“You’d better. He’s a good guy. Start treating him with respect.” She turned and walked away.

“Yes, ma’am. Goodnight,” I said to her retreating back.

“Goodnight, Willow. I love you.”

Yeah, okay, whatever. Sometimes, you have a really shitty way of showing it.

“I love you, too, Mom.”

Breathe. Just breathe.

“Surprise him. Okay, which one should I wear… what message do I want to send?” I stood in front of my closet, looking through my shirts. I finally decided on sending a safe message to Brody and hoped Jaden wouldn’t notice or ask about the shirt. I pulled out a pink tee that read, He’s just a friend, and slipped it over my head before I could change my mind and grab the other one I was debating on wearing that read something about kissing me… which would definitely send mixed messages after the night before in Brody’s Jeep. But, oh, how I wanted to wear that shirt—wanted to finish that kiss.

Maybe I’ll have a T-shirt made that reads, I just dumped my dumbass jock boyfriend. Will you kiss me senseless now? Yeah, that’s sounds like a perfect T-shirt. I’ll get right on that… sure.

I pulled on a thin, zippered hoodie—I had a ton of them to go with the T-shirts and tanks. They were great for covering the cuts and bruises. Thankfully, he didn’t usually hit in the face. The hoodie was a light blue and matched the lettering on the tank top. I pushed my feet into my blue paisley Converse high tops. Another fashion faux pas I had that made Jenna cringe—my shoes. I went for comfort more than style. I loved my Converse, especially the ones with the funky prints. Not Jenna. She nearly had heart palpitations every time she saw me wearing them. I thought it was hilarious. She thought I’d lost my mind.

After running a brush through my hair, pulling it into a messy bun, and swiping my teeth with a toothbrush, I was ready for school.

I opened my door slowly and peered down the hall. My mother wasn’t anywhere in sight. Stepping into the hall, I made my way to the stairs. I was careful to avoid the boards I knew would make noise with the slightest change in pressure. I didn’t want to wake her up and get another lecture on how to keep men happy so they wouldn’t smack me around.

As soon as I’m eighteen, I am out. Of. Here. I don’t care if I have to flip burgers every day and babysit every weekend for four years to put myself through college. I’m leaving Middleton far behind.

I walked toward my locker when Jenna turned and saw me. “What are you wearing? I told you, shoes make or break an outfit. Those are breakin’ it. They are even worse than that horrid pink monstrosity you call a shirt.” She finally freed her book and papers from the mess overflowing from her shelf. I had to stifle a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Brody peeked around the locker door at me.

“Oh, Jenna is just being… Jenna.”

“Ah. How’s the hand?” Brody asked.

“It’s okay. It makes getting my pants on and off interesting. Ugh… I can’t believe I just said that.” I laughed, feeling my cheeks heat with a blush.

“You’re cute when you blush.” He smiled. “I’ll see you in class. Oh.” Stopping, he looked over his shoulder. “I don’t like that particular T-shirt. Just so you know.” He winked and walked toward our biology class.

“What happened to your hand? And what the hell was that between you and Brody?”

“I jammed two fingers. No big deal. And Brody and I are… just… we just are. Like the T-shirt says. That’s all.”

“Mm-hmm. Sure, just friends.” A small smile curved her lips. “And how’d you jam your fingers?”

“Oh, you know, the usual.”

“Willow—”

“I’m fine. Really. I’m just fine,” I lied.

I sat next to Jaden, twirling my fork in the salad I was eating for lunch. Brody was across the room with some people I recognized from a few of our AP classes. Jenna and Tim sat with them, the traitors.

“I can’t believe you, like, eat that,” a blonde cheerleader said to me, cracking her gum as she talked. She was a girlfriend of one of the other football players—Sasha, or something like that.

“What?” I asked, looking at her.

Jeez, is it a requirement that all cheerleaders possess abnormally perfect genes? Big blue eyes, wavy, blonde hair, big boobs, and a tiny waist, yeah, I feel incredibly sexy next to her. She does wonders for my self-esteem. Sure. At least she’s dating a butt-ugly football player.

“The salad dressing. It has, like, a million calories and, like, a ton of fat in it,” she said, horrified.

“Oh, I don’t really pay attention to that. I just eat what I want.” I shrugged a shoulder.

“You must workout constantly to stay so thin.”

She thinks I’m thin? Has she looked in the mirror?

“I don’t work out, actually—”

“Not unless you count moving chess pieces around a little board working out, huh Wills?” Jaden laughed.

I faked a smile and imagined stabbing him in the eye with my plastic fork. “Yup, that’s about as close as it gets.”

“Oh, you’re on the chess team?” the cheerleader asked.

“Mm-hmm.” I went back to twisting my fork in my salad.

“That’s cool,” she said before turning and talking to the girl sitting on the other side of her.

I flipped my fork into my plate and stood up. “I’m going to go say hi to Jenna and Tim,” I whispered close to Jaden’s ear, kissing his cheek and quickly stepping away before he could pull me in for another.

Dumping my tray, I tossed it on top of the bin and, wiping my sweaty hands up and down my thighs, walked toward the table where Jenna sat. I didn’t think Jaden could see Brody from where he was, but I couldn’t be sure. I’d know in about two minutes.

“Hey.” I sat in an empty seat next to Brody.

“Hey back to ya. Aren’t you living life on the wild side by sitting here?” Brody asked.

“A little. I don’t think he can see this part of the table from where he is. Or that he’s even paying attention.”

“Ah.” Brody nodded, looking down. He let his arm slip from where it rested on the table’s top. His hand brushed across my thigh before he propped it on his knee. My eyes darted to his; he was watching me through his lashes, a small grin touching his lips. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs out in front of him.

“So what’s happening on the other side of the world?” Jenna asked.

“Apparently, I eat too much dressing on my salad because, like, it has, like, a million calories and, like, fat.” I imitated her voice, bobbing my head back and forth. “And I should workout more because, according to Jaden, moving little chess pieces around a board is all I do… or something like that.” I rolled my eyes.

“Like, really?”

I laughed. “Like, yes. And, predictably, as soon as chess was mentioned, her eyes glazed over and she started talking to someone else.”

“That’s, like, too bad,” Tim said with a laugh.

“Like, I think I’ll, like, put that on a T-shirt. Wanna go to the mall?” I looked at Jenna.

“No. I’m done being your enabler. If you want any more of those crazy T-shirts, you’ll have to get them by yourself.” Jenna shook her head.

Brody chuckled, twirling a straw on the table.

“Eh, whatever. I’ll break you before the day is over. You’ll be begging to go to the mall with me. Begging.” I leaned back in my chair, pulled my knees up to my chest, and wrapped my arms around them.

“You’re delusional.” Jenna looked away.

“Okay. You’ll be home doing homework while I’m browsing the clearance racks.”