7 Theo's POV

THEO’S POV

“So what are you going to do about her?”

My heart skipped at the question.

Did she know?

I looked over at Briella. She had heard the question too, and she looked up from her lunch, but when she caught my gaze, she dropped her eyes to her tray, her fork stabbing at her broccoli.

“Who?” I turned to Kendall. She didn’t suspect a single thing.

I’ve been with Kendall long enough to know when she’s suspicious. Her nostrils would flare, and a vein would throb on her temple.

“The new girl,” she whispered. “That girl’s going to tell Principal Houston what she saw, I just know it.”

“She’s not.”

“Oh, come on, don’t give me that cocky answer. She’s the new kid, guess what they love to do? I’m not going to take my chances, Theo. All it takes is one word to Ms. Harden, and we’ll get into trouble. You’ll get into bigger trouble if the Principal hears about it.”

I was in bigger trouble than she could even think of. Sex in the bathroom was the least of my worries when I was trying hard to keep my grades up. The term had barely started and already Principal on my case about my performance in class.

I took her hand and flashed my signature smile, the one that melted the girls and made them blush. I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed it.

Kendall smiled, and she flipped her hair over her shoulder. I looked, and the new girl was rolling her eyes as she looked away.

Seems like she made friends. I wouldn’t have pegged her as the type of person who made friends on her first day of school, especially with an attitude as bright and sunny as a snowy day in Oakland.

Then again, I would hardly consider Lea and Leo, the weirdo twins, the right kind of friends to make in school.

Sure, they are rich and spoiled, and their father belongs to the same Country Club that Kendall and Trish’s fathers are members of, but unlike Kendall and Trish and the other richer kids in school, they are annoyingly stuck-up. I guess I would be, too, if my Dad owned a multibillion-dollar tech company.

Yet all that money was not enough to stop Lea from gifting me with her sock on my birthday.

The new girl could do better than them.

Or maybe not, since she seems to be just as stuck up like them.

“See what I mean?” Kendall was saying.

“Mhmm? Yeah, yeah, I see what you mean.”

“Then we have to do something about it.”

“I guess I’ll talk to her and try to explain…”

“Talk to her?” She gave me a look like she thought I was crazy. “Fuck no. I bet she’s just waiting for that anyway. I’ll think of something.”

That didn’t sound good. Every time Kendall suspected that I was cheating on her – even times when I didn’t actually cheat on her – she went out of her way to make life difficult for the other girl.

She hates it when a girl shows too much interest in me. The other girl who got too close suffered terribly for it. Kendall had replaced her shampoo with hair removal cream, shaken into her shampoo bottle.

I still remember the way her hair fell out in huge chunks, leaving her with bald spots. The whole mocked her for it until she had no choice but to change schools.

That was in our first year as juniors, by the way.

She can be terrifying and possessive, which is why I am worried about what she would do if she finds out about Brielle and me.

Although Brielle is her friend, she probably wouldn’t go overboard.

Besides, the thing with Brielle was just a one–time thing. It never happened again.

She has tried to get me to have sex with her again, but nope, not going to happen.

Unfortunately, that is a loss for me because the only reason I ever had sex with her in the first place was to get the answers for our math test.

I told her it would never happen again, but I don’t think she got it, though.

“Give me a kiss,” Kendall suddenly demanded.

“Right here?”

She made a face. “Is that a problem?”

“For fuck sake, Kendall, you were just talking about the new girl reporting us to Houston, now you want a kiss where everyone can see and report us to Harden?”

From the side of my eye, I saw Brielle watching. I saw the way her grip tightened on her spoon as she tried to pretend like she wasn’t watching Kendall and me.

Kendall leaned back. “Whatever. I miss you, though. I wish that new girl had not walked in on you and me this morning. Wanna come over tonight?”

“No, I have practice,” I said, resisting the urge to sigh.

“But the game is not for a month away.”

“Private practice with my Dad.”

“Oh. Okay, so… text me when you’re free?”

“Sure.”

She smiled and planted a kiss on my cheek. “Trish, Brielle, let’s go,” she called out. She hadn’t even touched much of her food.

Trish had already pushed her tray away, blowing a kiss to Nate, who couldn’t stop trailing her with his eyes. Brielle, on the other hand, was clearly not ready to leave, and it wasn’t just because of me. Her eyes darted between her plate and Kendall.

“But I haven’t even…”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, are you going to stuff your face until you fucking puke through your ass?” Kendall asked.

Some of the guys on our table began to snicker.

Brielle’s face turned red, and she looked like she was about to cry, but she laughed. “Of course not. The food wasn’t even good anyway.”

She pushed her plate away and stood, giving me a meaningful look as she did.

When the girls were out of earshot, Nate began to laugh.

“What the heck, dude? Your girlfriend is brutal as fuck.”

“Kendall is not…” I paused. There was no point saying that she wasn’t my girlfriend for the millionth time. She was the captain of the cheer team, and I was the captain of the hockey team; our relationship was expected.

I’m not complaining. She is the hottest girl in school, and her Dad is powerful.

“I personally don’t mind Brielle, to be honest, I like a little meat on my girls.”

“So what you’re going to eat her?”

Nate smirked. “With pleasure.”

I shook my head at him. “What about Trish then? I thought you guys had something going.”

He waved a hand. “She’s just playing with me, and I’m playing along. Besides, her Dad is definitely going to have her head if he knows she was talking to me. Nothing but the best for his princess.”

Trish was the richest out of Kendall’s friend group. She has a reputation for playing with boys because, at the end of the day, she’s never going to end up with poor guys like us.

Just like Nate said, nothing but the best for Princess.

Zed suddenly nudged me as he shifted his tray over. “What are you going to do about the newbie then?”

This again?

I didn’t want to do anything about the newbie. I wanted to leave her alone. She wasn’t interested in me, and that was that.

Being the hottest boy in school was nice, and I guess you could say that it got into my head when every girl in school wanted to talk to me. Somehow, I had expected her to be the same, yet nothing says that a girl is interested in you like a punch in the jaw.

Clearly, she was trouble, the kind of trouble that I had to avoid.

“Can we drop the matter?”

“After I caught you staring at her in class today? Not a chance,” he laughed.

“Maybe I was just thinking about how to pay her pack in her own coin. She fucking hit me, dude.”

“Sure,” he scoffed. “It’s not because you are butt-hurt that she’s not trying to get your attention.”

“Or maybe she’s just worried that Kendall might throw acid in her face or do some crazy shit to her if she comes too close.”

“Mmm, Kendall can be that crazy. Well, if you are not going for her. I want to. She’s kinda cute.”

I scoffed.

Kinda was putting it mildly. She had very nice brown eyes, the kind that sparked with fire a second before her fist connected with my jaw.

Pretty but dangerous.

“Go for it if that’s what you want,” I told Zed, shrugging.

I went back to eating, but he was watching me, and when I turned to him, he was holding back a smile.

“Dude, what?”

“Are you sure?”

“What the hell? Yes, but I’m not going to pat your back when she gives you a black eye.”

“You underestimate my game.”

I laughed. “Sure.” Like there was anyone in this school with a better game like me?