She pulls back, staring up at my face. She nods emphatically. “Yes, yes, that’s it. But I thought if… maybe you and I…”
I push her off of me. Enough is enough. “You came here to proposition me. To use me against your best friend?”
Devious little devil.
My friends have left the room.
“Well…”
I glower at her, and she cowers. I don’t usually let anyone but Margo and my friends see the demons under my skin, but I let them out for her. She needs to know to be afraid of me. “Bad idea, Sav.”
“We—”
I stalk forward. Satisfaction spreads through me when she takes a quick step backward, then another one. “We, what? We fucked once? You spread rumors about us dating, that I squashed inside of a week?” I sneer. “Tell me. How did that work out for you?”
She turns pale. “I’m sorry—”
“Get off your high horse,” I snap. “Amelie is coming back, and you’ll go back to being second…” I lift my eyebrow. “Well, now third best.”
She gasps. “What?”
“Amelie and Margo were friends, too. And while she didn’t defend Margo… she doesn’t hate her as much as you do.” Probably because we only bullied you about being friends with her. Of the two of them, Amelie is the traitorous snitch.
But I don’t say that.
Savannah lets out a ragged breath. “I’m such an idiot,” she moans. She turns and runs, slamming the front door closed behind her.
I wonder how Margo will react to the news that her ex-friend is back. If there will be fireworks when the two collide… Especially since Amelie still thinks we’re dating.
Part of me hopes the little sheep will drop the act and draw first blood. My dick stiffens at the thought of Margo going after Amelie. Wild fantasy. I doubt either girl would play fair in that fight.
Amelie is a means to an end… Margo is the end.
Theo wanders back in, his eyebrow raised. “Dude. What the fuck is it with you and crazy chicks?”
I laugh. “I wish I knew.”
Unfortunately, there’s only one crazy girl for me. And I only need to keep her long enough to watch her burn.
15
I avoid everyone except for Riley for a week. Caleb doesn’t come looking for me. He doesn’t even watch me from afar. The bullies return, climbing out of the woodwork. They hit my shoulder with theirs in the hall, kick my bookbag, mutter mean things.
It’s all very hit-and-run.
Riley corners me after school, telling a quick lie to Robert about having plans with me. “You’re being weird,” she snaps. “What happened?”
I can’t tell her.
Instead, I ask, “What happened with you and Eli? He seems back to hating you.”
It’s a good distraction, because Riley’s face falls. She hooks her arm in mine and leads me to her car. “Honestly, I don’t even know. He’s… weird.” She brightens. “On the plus side, I heard that Caleb is allowed to go back to attending the football games.”
I twitch. “How is that a good thing?”
“Because that means we can go… No?”
“No.”
“Did he not carry you out of a party in front of half the school? In front of me?”
“Yeah, and now he’s being a dick. So. No parties and no games and definitely no golden boys.”
She snorts, unlocking her car. “I’ll agree with you about the golden boys. Pfft. Who needs them?”
We go to her house. It’s not a mansion like Caleb’s, but it’s nice. She has a huge room with a walk-in closet and four-poster bed. I perch on the end of it as she rummages for a change of clothes.
“You knew we used to live in Caleb’s guest house.” I may as well voice it into the air, because it’s something I’ve been avoiding. “Right?”
She turns around slowly, clearing her throat. She seems nervous. “Yeah.”
“Well… He took me to his house, and the guys were there. They got into a fight—over me, I guess, I don’t know—so I ran. It was instinct to go back there.” I shudder. “Everything was the same as the day we left. They hadn’t even gotten rid of our personal things.”
“Oh, Margo,” Riley whispers, coming over and sitting next to me. “So you ran in there, and it was like jumping back in time?”
“Besides the dust, yeah. My room was untouched. Like, still a pair of jeans on the floor from the night before everything happened.” I swallow my heartache. “And then Caleb…”
She winces before I even say it.
“He was furious. And he hasn’t talked to me since.”
“I’d say he’ll come around, but he was mean to you, right? Maybe it’s better that you’ve escaped his attention for now.”
I nod halfheartedly. “Yeah, maybe.”
It was only a matter of time before Caleb’s attention moved on to something a little more… stable. He said it himself, I was only a game. Savannah was only a means to an end for said game.
It isn’t until the next day at school that I realize how awful of a prediction my words were. Amelie Page, former best friend, stands in the center of the courtyard. She flips her golden hair behind her shoulder, smiling at the circle of people around her.
And Caleb…
He’s smiling at her. She has a hand looped around his arm, and her fingers grasp his biceps.
“Amelie was studying in France as an exchange student,” Riley whispers.
Shame seeps into my skin. It’s a cold, vile feeling, and I almost turn away from them. I don’t need to see Caleb with another girl who I used to like. Yet, I’m transfixed on her hand.
And then she’s breaking away from the crowd, and murmurs chase her.
“Margo!” She has an accent.
I’d forgotten about that—or maybe it’s more pronounced now that she’s older.
“Welcome home.”
I smile. I hadn’t thought to ask about her, and now I’m unprepared for the warmth in her eyes.
“I should say that to you,” I answer.
She waves me off. “Nonsense. I’m just glad that you’re back. Have you been reintroduced? You’ve seen Sav…” Her perfectly sculpted eyebrow rises. “Oh, that isn’t a happy face on our dear friend.”
I follow her gaze to where Savannah looks like she’s bitten into a lemon. Amelie leads me over to her, throwing her arm around Savannah’s shoulders.
“Our friend is back,” Amelie tells her. “We’re welcoming her with open arms.”
That’s a decree from a queen if I’ve ever heard one.
“And you remember Caleb.” She drags me over to him. “My boyfriend.”
My whole world screeches to a halt.
I stare at her, unable to even look at him. His gaze is on me for the first time in a week, and my skin itches.
“What?”
“Darling, we’ve been dating since junior year,” she says, laughing. She flips her hair back and leans in close. “Sure, you may have had him first… and Sav got her pound of flesh. But he’s not yours anymore.”
I swallow. “Interesting. I wouldn’t have expected—”