Tom and Lacey stood by the door, both watching Sadey complain and give her reasons why it was necessary she went with them. Tom couldn't help smiling at how cute Sadey looked as she spoke, her big pleading eyes making him give in. He looked at Lacey who just kept shaking her head. Her will was stronger than his when it came to Sadey apparently. " I'll tell mom." "What? Why would you do that? This is supposed to be our secret." Tom said. "We might not be back till past your bed time. It's a school night and mother would be worried if she gets back and you're not here." "She'll be worried about you too and you get to go." She stamped her feet whining. "It's also a school night.""What if we get you something. Would you like that instead? What do you want?" Tom's suggestion had her excited. "Umm... choc- no! Ice cream." "There's ice cream here." He glared at Lacey, wondering why she would say that. "It's vanilla. I want strawberry flavou
"Toby!" Sawyer called out when his father's assistant walked through the door. Tom raised his eyes over his phone for a second and went right back to texting. "Hey! You got the suits." Why is Sawyer so excited? He looked up again and noticed the black suits Toby held in each hand. "What's going on?""You're attending a gala tonight." Toby replied. "Your father can't make it, so you would both be attending in his place." "Finally. I know why you're here." Tom stood up from the couch. "Well, you weren't answering dad's calls. He needed to know how you were and this just kills two birds with one stone. It's not a bad thing." "I never said it was. You should have told me. What time is this thing?" He asked Toby. "In two hours.""You still have time to do nothing." Sawyer elbowed Tom lightly, took his suit from Toby and headed towards the stairs. Tom sighed and followed after him. The boys stepped out of the car and headed up stai
Lacey slammed her door shut. What the hell was that? Standing in the middle of her room, she flexed her fingers and looked around, with Marvin's words repeating in her head over and over again. Making her grow hot with rage. Why on earth would he say that? That was his problem? But right now, she didn't want to be alone. She called Tom. "Hey. Can I come over?" There was no controlling the anger in her voice. "Yeah. Is everything okay?""No." She didn't want to vent or cry. She just wanted to be with someone who would comfort her without words. "Should I come pick you up?" He sounded concerned.She had no intention of telling him any of what had happened in the last ten minutes. Again all she wanted was to be around someone. Him to be specific. "No. I'll be there on my own." She adjusted her large t-shirt and leggings and rushed out the room. "The least she could do is defend herself." She heard Marvin say. "Lacey won't. She won't because
Tate's legs shook anxiously as he watched Lacey doing whatever it was she was doing. The fact that for days she had been giving him the slip and when he finally did get her to talk to him she just blurted at most four words and left was getting very annoying and frustrating. Yet no matter how many times he told himself to stop, he just couldn't. It may be frustrating, but it was what he wanted, a girl he would spend more time going after than he usually would. "She's really getting to you isn't she?" George's point brought him out of his thoughts. "It's not just me she's avoiding. I'm practically being treated the way Dennis is treated. She's like-" "Diana." David completed. "Remember how Bradley and Christopher both wanted to take her to prom and turns out Darin was hooking up with her?" "Maybe she has a Darin." George added.Tate shook his head. "She hasn't mentioned the boyfriend so I doubt it." He faced the boys. "Damn it! It's like she's this rear thin
While Dennis had retreated to come up with a new strategy, Lacey only had to deal with Tate. Rejecting him in front of his friends had been kind of funny, considering the way his friends reacted. And Dennis, the words she had used when he said they technically were still together always brought a smile to her face. It probably wasn't the the best she could have said, but it was good enough for her and good enough the make him keep his distance. It was easy for her to ignore the stares and little whispers, especially since she never heard what they who decided to make her a topic of their conversations were saying. Abby and her friends on the other hand always had impeccable timing on when to approach her and give a snarky remark. The good part about the remarks was that it was hardly ever about Dennis or Tate. She had a feeling those would come up soon. Aside from the burnt house, during classes were the only times she was sure that no one would bother her. Unfortunately,
Tom's hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as Tate walked up to the car with Lacey beside him. Tate opened the back door for Lacey and shut it before going to the passenger's side. It took all control for Tom not to make eye contact with her. Tate introduced her to Misty who was sitting at the back with her and introduced her to Tom who waved a little and kept his hands on the wheel. His action making things look a little awkward. Misty sat directly behind Tom and Lacey sat behind Tate. As their two hour drive to Tate's father's cabin began, Tom couldn't help wondering if he would get to talk to Lacey at all. "Lacey right?" Misty asked, Lacey nodded. "You're so quiet." She assessed her. Lacey had on grey palazzo trousers. "So you wear gypsy skirts at school and stuff like this at home." Lacey nodded with a smile. "My mom wouldn't let me be caught passed out in any kind of gypsy skirt. But it's cool that you get to wear stuff like this. The skirt thing is cool too. I don
Misty sat next to Tom. Both watching Lacey quietly walk into the kitchen. Where Ronnie was making dinner. "Looks like she decided she's ready." "Looks like." Tom adjusted in his winged chair as he spoke. "You think I need to dress like her and act like her to get his attention?" Tom smirked at Misty. "I thought your mother wouldn't let you be caught dead in gypsy skirts." "Seriously Tom." She hissed. "Isn't it obvious that she's the first girl he's given this much attention to?" Tom looked towards the kitchen, turned back to her and shrugged. "Did you try telling him how you feel?" She ran her hand through her hair. "Like any of you would take any girl seriously if she came out and said she has a thing for you." "This is about you and him. Not any of us. If you're not going to tell him, how do you expect him to know and find out if he feels the same way?" She shrugged. Does he even know what he's talking about? But he did know
Lacey came out of the shower with a towel wrapping her. She made her way to her locker. She blinked once when she saw it was open. She rushed towards it and looked inside. She saw her top first. Picking it up, pieces of the grey fabric fell to the ground. Shocked and confused, she examined it. There were holes in it. She grabbed her skirt and it was the same. Her clothes had been cut. Her forehead creased, her breathing slowly deepened. What the heck it this? She looked up from the mess and looked around. Abby stood with her hands on her hips. A triumphant smile on her face. "Isn't it about time you dressed a little different? We decided to help and speed it along." She tilted her head. Her friends laughing behind her. She held up the scissors. "How do you expect to keep Tate in those rags." She laughed. "I would look for a better word. But they were just as much rags as they are now." Lacey's grip on her skirt tightened. "Your gym clothes were all sweaty. So we took care of tho
How dare he? How dare he look at her after what he did? The sight of Dennis made her angry. Not to mention the fact that he was looking at her from where he sat, three tables away. Even if he looked remorseful. Remembering him groaning in pain when she pressed his ribs was enough to make her smile a little and keep the anger away. Tom slipped his arm round her waist, snapping her out of her thoughts. She looked at him and smiled, remembering that she was with him and his friends. The bell for the next classes to begin was rung and the boys stood up. Tom winked at her before he left with them. They had classes but she didn't, yet. Watching them leave, she was nearly startled when Dennis took a seat across from her. Her hands gripped the side of her chair. "I'm sorry. Lacey I'm so sorry." He rushed his words. Thinking she would leave before he got a chance to talk. "I snapped. I shouldn't have, but I did. I saw you with him the day before and I couldn't take it." Lacey's
"So." Marvin broke the silence that had taken over since Lacey called Darin. He looked at Darin who's eyes were closed. "Are you upset you weren't there to help her?" "No. It's about time she started handling things herself. Even if she only handled part of it." He unlocked his phone and sent a text. "Who is this guy anyway?" It was taking a lot to keep his anger in check. Unlike Darin who was exceptionally calm, though his forehead was creased. "Her ex boyfriend. The one who cheated." "That piece of shit kid?!" There was no hiding it there. Darin nodded, his phone buzzing. He got a reply. When his phone rang, he picked up instantly. Not knowing who was calling. "Count yourself lucky that I wasn't there to rip you apart." The raspy rage full voice made him shiver, eyes widening in terror. Dennis looked around the room like the person on the phone was with him. "Who is this?" "You should have left her a
Hands on her hips, a stern look on her face and her friends beside her, she watched Jody walking down the hall among other students. "Jody right?" She got the girl's attention. A smirk taking over the stern look. "Yeah?" Jody walked up to them."You're the witch's friend aren't you?" "I don't know any witch.""Ugh! Lacey." She rolled her eyes. "Oh! I said friend. But that's not remotely true." "What do you mean by that?" Jody folded her arms. "I am Lacey's friend." "You don't have to play that game with me.""I'm not playing." She scoffed. "Yeah. Sure. But, you did see me and my friends by her locker. I know that for a fact." "What are you talking about?""I'm not buying the fake innocence. She saw you" She pointed at one of the girls beside her. "Look at us getting into Lacey's locker, she saw you walk away." Jody wanted to speak, she cut her off. "The day the witch had that locker room incident." J
He didn't hear from Lacey after school and he didn't call her. Instead, he thought he needed to talk to someone older than him to make sense of everything. After all, she's upset with him and he's upset with her. No sense whatsoever. But when Sawyer rubbed his face, and shook his head, he couldn't help wondering why. He just heard the whole story and that was his reaction. Shaking his head and now a chuckle? He was quickly regretting his choice. "I wonder why I didn't just zone out when you started talking." Tom glared at Sawyer's face on his phone. "You're an idiot Tom. You know that?" "What?" "Maybe I should date her. And you stopped therapy." "What is it?!" His patience wearing thin, he chose to ignore those comments. "What did she tell you?" "The therapist?" "No! Lacey. When she said she didn't want Tate or the school to know about you guys, what was her reason?" His forehead creased. "Opinions. Something about opinions. What ab
After not particularly enjoying the party, since his mind was filled with thoughts of opposites and things in common, he went home. The silence of the house could have been soothing if he wasn't so consumed by what the two girls had said to him. The more he thought about it, he got restless. So he called Lacey. She picked on the first ring. "You are lucky I'm awake." "Damn it! I didn't even think of that." He clicked his tongue and rubbed his forehead. "How was it?" "It was okay. A lot of people asked about you. Kept telling them you were busy." "Wouldn't they expect me to be out with you next time?" "Then I'll tell them something else." He didn't wait for her to reply. "We're different." That wasn't how he wanted to bring it up. "Of course we're different. I'm a girl, you're a boy." "No. I mean, like we have nothing in common." "Ohhhh! Someone put it in your head didn't they? You're a little late to this party."
How hard could it be to pay attention in class? Cory shook his legs impatiently, trying desperately not to call out to his friend and tell him what he had heard. When the bell finally rung and students got to their feet, he wanted to go to him and report the news. But damn it they were still in class and who knows who might hear what. When they were out of class, he went to him. Joe following behind them, as if he knew something was up. Almost every time they talked they had to look over their shoulders, and this time was no different. After all, they started a fire that could have spread further than it had. "They aren't searching for anyone." Cory blurted out. They each looked around, though students were walking all around, in their own worlds. Who would care to listen to their conversation? "What are you talking about?" Their friend asked, Joe listened with crossed arms. "The fire." He whispered the phrase. "They aren't searching for a culprit." Co
"Enjoying the table Lacey?" She planted her hands on her hips. The group fell silent. Lacey cast her eyes down. It's all part of the getting it over with process right? "You had these two fighting." Abby stated. "So in the end I was right. I heard you've been together for a while. She did steal you from me!" The students around heard that. Tom scoffed. "It was after the kiss in front of the class." "So what? You are under her spell!" Everyone definitely heard that. "The little witch!" Of course he was under her spell. He's crazy about her. "Did you hear me say it was after the kiss in front of the class?" Tom got up, jaw clenched, clearly getting angry. "Do I need to repeat it?" "Bu-" "It was after the kiss in front of the class!" He yelled. He too knows how to get everyone's attention. Lacey bent her head to hide her smile. "You know very well why I broke up with you. So this crap has to stop. It is for the sake of your reputation that none of u
He hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Tom yet. He saw the videos and heard it from the guys but he hadn't talked to him yet. Seeing them standing there like he hadn't been asking her out weeks ago made him so angry. So angry at the thought of Tom doing this to him. Ready to hit something, something he had been waiting to do since he found out, he slammed his locker shut and stumped over to the new couple by Lacey locker. Tom saw him and his smile faded away. "Good. You see me. That's a perfect reaction." Tate punched him. Tom bent over, holding his left side below his ribs where the punch had landed. "You took her right from under me!" He went in for another punch but Tom dodged it, still bending. A crowd was forming. Lacey had stepped back. "She's not yours to take!" Tate hit him again. Tom can't fight his best friend. Not when his reason for being angry is right... ish. "You knew. You knew I- and you do this?!" He hit him. Over and over while the stude
Lacey pulled out the band that held her hair up the moment they drove away from the school. Becket glanced at her, worried. "Are you okay?" She was hiding her feelings again. Looking out the window, she answered, "No." She felt numb. The entire school had watched her call for Tom and then seen them together. Why had she shouted? She could have just called his cell phone. Now they aren't a secret anymore. The whole school really should have burnt down. With Lacey gone, all eyes were on him. It didn't help that of course, a few phones were out and obviously there are now many videos and photos of them. The silent crowd was beginning to chatter. Unlike Lacey, he could handle the crowd. He held his head high and walked back to his car. He looked at Shocked David and George standing in front of his car watching him and spoke before they could. "Move." "Dude wh-" "Move. Don't make me ask again." He cut George off. Damn it. He wanted everyone to