcorn. “You just had to have the last word, didn’t you?” I said.
Tanner grinned. “What? I couldn’t let you take all the glory.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t want to embarrass her. I just wanted her to do the right thing.”
“Oh well,” Tanner shrugged. “She’ll come around eventually. I give it a couple of days before she realizes that she needs to do a 180 on the attitude.”
“I give it a week,” I said. “Laurie is stubborn.”
“True,” Tanner agreed.
I glanced over toward Madi’s table, hoping to see her reaction. Her face was turned from me though as she talked with Hayley, and I wished I could hear what they were saying.
“So, creeper,” Tanner elbowed me in the side. “What are we going to do about your other little problem?”
“What, Madi?” I asked, receiving a nod in reply. “I already told you, I’ve got it under control.” I had already formulated a plan in my head, but my voice was filled with doubt. The truth was, I was nervous my idea wouldn’t be enough.
Tanner gave me an encouraging smile. “You’ll convince her.”
“Or die trying,” I grumbled in reply.
I was leaving the cafeteria when I felt a hand at my elbow. I turned swiftly, my heart jumping at the hope that it was Madi. It wasn’t Madi, but I wasn’t exactly disappointed to see Hayley standing there smiling at me. That had to be a good sign.
She pulled me aside so that other people could pass. “That was a good thing you did in there, Cole,” she said.
“Did Madi hear?” I asked.
Her smile grew larger. “Yeah, she heard.”
“And?”
“And she still isn’t sure if she should trust you.”
“Right.” My shoulders sagged as her words deflated me. I hadn’t cornered Laurie in the hopes that Madi would hear and forgive me. I’d done it because it was the right thing to do. Still, it was disappointing that it hadn’t made a difference.
“Hey,” Hayley said, smacking my arm. “Don’t look so crushed.”
“But you just said—”
“I said she wasn’t sure,” she added, cutting me off. “Which means she can be convinced…”
“You really think there’s still a chance?” I didn’t even dare to hope. I hadn’t received any positive signals in my short interactions with Madi since the camping incident.
“Yeah, I do. And I’m her best friend, so if I can’t call it, then nobody can.”
I didn’t want to believe her in case it wasn’t true, but my stupid heart wouldn’t listen to me. It felt like it had started beating for the first time in d
ays.
“Look,” Hayley continued. “After everything I’ve seen and heard, it seems clear to me that there’s more to what happened on Friday night than what Madi saw. I don’t think she’s willing to admit it, but I reckon she’s beginning to realize that as well. I mean, a girl shouldn’t have to cheat her way to the final round of a dating competition if she’s sleeping with the guy, right?”
“Right,” I agreed.
“So, what’s the plan?” she asked.
“Do you think you can get her to the formal on Saturday night?”
She smiled. “Already all over it, my friend. She’ll be there.”
“Okay, great.”
“What then?” she asked.
Getting Madi to the formal was one thing, but once she was there, it was all down to me. I had to convince her I was the right guy for her.
“Just get her to the formal,” I said. “Then watch me win back my girl.”
26
Madison
There was something distinctly depressing about getting ready for a formal that you knew was only going to bring you heartbreak. I almost backed out of it entirely during the lead up to the night, but I knew I couldn’t let Hayley down.
When the front doorbell rang, announcing Hayley’s arrival at my house, I knew any hope I still held of avoiding the formal was gone. I opened the front door for my best friend but froze when I saw it wasn’t Hayley standing on the porch.
“What are you doing here, Laurie?” I asked. Laurie was dressed in a long silver gown, with her hair and makeup all perfectly done. She was clearly ready for formal, but I couldn’t understand why she was at my house. I looked past her, almost expecting to find cameras filming the two of us. Surely this was either part of the True Love contest or some bizarre hidden camera show.
When I focused back on Laurie, I saw that her hands were fidgeting and there was a nervous expression on her face. “Can I talk to you for a sec?” she asked.
I wanted to refuse, but she looked so worried that I found myself nodding and joining her on the front porch instead.
The Wrong Bachelor Page 24