𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐘

[07] Naughty Things

n a u g h t y  t h i n g s
COVEY'S POV:

At lunch on Wednesday, someone boops my shoulder and I jump. "Woah, don't do that," I say when I'm met face to face with blue-eyed Venice.

He laughs, sliding in next to me. "God, you're still reading that shit?"

"It's not the s word," I mumble, marking my page and putting the book down. "Besides, I'm talking to a piece of an s word right now."

"Fuck, you don't cuss?" he asks, lifting an eyebrow. "What are you, a child of god or some shit?" Um, hello mister, you're dropping a bunch of curse bombs right now.

"No, I'm just an angel," I remark, batting my eyelashes innocently. "I just don't think my personality matches curse words." My fingers start fidgeting and I intertwine them to hinder my movements.

"Sorry about Kayley the other day," he says softly, looking around the common room. "She's my sister's best friend and gets a little protective sometimes."

I let out a tiny 'awe' and say, "Oh my, what if she's in love with you? That'd be so sweet!"

Venice tightens his jaw, running a hand through his hair before shaking his head at me. "No, Covey, she's not in love with me. My sister would kill me."

I shrug. "Forbidden love is the best kind of all."

"Where'd you hear that from?" he asks, looking at me intensely as if he's trying to figure me out.

"I don't know, sometimes I just come up with these one-liners," I say, smiling. "Like 'holy dino chicken nuggets,' 'snizzle crackers,' 'coco puff,'" I let my sentence trail off for a second, thinking about my Coco Puff. His dark gray eyes, deep voice, black hair, his laugh—woah, shut the front door. 

"Of course you do," Venice says, breaking me of my thoughts. Thank the dinos.

"Besides," I say, holding up the book. "That's like one of the biggest themes in The Great Gatsby. Gatsby's undying love for a married woman, his love of fantasies, of money, of expectations. Maybe you'll understand that when you read your SparkNotes or whatever."

He considers my words for a minute before saying, "You surprise me, Covey."

"I'm like that, I guess."

He taps the table a few times as if contemplating a thought and then says, "Hey, wanna come chill with a couple of my friends right now?"

I eye him warily, unsure. "I don't know if that's a good idea—"

"C'mon, don't be shy," he teases lightly.

"I'm not shy, just a little socially awkward," I mumble, pouting. "That's all."

He stands and grabs my arms to pull me up. "You'll be fine, the guys are cool."

Venice walks us across the common room to one of the corners of the area where there were a few guys talking. "Sup West, Landon, Tyler." He fist bumps the guys. "This is Covey, she's in Creative Writing with me."

Holy dino chicken nuggets they're buff. I give them a tiny wave and flash my signature smile their way. "Hey guys, bros, dudes—wassup?" There, I think I did good.

They all start cracking up, clutching onto each other's shoulder for support. The guy with dark skin and afro hair says, "I like this girl."

"Yeah, well this girl you like is already taken," I inform them with a hand on my hip.