006

     Conrad Declan’s POV

    “I’m never going to date you, Conrad.” Oliva said to my face and walked away leaving me standing in the hallways.

I smirked as I watched her catwalk back to the class room, the kind of catwalk that screamed I-really-want-you-but-I-gotta-play-hard-to-get-first. Yes, that’s Oliva. A girl I hated, to say the least. 

I’ve always thought of Olivia as a slutty and manipulative person. She had a reputation that preceded her—kind, gentle, pretty, caring blah blah blah but in reality she wasn’t any of those things. She messed with most of the seniors when we were juniors and sometimes I had always wondered how someone from such a rich family could be so petty.

 But then again, besides the designer clothes and bags she carried, there was nothing else to prove that she was indeed from a rich family. No one has ever been to her house or seen her parents who she claimed were abroad. We can’t be sure she’s not getting all that money from selling her body.

Olivia’s had a crush on me since fifth grade and she has never failed to show it whenever she is around me. But now that we’re seniors, she’s trying to play hard to get. I’ve never been into her, not even once and right now, I am pursuing her because of a bet I made with Carter. That fuck boy has something on me and is making me pursue Olivia.

It will all be over soon because i know Olivia well. She is going to give in because she is like that. She sucks up to every dick she gets. It makes me kind of worried about Jenna, she shouldn’t be friends with someone like Olivia.

I cared about Jenna, a lot than I should. When mum had told me she was staying with us for senior year I had looked forward to bonding with her like when we were kids, the innocent looking Jenna. But, heck when I first saw her that night, I knew we could never be friends. She didn’t look that innocent anymore. Literally everything about her was different now. She had gotten prettier than I remembered, way prettier.

Her eyes? Even in the dimly lit room that night, they had shore under her impossibly long eyelashes. The way she fidgeted when she saw me that night was funny and her dark hair was a little messy.

And her lips. They were pretty and judging by my observation, really soft with a perfect cupid’s bow—not that I’m obsessed or something, I’m just kind of good at observing.

To be honest, I don’t think I’d be able to control myself if we were alone in the same space for too long. Not being friends with her is way better.

“Hey, Conrad!” I heard that familiar voice resonate through the hallways. It was Carter. Of course.

He jogged to my side and mockingly nudged my elbow, “I saw what Olivia did there, Con. Sick burn.”

I furrowed my eyebrows at him. He was trying to toy with me but I wasn’t going to let him get to me.

“Whatever, Carter. We’re in the playing-hard-to-get-phase. She’s going to give in soon. I’m Conrad, Conrad Declan.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Carter said.  You’ve been kinda cocky lately.”

“Cocky?”

“Yeah, cocky. You know, overconfident, full of yourself, big ego, arrogant, condescending …”

I shut him off with a nudge, “That’s enough, I know what cocky means. I’ve always been cocky, though. And by the way, it’s not cocky if it’s true.”

“Sure, Conrad. Let’s go for a smoke.”

Carter and I decided to skip last period and go for a smoke behind the bleachers. It had always been our secret hangout since junior year. Just us two. We’d been inseparable since junior year, he was also the only close friend I had. I knew everything about him and he also knew everything about me—maybe not everything but we’re getting there.

“Emily asked me to give you something. I don’t know, it’s a little gift bag. It’s in my locker. Want me to throw it out?” Carter said, as he brought out a lighter from his pocket.

“Do you even have to ask?” I replied, clenching my fists..

Most of the girls at Fox Lane High were pathetic, shameless even. They’d throw themselves at any guy with abs. While some of them told me they liked me to my face, some of them just went the old fashioned way—sending the best friend. I’ve always wondered how Carter never complained about the list of girls that came to him everyday to ask about my likes, my dislikes and girlfriends.

Girlfriend was out of it. I’ve never been in any serious relationship, most of the girls I screwed with were a one time thing. It had never gone beyond that. Why? Because it’s fun to have a lot of options, to not be bound to one person by a stupid myth called ‘love.’ Love is a complete waste of time. You can never truely be loved and you can never truely love someone. So, why go through the stress of loving someone and being loved when you can just screw around with any girl you want and have fun?

*****

Jenna Brooks’s POV

      As soon as the closing bell rang, I grabbed my bag and dashed to freedom. There were surprisingly no interruptions on my way out except when I bumped into Olivia and she told me she was looking forward to seeing me tomorrow. 

That uplifted my spirit a little and it made me kind of want to look forward to tomorrow. The ride home was filled with bickering between Jeanette and Jamie. They were arguing about something that wasn’t quite clear to me but it was obvious Jamie was winning by the way Jeanette was squinting her eyes like she couldn’t see his point.

While I let myself enjoy the whole thing because it was kind of refreshing, Conrad just sat there pretending like no one else existed. How the fuck does he do that? He gets so touchy and squirmy and feely with girls at school but whenever he’s around me, he acts like a lone wolf.

I wasn’t going to let his presence bother me, I wasn’t going to let him bother me. The rest of the ride home was quiet after Jeanette finally admitted that Jamie was right and she was wrong.