Chapter Twenty
Bryce
Madison’s hand in mine feels amazing. It’s not too small and not too big but just right. I know I went a little Goldilocks and the Three Bears there, but it’s true. I hate when girls’ hands feel like they’re the same size as mine. Not a fan of the overly tiny hands either. Makes me think of little children, and that just creeps me out.
Madison pulls me up a flight of steps and down a long hallway. She pauses by an ajar door. Madison doesn’t knock. She just pushes it open, and I follow. “Emily, don’t freak.”
Reddish hair with blond tips fans out across a pillow. A zebra-striped mask covers her eyes, and she grumbles “Ten more minutes, Maddy.”
Madison lets go of my hand and lightly shakes Emily. “Em. Emi-lou! Wake up.”
Emily doesn’t seem to be stirring. “Come on, Smalls, I don’t think the maid knows she’s not awake.”
Emily props up on her elbows and lifts the mask from her eyes. “Oh my God! What are you doing in my room?” I point to Madison. Emily gives Madison a wild look. “What the hell is going on?”
“You need to get ready. We have to go hit up a Walmart or something before school,” Madison says.
Emily groans. “You came to my house at …” She looks over at the clock on her nightstand and tosses the covers off . “Are you insane? It’s seven. And you want me to go shopping at Walmart? Ugh. No. I’m drawing a line on our friendship.”
“I need to go. Or I need to …” She leans in close and whispers in Emily’s ear.
Emily raises a brow. “Why?”
Madison whispers something else, and Emily snaps, “That little bitch. Okay, I have a solution to this, but he needs to go.”
I throw my hands up in the air. “Fine by me. I’ll be downstairs.”
“No,” Madison says. “Don’t go that far. Just stand outside the door. I’m going to need you for something in a couple of minutes.”
“We don’t need him for anything,” Emily starts.
Madison interrupts as I make my way closer to the door. “Yes, we do.” I glance back at her as I step out of the room. She smiles. “I need you.”
“Okay.” Is it weird to be thrilled by this simple statement? Because I’m stoked. And, with a probably goofy smile on my face, I leave the room and wait out in the hallway.
“You want me to give you pointers on how to be bad?” I ask, sliding into Madison’s car.
“Yes. No. Maybe,” Madison says with a shrug.
“I told you we don’t need him,” Emily pipes up from the back seat. “Besides, I think there’s a difference between bad and totally dark and pure evil. No offense, man. But you’re like on every cop’s go-to list when a crime occurs, aren’t you?”
I glare at her. “You know what, Smalls? The rich weirdo is right. You don’t need me for this mess because I actually want no part of it.”
“Please. I’ll do all your homework for two months,” Smalls offers.
“Madison!” Emily snaps.
A phone rings as Madison starts the car. She glances down at her cell in the cupholder and shakes her head. “That little witch is ruining my life. I need both of you to help me. I literally can’t take it anymore.”
I glance out the window and sigh. “All right. I’m in. But if we get caught, I’m not going down in this mess. I can’t. Do you got me, Smalls?”
“I got it. But it won’t be that kind of trouble. Not really.”
“What do you plan on doing?” I ask. “Building a bonfire with all her clothes?”
Emily laughs. “Oh, that’s so disturbing how well he knows you. I told you that idea was lame.”
“What do you suggest I do?” Madison says. “Steal bunch of stuff and put it in her closet? She’d know that was me.”
I look back at Emily and then over at Madison. “You’re both missing the main point. You have to do this without getting caught. No one would suspect either of you. So you need to get some friends who gossip a lot.”
Madison frowns. “I don’t talk to those types of people. And how exactly would this work?”
“Sure you do. You’ve got the two biggest gossips on your cross-country team. And Emily knows a few from band.”
“Hey!” Emily says. “There is no way I’m going to get all chummy with Ash and Penelope.”
“Anyways, from what I gather about Sarah, she seems to want whatever you have. Right? So hanging out with new friends, chances are Sarah won’t really know much about them, but she’ll steal them. You want this. Once this happens and you randomly turn on the news that’s broadcasting her parents’ scandal, and say something like ‘oh sorry, we need to change this,’ but don’t tell them why those girls will find the reason.” I say. “And then they will spread it all over. Emily can help by having shopping days or whatever the hell you girls do with the Harper twins and just casually mention little things like ‘so I heard Penelope hung out at your house.’ Watch the rumors fly from there.”
We pull into the school parking lot, and Madison’s phone rings again. She groans and ignores the call. “Who is that?” Emily asks.
“Who do you think it is? My mom, probably calling to yell at me because I left Miss Perfect at home. Boo. Hoo.”
I laugh. “Oh, Smalls, if I hadn’t known you most of my life, I’d say you were already on the dark side.”
She glares at me and then opens her door. “What’s wrong with being good?”
“Nothing, if you’re into goody-goody gumdrops and rainbows. I actually like reality, and that is not all nice.”
“Don’t listen to him. He’s the devil,” Emily quips as we walk up to school.
I trail behind a bit. What am I doing? If I get caught bailing out one more imbecile friend, I’m screwed. No Michigan State like planned, just jail time. Maybe I should back out. I mean, yeah, I’d love to help Madison, but it’s not really worth the risk, is it?
“Bryce!” I turn and see Graham marching up the sidewalk. I glance at Mads and Emily. Mads is making her way back to me, but Emily is tugging on her arm. I whip around to Graham, and he’s practically nose to nose with me. “What the hell, man? You didn’t come pick me up and didn’t bother telling me.” Sarah is right beside him looking smug.
I roll my eyes. He sounds like a flipping chick. “You had to drive yourself one effing day. Get over it. I’m not your personal taxi!”
“No, but you used to be my friend. I can see where your loyalties lie now.” He shoves past me and storms over to Madison. “Can’t have me so you take my friends now?”
Sarah snickers. Madison lowers her head and mumbles something.
Graham glares back at me and throws his hands in the air. “Real cute. You know what, never mind! You two deserve each other!” Then he makes his way into the school.
Madison doesn’t look at me. She makes eye contact with Emily, and then the door Graham stomped his little pissy ass through.
It’s the last period of the day, which is study hall for me. We’re in the library today because Ms. Rose is sick. Mrs. Quinton, the librarian, is watching us today. She pushes a large metal cart filled with books down one of the nonfiction aisles way in the corner. Once she disappears, the door to the library opens, and Sarah enters.
She’s holding hands with a junior, Ryan Fitz. World-class asshole. His family owns most of the lake property here. Rumor has it Ryan has been kicked out of all the board schools and private schools in the state, and apparently his dad had enough. Guess public school was supposed to be a punishment. And, okay, school is a punishment for some, and maybe his dad was expecting his son to get his ass kicked the first day. But let’s be real, if you saw a Hennessey Venom GT pull up to school, would you kick the ass of the kid who gets out? The answer to this would be hell no. Because that person has money and probably a big house and will be throwing parties.
I pull out my cell and snap a few pictures of the pair. Ryan leans in, and Sarah giggles. They kiss a few times, and yeah, I’m getting it all. I should
say something. I should send these photos to Graham. But I don’t. I shove my phone in my pocket and hunt down Mrs. Quinton.
She’s wedged in the back corner, climbing a long ladder, when I reach her. “Mrs. Quinton?”
“Yes?” She looks down at me and smiles. “I can’t remember your name, hon.”
“Bryce Matthews. I was wondering if I could use the computer lab for a second.”
She nods. “Sure, hon. Go ahead.”
She continues stacking books while I grab my things. I head straight to the computer lab and sit down in a cubical. The scent of lilac and vanilla hits me. I turn, and sure enough, there’s my ex. Ginger Fields. “Hey, Ginger.”
“Bryce. What are you doing here?”
“Working on a couple of papers.”
“I meant don’t you have a class this period?” she asks as she twirls a strand of neon-green hair around her finger. She’s always dying her hair different shades of green. Before we dated, I thought it was kind of cool. Now it just makes me hate all things green. Plus, she’s crazy. Like, take-a-baseball-bat-to-my-car crazy. Which she did when I broke up with her.
“Yeah.”
She stares at me with those deep brown eyes that used to remind me of chunks of chocolate. “There’s a rumor going around you’re trying to date Madison Issac.”
“And you know what they say about rumors.” I sigh and turn back to my computer.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her plop down and scoot her chair as close as she can to me. Great. “It isn’t true, then?”
“No.”
“Good. Because when I heard it, I started laughing. But then it hit me, what if you really did like her? I mean, Madison is like in a whole other world compared to everyone else. She’s like alien or maybe a robot or committed to a convent.”
I turn my chair and glare at Ginger. “Why does everyone at this school think Madison is some sort of freak? Yeah, her social skills need some vast improvement, but she’s smart as hell. She doesn’t look like a mutant. She’s actually pretty cute.” I stop talking when I notice Ginger’s eyes narrow. I face my computer and shrug. “I’m just saying she’s not bad.”
“I knew it was an act. You two hating each other like cats and dogs. I bet you wanted her the whole time we were dating, huh? What did she do, turn you down?”
“No. I’d have to ask her out in order to get shot down. And I’m not into her. Madison is just a girl who happens to be my study partner in math. Nothing more.”
A throat clears, and a few cubicles down from me a person stands. Her moss-green eyes and dark hair make my heart squeeze. It’s Madison. I’m sure she heard every word. I’ve never in my life wanted to be anywhere else so badly. Even when I was thrown into the back of a police car and hauled into juvie. Nope. This even beats that.
Madison picks up her things in silence and walks slowly out of the room. I know if I run after her things will only get worse. She’ll make me eat my words. She’ll make me feel a thousand times worse than I already do. So I let her go.
Chapter Twenty-One
Madison
I sit on the grass and stretch with my teammates. Westminster High is a few yards away doing the same. I scan the competition and easily find Kathy Wheeler.
She readjusts her blond ponytail, and we lock stares. I glare at her. She forms an L with her index finger and thumb and presses it to her forehead. I grit my teeth and smile. We’ll see who the loser is in a little bit.
“Issac! What are you doing?” Coach Dockers yells.
Still bent forward touching my toes, I say, “Stretching?”
“I can see that,” he snaps. “Why are you over here when the team is over there warming up?”
I glance around the open field. “Oh. I … uh … had to stretch a little longer. My muscles were tight.”
His face softens. “All right. How are they now?”
“Better.”
“Good. Go join the rest of the team.”
I nod and hurry over to the line of red and black jerseys. Penelope Kline, world’s biggest gossip, leans into her friend Ash Simons and whispers something. They both snicker, and I pretend not to notice. Bryce’s words form in my head. I need to become friends with these girls. But another set of words replays themselves. “I’m not into her. Madison is just a girl who happens to be my study partner in math. Nothing more.” I’m a whole lot of nothing to plenty of people lately. Nothing to Bryce, my parents, Graham, and probably more, I just don’t care to list them all.
I take a deep breath and line up to do a short wind sprint, when Penelope says, “Are you and Bryce an item now?”
I cock my head at them. “What?”
“You and Bryce? Don’t deny it. We saw him getting out of your car this morning.”
“Yeah,” Ash chimes in.
I shake my head. “No. And maybe you two should worry more about warming up than my love life.” There goes being friends with these girls.
“Ohhh, someone is snippy,” Ash chides. “What’s wrong? Did the bad boy decide he didn’t want a good girl?”
I take off. Her words sting. It’s not the fact that Bryce doesn’t want me, but the fact that no one does. Being good gets you nothing. Emily isn’t exactly innocent—she’s done some evil things—and boys like her just fine. She’s been on more dates than I have. And my evil cousin gets guys, not just the good ones, all kinds. But me? What do I get? The friend award. The girl who is good enough to do homework with but not awesome enough to ask out.
I sprint back and get in line again. Penelope doesn’t make any more comments. Ash looks at me every once in a while, but that’s it. Their insults shouldn’t have affected me for this long, but my blood is still boiling.
“Alright team, come over here!” Coach yells.
We hurry over to him. It’s hot and muggy, the kind of weather I don’t enjoy running in. Sweat beads and drips off my forehead and along my neck. Even my boobs are starting to get sticky and itchy.
Coach is giving us the typical pep talk. I practically have the thing memorized, so I zone out. Between the heat and my mood, I’m ready to just start this race and go home. Someone elbows me, and I glare to my right. Freda Hills darts her stare from me to the coach. He has his hands on his hips and snaps, “Are you even here today, Issac? This is the second time I’ve caught you blanking out. If you don’t want to be here, let me know.”
“I do want to be here.”
“Then act like it. What’s your objective today?”
“Don’t let Wheeler anywhere near me.”
He shakes his head. “No. But I’m glad to see where your mind is.”
Penelope and Ash snicker again, and I don’t bother giving them anymore of my time. We all place our hands in the middle, count down, and yell, “Go, Panthers!”
We all head over to the starting line and get ready for the gun to sound off. As I march up to my spot, Penelope says to Ash, “After this, it’s Greg’s house for some much-needed drinks. Right, ladies?” Then she looks at me. “Well, most of us.”
I wasn’t planning on going to Greg’s because I have to work at the Movieplex tomorrow but screw it. As soon as I run this 3.1 miles, I’m going to call Emily, and we’re hitting up a party. People think I’m such a goody-goody, wait till they get a load of me tonight.
“God, even your own team hates you,” Kathy sneers.
I clench my hands until my fingernails dig into my flesh. I’m ready for the gun to go off. Ready to nail such an unbelievably amazing time that even Kathy will be shocked into a decade of silence. Yes. I am so ready.
A tall man dressed in white and black holds a gun up to the sky and shouts, “Runners, take your mark!”
I lean forward just a smidge, waiting patiently for the sound. A loud bam sounds and I take off. The trail is winding. It’s mostly dirt, going through an open field first, then through a bit of forest, over a small creek, and circling back around to the field. I like to call this freedom. It’s strange, yes, but here’s t
he thing. In track, I kind of feel like a hamster. Running in a circle, sometimes two to four times, tends to make me think of hamster wheels. This, though, this makes me feel like I can go anywhere.
The wind caresses my face while my legs stretch and my arms pump a comfortable rhythm. I dart to my right and notice Kathy is keeping pace. I’m not running my hardest, I know this, so I decide to increase my speed. Kathy grunts. “Always one for shooting out too early.”
I refuse to respond. I’m not going to let her get to me. She does this to mess with my head, just like her other insults. I’m going to win today no matter what. I increase my speed a little more until I’m probably putting in eighty-five percent effort. I don’t want to give it my all in the first mile; I’ll be toast by the second and begging for air by the third.
We hit the trail leading into the woods, and I notice most of our team has thinned out. There is no one in front of me just Kathy on my left. As I round a corner in the trail I glance back and spot Ash and Penelope a good fifteen steps behind me. Two Westminster girls are neck and neck with them. I dart my attention back to Kathy who’s a little ahead of me. Normally I’d speed up, but every time I’ve gotten close to her, she’s done something to get me to trip or remain behind her.
Ash yells, “Madison, stop lollygagging! You’re letting her win.”
She should worry about her own race. I speed up again, hop over a branch that magically lands on the path in front of me, and stride past Kathy. I don’t slow my pace and head to the bridge. My legs ache as I race across it in no time at all. My lungs are churning with what feels like the fiery pits of hell. But it doesn’t matter because I’m winning and the field is just ahead.
It’s like my body is in overdrive. I pump my arms faster; my feet barely hit the ground. I’m almost to the finish line when someone screams, “Snake!”
I see it. Slithering along the path. It’s tan and has hourglass-shaped saddles along its back. It stops moving and looks like it’s about to strike. If I get bit, today of all days, by a copperhead, it’ll confirm my worst fear—that I truly ticked someone off in another life, and now I’m being punished for it in this one. I try hurdling over the scaly beast, but it launches and catches my ankle. I feel the teeth sink in, and I yelp.
Bryce (Scandalous Boys #1) Page 9