I nod, completely agreeing with her last comment. “I don’t understand why you’re telling me this.”
“Because I’m turning over a new leaf. I’m done always having bullshit drama in my life and that means that I need to clear the air with you. I just want to get through high school and get out of here and if letting you know that I’m not going to be a problem for you anymore is going to make that easier, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
“You mean that? You’re really not going to cause any more trouble?”
“Look, I’m not going to lie, seeing you with Slade over the last few days hasn’t exactly been easy but I see the way he looks at you. He never looked at me like that and I realized that I’m jealous. I want someone to look at me like that. I want that whole true love butterflies bullshit that comes along with finding someone who really cares about you.”
“Woah…I’m not in love with him.”
“Right,” she says under her breath. “All I’m saying is that I’m moving on. Me and Slade had fun together and now he’s found someone he really wants and deep…deep down I think I can be happy for him.”
I nod, looking at this girl as though she’s a complete stranger. “Wow, I’m impressed,” I tell her. “So, what are you going to do now?”
A wicked grin pulls at the corners of her lips. “Me?” she laughs. “I’m going to get my freak on.”
“Wait. Didn’t you just say something about wanting to find someone special?”
“Yeah, definitely. I want that, but why rush into it? I’ve been holding out for Slade for years and never gave myself the chance to be a bit of a whore, so why the hell not?” she shrugs. “This is going to sound bad, but I kind of want to slut around a bit.”
“Oh, my God,” I laugh, shaking my head. “Have you met Damian? He’d be down for that.”
Nessa’s face scrunches up in disgust. “No, thank you. I’m sure I could find someone who hasn’t already got every STD under the sun.”
“Good plan.”
Nessa falls into mindless chatter and I find I don’t mind. She’s really not so bad and I believe her when she says that she’s done with Slade.
I feel a harsh stare on me and glance around to find Maze watching me and Nessa with a weird jealousy that throws me off. I grumble under my breath but in doing so, I catch Nessa’s attention. She glances down and takes in Maze. “Geez, you dodged a bullet with that one,” she says with a scoff.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Maze is full-on stalker-crazy. She’s had a lady-boner for Slade ever since the beginning of time and she does all sorts of shit to get close to him. I’ve had more than my fair share of run-ins with that girl but I’m glad it’s finally over.”
“No shit,” I laugh.
“Yeah, everything to her is about getting with Slade so no offense, but I couldn’t really understand why she attached herself to you so bad when you first got here. It was super weird seeing as though Slade hated you, but she must have seen something that we all didn’t because clearly, her little bullshit plan worked and she got what she always wanted.”
Maze’s betrayal hits me hard. I always thought we had a good friendship building and then to find out she was only in it for a piece of Slade’s dick stung. “Jokes on her,” I tell Nessa. “Slade got into bed with her and she hardly had a chance to scream his name before he tossed her off him.”
“Wait. What do you mean? Did he not let her finish?”
“Finish?” I laugh. “He hardly even gave her a chance to start. It was all a ploy to get under my skin, so the second I caught them, Slade was done and pushed her away.”
Nessa howls with laughter and her eyes fill with tears, streaming down her face as she tries to gain control of herself. She straightens up and wipes under her eyes. “Oh, my God, that was too good, my tummy hurts.” She takes a few slow breaths trying to calm down. “That must have sucked. Imagine running a fucking marathon and being so close to the finish line that you can smell victory and then tripping and eating shit before you have a chance to take home the big prize.”
Laughter bubbles out of me but is stopped when Nessa points down to the doors. “Hey, look. Slade’s family is here. Have you met them yet? His sisters are so adorable.”
My eyes shoot down to the entrance of the gymnasium to find Daniella walking in with two little girls who look so much like their mother. I smile as I take them in, they must only be eight or nine and from the way they both desperately search the court for their big brother, it’s clear that they absolutely adore him.