Incriminating Dating

by Rebekah L. Purdy

  …

  I ran another loop around the track, breathing heavily. Damn, I regretted not taking gym my freshman year, back when I was in much better shape. Jenna Lee passed me twice before she finished her run and went into the locker room to get changed. She didn’t need this class; she was just doing it for fun. What kind of masochistic person was she?

  “Come on, Hawkins, pick up the pace or you won’t finish by the end of the class,” Ms. Cooper, the gym teacher, hollered at me.

  “I’m running as fast as my stubby legs will carry me,” I said, out of breath.

  “I don’t believe that. Push yourself. Unless you want to repeat this class in summer school next year.”

  She cranked up some music in the stadium. Like “Eye of the Tiger” was supposed to inspire me. All it made me want to do was punch her in the face, kind of like Rocky.

  I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand. My lungs burned, and I knew my face was red, because I could feel the heat on my cheeks. Great, I’d look lovely in front of the whole school today. Why did Ms. Cooper have to schedule our running test for the same day as the pep assembly—the same day I had to be introduced as one of the people running for class president?

  Jenna Lee would look perfect as always. She’d barely broken a sweat. I forced myself to add another couple of inches to every step. Each pounding footfall like a nail in my grave. God, this was complete torture.

  At last, the finish line came into view. I pumped my arms. My thighs were rubbing together like nobody’s business; I’d probably chafe. The gym teacher obviously never had any fat on her legs.

  When I finished, I wanted to collapse on the ground and just lie there.

  “Get a move on, Hawkins. You only have ten minutes to hit the showers and get changed.” Ms. Cooper swung her stopwatch around like a lasso.

  I kind of hoped she’d clock herself in the head with it, but no such luck.

  When I got to the locker room, it was empty. So I grabbed my towel and quickly stripped out of my sweaty uniform. I hurried into the shower. The water was lukewarm at best. But I scrubbed the sweat off me as fast as I could, then walked back to my gym locker.

  When I reached inside to grab my clothes, I went still. They were gone. Fuck. No. No. No. So was my gym uniform. The only thing sitting there were my large white granny panties and my sweaty sports bra. God, why hadn’t I put the lock on it? I honestly hadn’t thought I had to worry about someone taking my clothes.

  Frantic, I searched the floor and along the other lockers. They weren’t here.

  Suddenly, I knew Jenna had taken them. What better way to keep me from getting a chance to talk about my candidacy? Wrapped in my towel, I stalked to Ms. Cooper’s office, ass cheeks hanging out and all.

  She sat behind her desk, her feet propped up, her whistle looped around her neck. “Hawkins, what are you doing?”

  “Someone stole my clothes. They’re not in my locker or anywhere.”

  Her brow wrinkled. “Are you sure you didn’t drop them?”

  “Yes. I checked.” Jeez, she acted like I was stupid or something. No, I didn’t check. As if I wanted to parade around naked. “There’s only one person in class who would’ve done this to me,” I said.

  “Who’s that?”

  “Jenna Lee. She hates me.”

  The teacher scowled. “Do you have any proof?”

  “No, I—”

  “Then let’s not jump to conclusions. Why don’t I come help you look? If we don’t find them, I’ll talk to Jenna Lee Monday.”

  “Monday?” That wasn’t going to help me today.

  “I won’t see her until then.”

  So Ms. Cooper helped me search for my clothes, and big surprise, we didn’t find them.

  “What am I supposed to do for clothes now? I’m a part of the assembly today!”

  Ms. Cooper eyed me, chewing her gum like a freaking cow chomping down grass. “You can check the lost-and-found table. Maybe there’s something there you can use.”

  With water dripping off me, I watched her walk back to her office, then grabbed my phone and texted Chloe.

  Need your help. EMERGENCY. I’m in the locker room.

  Chloe: On my way. What’s wrong?

  Will tell you when you get here. I’m so screwed.

  A couple minutes later, Chloe came bounding in. “What’s going on?”

  Tears welled in my eyes. “This.” I pointed at my towel. “Jenna stole my clothes. Ms. Cooper is being an asshole—and I’ve got to be at the assembly in like twenty minutes.”

  Chloe glowered. “Jenna is a freaking B. I swear. Okay. Let’s think this through.” She eyed my flowery blue towel.

  “Ms. Cooper told me to look through the lost-and-found for clothes.” I sniffled. Not that I thought for one second that anything in it would fit me. I was curvy—plus-size. My boobs couldn’t just squeeze into some tiny tube top or something.

  Chloe grabbed me by the arm and dragged me into the athletic office, where they had a table set up with various pieces of clothing. All I saw were things no one in their right mind would want to be seen in. Hence, why they were in the lost and found.

  Chloe, who was a fashion expert, wrinkled her nose, which wasn’t a good sign. She scoured through things, holding them up. Most of them were about five sizes too small for me. Size-zero jeans—I couldn’t get my pinkie toe into those suckers. At this rate, I might as well just go out there in my towel. Maybe that’d get me a few more votes.

  “I think these might work.” Chloe held up a pair of orange leggings. “I’ll see if I can find a shirt.”

  “Orange isn’t really my color.” But I realized they were the only bottoms on the table that I might be able to shove my ass into.

  “Just go with it. We’ll make this work.”

  I sat on the bench and attempted to tug them on. With a grunt, I stood, hopping up and down until I had them pulled up. My gaze shifted to the mirror. I cringed. These leggings were doing me no favors. My legs looked like a pair of giant cheese puffs. Maybe I could just go home for the day. But if I did, I knew Jenna would get what she wanted. Damn.

  “I’m in,” I said, pointing at the bottoms.

  “See, they fit!”

  “Except I can’t breathe. And if I bend over, I’ll probably have a blowout,” I said.

  Chloe grabbed a large black sweatshirt with skulls on it. Totally not my style at all. But it was either this or the towel. So I tugged on my sports bra, which gave me an instant uniboob, and then put the sweatshirt on, over my head. I looked like a Halloween decoration gone bad. Like, way bad.

  “Did Jenna at least leave your shoes?” Chloe chewed her lip.

  I went over to my locker and scoured it. “Nope. What a fucking jerk.”

  “Well, these will have to do, then.” She handed me a pair of blue-and-white boys’ basketball high-tops.

  I slid those on, too. They were a little loose and made me look like I had clown feet. Every time I took a step, it sounded like Bigfoot lumbering in the woods. This was not how I’d thought today would go. That I’d be a walking joke before I even had a chance to speak.

  “Here, let me at least do your hair. I have a couple of barrettes. I can twist back the sides.” Chloe got my hair situated. Once she finished she smiled. “There. Perfect.”

  I glanced down at my outfit and back at her. “You are freaking nuts if you think this is perfect.”

  “Well, it’s a little unconventional. But you’ll appeal to lots of people this way. I mean, you’re not all dressed up and preppy and stuff. You’re you. Or kind of a crazy version of you.”

  “Not helping,” I said.

  My phone buzzed in my hand. It was Luke.

  Luke: Where are you? The assembly starts in five minutes.

  Jenna struck. Had a clothing emergency. Promise you won’t laugh when you see me.

  Luke: What happened?

  Long story short. She stole my clothes. I rummaged through the lost and found. Wait u
ntil you see me. Totally awful.

  Luke: Crap, I left my warm-ups at home or I’d let you borrow those. Don’t worry, I’m coming. We won’t let her get away with this.

  My heart skittered in my chest. Luke was being awesome—sure, he was being blackmailed, but that didn’t mean he had to come to my rescue or be all supportive and stuff.

  Yep. This means war, I typed back.

  And it did. If Jenna thought for one damn second that I’d let her get away with this, she was out of her mind. She was going down if it was the last thing I did. I’d played nice for too long, let people walk all over me. But no more.

  I needed to find my voice.

  That’s when I noticed her pom-poms sticking out of her locker. Of course she hadn’t grabbed them yet. She wouldn’t need them until after they did our introductions, at which point I was sure she’d come back here to change into her cheerleading outfit and grab her pom-poms. As well as the megaphone that was propped up near her locker.

  This gave me an idea.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Luke

  After getting the text from Ayla, I hurried toward the locker room. She’d helped me out earlier this week when I needed it, so now it was my turn to be there for her. Although I wasn’t sure what I’d be able to do. Or what the damage was.

  When I neared the gym, Ayla and Chloe stepped out. My eyes widened. Well, people would definitely remember Ayla, that was for sure.

  She bit her lip and watched me. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

  “Well…” I rubbed the back of my neck with my hand. “I’ve never seen anyone wear quite that combination of an outfit. Unless you count my little brother. But you could make it work for you.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Funny, but at least you’re not laughing. I don’t think a freaking model could make this disaster work.”

  I chuckled. “It’s cute. Really.”

  “You said you wouldn’t laugh!” She socked me on the arm.

  I held up my hands. “Sorry. Okay, so what’s the plan?”

  Chloe glanced at me. “If you’ve got a few minutes, we could use your help in the locker room.”

  “I can’t go into the girls’ locker room, I’ll get in trouble,” I said. And I had enough of that going on lately, if the video wasn’t evidence enough.

  “Ms. Cooper already headed into the assembly.” Chloe tugged me after them.

  I glanced around then followed them over to a pair of pom-poms, which already had a bunch of chunks cut out of them. They hauled out a pack of tampons and began tying them into the pom-poms, along with strands of toilet paper.

  “Can you look to see if there’s anything we can put on the megaphone?” Ayla asked.

  “Sure.” So I wandered around the locker room and into Ms. Cooper’s office. Then I saw it, a tube of mascara sitting on the edge of her desk. I swiped it and rushed back out to where the other two were. “Will this work?”

  “Yes. It’s perfect.” Ayla grinned, taking it from me. She unscrewed the cap, dipped the brush inside, then took it out and proceeded to dab it on the mouth end of the megaphone. When she finished, she handed it to me, and I rushed it back into the teacher’s office.

  “Our business here is done.” Chloe put the items into Jenna’s locker.

  “Remind me to never piss you two off,” I said.

  Ayla peered up at me. “Jenna deserves it. She’s such a jerk to people. Trust me, I would’ve let things be had she not pulled this shit today. But now, more than ever, I want to win this thing.”

  I grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. “You’ll definitely make an impression today. And it’s about time someone stood up to Jenna. Don’t ever let anyone, especially her, make you feel inferior.”

  She groaned but stared at me expectantly. “Now you’re teasing me.”

  “Nope. I’m not. Use this to your advantage—the way you’re dressed. You’re trying to show support for various groups of people. The sweatshirt is for the goths and those people who are a little darker. The leggings are for the popular girls—the high-tops represent the jocks…”

  “You are brilliant.” Ayla wrapped an arm around my waist. “I can totally use this. I knew I liked you for a reason.” Her eyes softened.

  I swallowed hard. Had she just said she liked me? Or was she joking? “See, I’m not all bad.” My voice came out huskier and deeper than I’d intended. The way she smiled at me made me feel important, like I could do anything. It also scared the crap out of me.

  Chloe cleared her throat behind us. “We should probably go now.”

  “Yeah, we don’t want to be late,” I said, taking a step back.

  When we got inside the gym, Ayla made her way to the principal and Jenna, who were waiting in the middle of the floor. Two tables were set up, each with a picture of the candidates on them.

  I found a seat next to Brady, who gave me a fist bump. “What the hell is your girlfriend wearing?”

  “Don’t even ask. Jenna sabotaged her.”

  Brady quirked an eyebrow. “Jeez, Jenna’s not holding back, is she?”

  “No crap.” My mouth drew down. Great. Everyone was going to be talking shit today. By making a fool of Ayla, Jenna was also doing the same to me. People filtered into the bleachers, and I tugged Brady up into the corner, where no one else was sitting yet. “Look, I need your help with this. To help it blow over quicker.”

  “What is going on with you lately?” he said.

  I leaned back against the wall, stretching my legs out in front of me so no one would sit there. The need to confide in someone overwhelmed me. “You know my mom. She’s been having moments again. And, well, this Ayla thing kind of came out of nowhere.”

  “Ayla thing?”

  “It’s complicated. I didn’t intend for her and me to even be hanging out. Stuff just happened.”

  “What kind of stuff?” He watched me closely. Brady could read me pretty well.

  “What I’m about to tell you goes no farther than us, okay? I mean it.” I lowered my voice to a whisper.

  “Fine, whatever.”

  “She recorded us defacing the statues and drinking. She told me that if I helped her win this election and pretended to be her boyfriend, she wouldn’t rat me out.”

  “Oh, fuck. Are you serious?” Brady rubbed his temples. “If this came out, we’d all be screwed. You. Me. Jack.”

  “I know. Why do you think I’ve been helping her? But the thing is, she’s not actually as bad as she seems. I know it sounds crazy as hell, but she’s really nice.”

  “Oh, God. So she’s forcing you to play her boyfriend, but you’re kind of liking it? Pretty masochistic, man.” Brady stared at me as if I’d grown a third nipple or something.

  “Tell me about it. I can’t explain this. I mean, you don’t know how pissed I was when she showed me the video. How I wanted to find a way to bring her down. But then we started hanging out. The other night, after Mom and I had this huge blowout, Ayla actually snuck out to cheer me up and talk.”

  “Unless she’s doing it to get more ammo on you.” Brady nudged my arm, pointing at Jack climbing the stairs and heading toward us.

  “I don’t think so. Shit, I’m just so confused.” I rested my head in my hands. “I might need your help to pull this off, though. So far things have been going well, but I need someone in my court.”

  Brady nodded. “Whatever you need, man.” He studied me for several seconds. “Are you sure you haven’t already fallen for this chick?”

  I snorted, watching as Ayla picked up the microphone, her tight orange leggings the talk of the gym. Her face reddened as she stepped forward.

  “No way. I’m being blackmailed. That’s it.”

  But when I saw her trembling hands as she stood there at the center of the whole student body, my pulse quickened. I was nervous for her. I wanted nothing more than to go down there and hold her hand. To give her strength to face whatever criticism came her way.

  This couldn’t be normal. Damn. Who
the hell felt bad for the person who’d set out to destroy them when he was one mistake away from a court date?

  Man, I was screwed up.

  Ayla cleared her throat and began to talk. “Hi. I’m Ayla Hawkins, and I’m running for senior class president. There are so many things I hope to accomplish for you if I’m elected. And when I say you, I mean all of you. Not just one group of people. Everyone. We all deserve to participate in clubs and things we love. Our clubs deserve to have funding. I’m not striving to put anyone out but to bring everyone in. To give equal opportunity to all students. We should all be heard, no matter how small or big our voices are. If you vote for me, I promise to be your voice. I promise to represent all of you. It’s time for a change, and I’m ready to go to battle for you.”

  Seeing her up there, it broke something inside me. Thawed the coldness that’d been building up. Everyone in my life had always walked away or hurt me. But Ayla was the one person who’d been there for me lately. Coming to my rescue not just with the car, but the other night as well.

  I stood, cupping my hands together. “Woo—go, Ayla!”

  Some of my basketball buddies did the same. Brady glanced at me but shoved to his feet next to me, hollering her name and cheering for her, too.

  Ayla smiled at me, then turned her attention back to the crowd. “I know I look kind of crazy today, but I did this to show you that I’m willing to go that extra mile for you. That I’m not going to let anything or anyone pressure me. I’m representing everybody, not just one ideal or one person. Change starts when we all come together and push for it. When we let the world know we are not going to just settle for the status quo. This election is for us.” Ayla pointed into the stands, gesturing to Jenna. “Not her. If you’re ready for a change, ready to make some noise about the things you love and want to do, then stand with me. We will be a force to be reckoned with.”

  With that, she handed the mike back to the principal and moved toward the bleachers. Without a second thought, I walked down partway to meet her, offering her my hand. My heart swelled. She’d done well by not backing down from Jenna. And I vowed that no matter what happened, I’d help her win this election.