by Tijan
I eyed her with a sideways glance. And she said Cross and I had our own language.
“Yeah.” She gave a quick shake of her head. “No way, but um…okay. So, speaking of Sunday…”
She looked like she was preparing for a formal interview. “Sunday is going to approach you today to apologize, and Monica is going to ask if there’s anything going on with you and Cross.” She grimaced, waiting for my reaction. “Can you not…” Her face pinked and her lips mashed together. “…beat them up when they do?”
I grinned. “So much for not taking her crap.”
Her face went from pink to red. “This is different. That’s different. I’m trying to prevent a full-out war. There’ll only be one victim in all of that. Me.” She pointed to herself, shaking her head. “You’ll be protected by your guys, and Sunday will hide behind the squad. Me. I’m in the middle. So, for me… Don’t?”
When she put it like that, I felt bad about the orange juice. “You don’t want me to beat them up?”
“No!” She twirled her hands in the air. “Or pour things on them? Sunday doesn’t know the tire thing was you, but if you do it again, she’ll figure it out. She thought some criminals from Frisco must’ve been at Manny’s.”
And the irony of all was that she’s from Roussou, thinking that.
Taz sat back up, picking at the end of her shirt. “They’re trying to be real with you. Because that’s how you like it. Real. No fake shit. They’re scared, but they’re going to try it your way.”
It should have bothered me to hear people were scared to talk to me.
It didn’t. I felt satisfaction. It was a perfected coping mechanism—scare ’em right away and not have to deal with them later. I felt myself smiling. Maybe Z was right. I was brilliant.
I started laughing.
Taz had been talking. “What? What’s funny?”
“Nothing. I was laughing at myself. And I’ll be nice, as long as they’re nice.” And as long as Taz didn’t get hurt in the middle.
“They will be.” She bobbed her head up and down. “I promise.” Her shoulders relaxed. “I was so nervous to ask you about that, but I think Sunday forgot how fierce you can be. Dumping the orange juice on her, then starting a whole crew brawl in front of her—that helped her remember. I think she got lax this summer, because she didn’t see you. She forgot she’s not number one on the female alpha list, if you know what I mean. I mean, she is on the cheerleading squad, but outside of the crew system, there are other girls more popular than her—like Tabatha Sweets. But Sunday’s domain is the squad. Tabatha’s is the whole school, not the crew part of the school.”
The door opened behind us halfway through Taz’s statement, and someone had stopped there. I waited for them to pass us by. When they didn’t, I looked back.
It was Sunday, with Monica coming through the door behind her.
Taz turned too, jumping to her feet. “Sunday! I—”
“You can’t cover what you just said. I heard you.” Hurt flared in her eyes, and she looked at me. “I was coming to apologize to you. I had no clue you heard me, but it doesn’t matter. Spreading rumors about you and being catty wouldn’t have been right. I’m sorry I was even thinking about it.”
I nodded. As problems went, she was the least of mine.
But she wasn’t done.
She turned to Taz again. “I—what you said really hurt, Taz.”
“Is it a lie?” I asked.
All three of their heads swiveled to look at me.
“Is it a lie? Or is it true?”
Taz looked down.
Monica’s eyes widened, and her lips pressed together.
Sunday was fixed on me, her face resembling an owl. Big wide eyes. Small mouth, lips pressed together almost in a snarl.
That gave me the answer. “It hurts because it’s true.” I nodded toward Taz. “You can’t get mad at her for being honest. You do shitty things to people. It’s a fact. You’re not doing shitty things to me because I scare you. That’s the truth, right?”
No answer. Her neck was reddening, and the color was moving up. The girl was pissed, but she looked down, and a soft “Yes” came out.
“It should hurt, but be mad at yourself, not her.”
“Sunday, I—” Taz began.
“Don’t apologize.” I was trying to be gentle here, but if Taz wanted to stop taking her shit, this was a time to stand up and base her feet. Or whatever she’d said. “You were being honest.”
Steam could’ve been coming out of Sunday’s ears.
Taz’s eyebrows lifted. “But I wasn’t sensitive. You can be honest, but you have to be sensitive.” She said the last bit to her friend/enemy. “I’ll be more sensitive. I’m sorry, Sunday.”
For fuck’s sake.
This was why I didn’t have female friends, except for Taz. Either I didn’t know how to be sensitive or I didn’t speak that language. If that’s how female friends had to be with each other, I didn’t know if I’d ever have one.
I knew Taz would say she was being nice, but she looked like she was kissing Sunday’s feet. And as the red coloring left her face and a smirk flared, I knew Sunday thought the same. In her head, in her group, she had won just now.
The door opened again, and Jordan, Zellman, and Cross came out.
I almost sagged in relief. The school gods must’ve heard me.
“And that’s my cue to go,” I announced.
The guys saw me as they went out to the parking lot, and they lingered a few feet away, waiting.
I started for them, then remembered what Taz had said, and I wheeled back around to Monica. “Taz said you wanted to ask about me and Cross.”
I could feel him watching me.
“He’s my best friend,” I told her. “That’s all that’s going on, so it’s up to you whether you’re secure enough to handle that. That’s your problem. Don’t make it mine.”
Taz let out a short laugh as I caught up to Cross and the guys.
Zellman glanced back at the girls as we headed to Cross’ truck. “What’s going on there?”
“They’re clearing the air.”
“You okay with them now?” Jordan asked, his finger waving from me to them. “Can we get with them again?”
I nodded. “For now, I guess.”
Zellman’s eyes got big, but he didn’t say anything. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, hunching his shoulders forward. “So what’s the plan for hanging out?” Zellman’s cheeks bulged out. He was refraining himself. “Jordan’s or somewhere else?”
Jordan’s lips twitched, so did Cross’s. We could all see the struggle. Z just got the green light to get some Boobs, but it was crew time right now apparently.
“I’m down for whatever,” I said. “I just have to have dinner with my brother at seven, wherever he’s at.”
“Dinner with your brother?” Cross asked. “That’s the debt Alex can’t pay off?”
“Yep. Which sucks.”
“We could dress him up to look like a girl,” Zellman offered.
Alex was probably a hundred and fifty pounds heavier than me. “You’re right. Channing would be fooled. Let’s do it.”
Zellman frowned. “I wasn’t joking. You guys always laugh at my suggestions.”
“The dinner just you and your brother?” Cross asked, eyeing Zellman.
So was I, but I replied, “You want to come? He said I could bring anyone with me.”
“Fuck.” Jordan’s eyes flashed with anticipation. “Dinner with Channing Monroe. I know he’s your brother, but man. That’d be awesome. I’m in.”
“Great game plan.” I pointed at them. “You guys talk so much, I won’t have to. Best family dinner ever.”
Cross grinned. “It is just for one night?”
“It’s up for debate.” It wasn’t. But I needed a plan to get out of the others.
“What are we doing today?” Jordan asked.
Zellman shot his hand into the air. “I’m right here, and you
’re ignoring me.”
I knew what he’d love. “How about cliff diving, Z? You up for it?”
He wavered. I saw the fight on his face, until he melted. “It’s like you get me, Bren.” He pressed a fist over his chest. “Right here.”
That’s what crew did.
“Bren!”
Taz yelled my name after third period that Friday, hurrying through the crowd. I’d just left the bathroom, but I needed to stop at my locker before the next class.
“What’s up?” I asked once she got to my side. She looked well rested, so I added, “I take it you didn’t partake in the partying last night?”
She laughed, shaking her head.
After the early hiccup, the week had passed without any big events. I’d been a good sister. I’d had dinner with Channing every night. I took all the guys to that first dinner on Tuesday, but Channing had stopped it after that. He hadn’t enjoyed the twenty-thousand questions Jordan and Zellman had asked him about the crew system and how he’d started it. So the last two dinners had been me, him, and a whole lot of awkward silence.
I think he was reconsidering letting me bring the guys again, but we were done with dinners until Sunday night. He’d amended our agreement, saying he understood if I had social or crew events happening this weekend. That was really code for him having things going on, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I’d agreed wholeheartedly.
But because we’d still had our dinner last night, I’d heard about the huge party at Manny’s. Channing had gotten the repairs done, and Heather had agreed to allow Roussou people back in. Yesterday was their first day back, and somehow it had become the first official party of the year. It moved to a field after Heather eventually kicked everyone out, and it lasted late.
I knew that much because Cross had crawled into my bedroom at five in the morning. I offered him the bed, but he only took a blanket and curled into a fetal position on the floor. He never woke when I got up for school, and I hadn’t the heart to bother him. He was still sleeping when I left.
Half the crew people either hadn’t come to school today or were hungover. Half couldn’t see where they walking. The bags under their eyes were like dumbbells, and a couple guys got jostled, then just went at it in the hallway. If Mr. N. was smart, he’d let ’em all sleep during detention.
Taz, on the other hand, had an extra bounce in her step.
She shook her head. “No.” She moved her books to her other side, combing through her hair with her free hand. “Half the girls were there.”
“Speaking of the girls—” I started toward my locker, but two got in the way. I braked, an irritated sound slipping out.
They looked up, a smart-ass retort ready, but it died when they saw me. One squeaked and the other put her head down and put on a burst of speed, darting out of my way.
Taz grinned, leaning against her locker as I opened mine. “That never gets old.” She adjusted her books in her arms. “And okay. I have to ask you for a favor.”
I grabbed my notepad and book, then shut the locker. “I don’t do favors.”
Her eyes cast to the ceiling. “I know that’s not completely true. You’d step in front of a bullet for my brother, so this isn’t that big a favor.”
“He’s crew.” Those weren’t favors.
I waited for a reaction from her. Sometimes she’d get all pissed at the reminder that Cross was crew or Cross was more special than her. I never knew for certain when it might happen, but she usually got all pissy right about now. If she’d join the crew, she’d have equal footing to him. Well. Not really. Cross was more important than everyone, but Taz would’ve moved up above Jordan and Zellman. Easily.
Her anger never came.
And that told me I was going to hate whatever this favor was.
“You know on Monday when I told you I hadn’t joined the cheerleading squad…” She leaned forward, her eyes widening.
I didn’t say anything. I waited.
“Okay.” She blinked a few times, shaking her head. “Dramatic pause aside, instead of joining them, I actually got them to join a committee with me. It’s the new thing we’re doing with Ms. Bagirianni. She’s our supervisor.”
Nope.
No way.
I knew what she was going to ask. I heard the excitement in her voice, and it wasn’t going to sway me.
“I’m not going to be a part of anything The Badger’s doing.”
“What? Why?”
“It’s The Badger. The fact that you’re willing to spend time with her alarms me. Greatly.”
“Oh, come on. She’s not that bad.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “You’ve never been analyzed by her, that you know of.”
She opened her mouth, then stopped. “Are you serious? You won’t help me because the school counselor is involved?”
I snorted. “Do you not know me? Like, at all? Do you not know your brother?” He and the rest of our crew shared the same sentiment about The Badger.
She looked so frustrated, a pout forming on her face.
I patted her on the arm. “The answer to that is like you asking me if I’m crew. A big fat duh, yes. It’s like cosmic karma. It’s a rule in the universe. If The Badger is involved, I am not. Plain and simple, unless it’s mandatory or court-ordered.”
“That’s—” Her mouth fell open again. “That’s insane! I need your help. Really.”
“Let me put it another way. The Badger is the police. I’m a criminal. The two don’t mix. Ever.”
I started for class, but Taz fell in step next to me. She adjusted her books again, then once more. I was tempted to grab them and hold them for her. She was making me antsy with all the adjusting going on.
“I really need your help,” she said again. “We’re doing a charity event, and we need to go around town to get sponsors. Half the businesses here are connected to crews. They won’t sponsor us unless a crew person asks them.”
I snorted. “As it should be.”
I veered toward my classroom, but Taz picked up her pace. She got in front of me, holding her books up like a shield. “Stop. Please. Talk to me for a second.”
People were filling in behind her, casting us curious looks.
Jordan was heading our way too, towering over everyone, and his gaze locked on mine. His eyebrows moved together, and he began to slow down.
“You’re crew royalty,” Taz pleaded. “And this event is a big deal to me. This charity is a big deal to me. If you come on board, Sunday and Monica—they’ll shut up. I can feel how they think I’m a joke and I can’t get it done. I’ll get it done with your help.” She softened her tone. “Please, Bren. You’d be helping me so much with this one thing.”
This one thing wasn’t going to be just one thing. I could feel it. It meant a meeting, which meant more meetings, and then more meetings. One afternoon would be dragged out to thirty, and she wasn’t listening when I said it was like someone asking a criminal to socialize with a cop.
Shit would go down, and not for the good.
“I’m actually doing you a favor by saying no.”
Jordan had stopped behind Taz. All three of us were now in the way in the middle of the hall, but no one said a word. There was enough room to go around, but not comfortably. A few people squeaked through on the other side of Jordan. Most went around on the far side, and a few cast us dirty looks. When they saw me watching them, they changed their tune. We weren’t being fully considerate here, but this was a standoff.
“You’ll do anything for my brother. Help me with this. Please.”
I glanced up to Jordan, and he laughed silently, his shoulders going up and down.
“What do you think?” I asked him.
Taz whirled around, saw him laughing, and smacked his arm. “If I wanted your help, Pitts, I would’ve asked. You have no input here.”
He rolled his eyes and smacked her hand away gently. “Bren will do whatever she wants. She asked me as a distraction.”
He pointed to me, and to prove his point, I stepped backward into the classroom. I flashed Taz an apologetic smile. “I really am doing you a favor. You’ll thank me later.”
Her cheeks flushed, but she didn’t say anything. It looked like she wanted to, but Jordan moved around her. As the bell rang, he turned around and slowly closed the door in her face. He shook his finger, still watching her through the window like he was tsking her.
She made a motion, and he began laughing again.
Dropping into the seat next to me, he pointed toward the door. “What was that about?”
I dropped my books on the table and leaned back. “She wants me to scare the other girls away.”
His grin widened. “Why’d you say no to that?”
I smiled back, but the teacher had walked into the classroom, so we stopped talking.
The two football players in front of us turned around to talk to Jordan before class officially started, and two girls on his left began flirting with him.
I zoned out until I felt a soft punch on my arm.
“What?” I rubbed where he had hit.
Jordan was looking at me, and so were the football players. The two girls were pouting, but Jordan had his back to them, so they were effectively cut out of the conversation.
He rolled his eyes at me. “I didn’t hurt you, but where were you last night?” He pointed a pen at me, then stuck it in his mouth and began chewing on it.
I frowned at him. This wasn’t normal Jordan, but the two football players were listening. He was asking for their benefit.
He knew I’d had dinner with my brother, then stayed home, but I only said, “I did my own thing last night.”
He gave me the slightest of winks.
That told me all I needed to know. One of the guys had asked him to ask me. He’d decided to play along instead of telling them it was none of their business.
“You missed an epic party.” One of the guys leaned forward, his hand resting on the table just a few feet from my books.
I looked at it, then to Jordan, and he shrugged again.
“I’ll catch the next one.”
“Yeah. You better.” His friend decided to join in. He was nodding and smiling. “It was awesome. Best party of the year.” He and his buddy grinned at each other. “For now.”