The bell was just ringing when I walked into first period.
Gretchen threw her hands up at me when I got to my seat. “Where the hell did you go last night? We looked everywhere for you!”
When I didn’t answer her right away, she raised one of her eyebrows at me, squinting as if trying to look deeper inside me.
“I thought you were dead. You didn’t answer my calls all weekend, neither did Davin. Robbie wanted to put out a missing person report on you, but I told him Davin had probably came and retrieved you, and you guys were making up for that entire twenty-four hours of lost time together. He didn’t like that too much, but I didn’t know what else to say without blowing your cover.”
I only wished that was the case. I swallowed hard, trying to smile but couldn’t force one believable enough. “I’m sorry Gretch, there was just an…uh… emergency and I had to leave.” There was no doubt she could hear the shakiness in my voice. I was on the verge of breaking down.
“Are you okay, Adelay?” I nodded my head at her, trying to hold back tears that so badly wanted to come out; but I wasn’t about to cry right here in class. She could see it in my eyes.
“Let’s go to Brando’s after school okay? We can talk there.”
I nodded again; thankful she wasn’t pursuing it any further.
It was lunchtime when Sully walked up behind me, bracing himself with one arm against my locker door. His cologne smelled strong of Bergamot, ginger, and orange. The Bergamot definitely reminded me of Davin’s lustful smell that sent my senses wild when it hit my nose. Damn, I hated this!
“I figured you might want someone to walk to lunch with. I know it’s hard for you being here. If it’s any consolation, you’re doing remarkably well.” He held his arm out for me to take ahold of.
Gretchen wasn’t here to walk with; so, I took him up on his courteous offer. “Thank you, Sully.”
If Sully and I were going to pull off that we were a couple, it meant we had to act the part. I threw my books in my locker, slamming it closed then turned to him, looping my arm through his. Nearing the cafeteria, I felt myself begin to seize up. He pulled me in a little tighter, rubbing my hand, feeling that I was an absolute nervous wreck inside.
“It will be okay. Keep your chin up, beautiful.” He winked at me, running his hands through his glossy strands of hair, moving any that had strayed out of place.
When we neared the table, my jaw about dropped to the floor at the most horrendous sight I could imagine in front of me.
Bernadette Harris’s scrawny little body was sitting in the chair directly next to Davin where I should have been, twisting her mop of highlighted curly hair around her finger with brightly painted hooker-red nails, flirting shamelessly by his ear.
What shocked me the most was he was actually engaging in conversation with her! Gretchen eyes were as wide as mine, and she lipped ‘what the hell’ to me from across the table. I shrugged my shoulders and lipped ‘later’ back to her. Davin barely glanced up at me, before he looked away coldly.
Bernadette looked over her shoulder, seeing what had caught Davin’s attention (other than her) for a moment, then rolled her eyes at me with the bitchiest smirk I had ever seen, turning her attention back to Davin with a flip of her hair. My heart was pounding so hard through my chest, making me instantly dizzy from the sudden spike in blood pressure, and I knew Davin could hear it; he had every other time.
My ears rang loudly, screaming through my head and drowning out any other sounds around me. A sudden bout of nausea filled my stomach, threatening to creep up my throat. If it did, I would make sure it went all over Bernadette and Davin. I swallowed the lump in my throat. Sully tugged me forwards pulling out a chair next to him.
My heart felt like it had just been ripped right from my chest. How could Davin show any interest in the wicked bitch of the west? Had he really already hardened his heart so much that he hated me for what I had done?
Gretchen leaned across the table towards me. “Can you believe that? What the hell is going on, Adelay?”
I swallowed hard, trying not to vomit when I spoke. Truth was I didn’t know what to say. Davin and Bernadette sitting and talking together was just as much of a shocker to me as it was to her. I shrugged my shoulders.
Sully leaned over, whispering in my ear, “Just breath, princess.”
Inhaling a deep breath through my nose so no one noticed how hard I was trying to keep my composure, I glanced one more time down the table just as Bernadette let out a flirty laugh wrapping her arms around Davin’s neck. He seemed to move uncomfortably underneath them when our eyes met each other’s again but didn’t push her away.
I couldn’t stomach it anymore. I pushed my chair back, exiting the table quickly while holding back my tears until I knew I was out of view from everyone, then broke into a sprint straight to the girl’s bathroom, locking myself in one of the empty stalls, and broke down into blubbery sobs into my hands.
“Adelay, can I come in?” Gretchen’s voice was outside of my stall. I wiped my eyes with my hands, and unlocked the door, letting her squeeze in here with me ignoring the limited space. “I don’t know what’s going on Adde, but I think it’s safe to say you can’t handle being here right now, or around that shit-show that’s happening out
