Temporarily Mine

18

JOSEPHINE

Snack bag in hand, I drop beside Mandy on the blanket. "Where are the girls?"

"They went to the vending machines to get us drinks really quick. Here." She hands me a sub sandwich. "Felix's mom dropped off a bunch of sandwiches for us."

"Awesome." I set it in my lap, pulling some pretzels from our bag while Mandy chooses Hot Fries.

"Turkey and avocado, hold the cheese, Jo," Felix shouts from where he and the boys are, a picnic table a few feet over.

I laugh, lifting it up in thanks.

Hero's eyes tighten but when I tilt my head, not looking away, his lips twitch and he turns his attention back to his friends.

"You guys are so cute." Mandy smiles.

Kathrine  and Cassie walk up right then, lowering to the blanket.

"For you, my dear." Cassie sets a blue Gatorade in front of me.

"Thank you."

Kathrine  passes Mandy a soda. "So." She peeks toward the guys quickly. "I told you I'd find out, and I did."

"Find out what?" Cassie asks, filling her sandwich with potato chips.

"I found out why Hero and Jackie broke up." Her eyes cut to mine.

My muscles tense, but I try to hide it. "Tell me."

Kathrine  is a bit of a gossip mill, mainly just for us, but if she got the details, she made sure to confirm them first.

Her hesitation has me on edge.

"Out with it, Kathrine ." Mandy rolls her eyes, tugging her mini jean jacket off.

Kathrine  nods, leaning closer. "So you know how Hero and Jackie had that fight at Felix's bonfire over the summer?" She doesn't wait for a response but keeps talking. "Apparently H found out Jackie had fucked someone else."

"But they'd broke up for the ten-thousandth time the week before that, right?" Cassie asks.

My eyes slide to hers.

"Yeah, who cares." Mandy shrugs. "He can't get mad after the fact."

He can if he still has feelings for her and that's what all this is really about.

Kathrine  shakes her head. "The fight was because he found out the entire reason she broke it off with him when she did, was to try and hide that she fucked someone else earlier that morning."

My mouth drops open. "Wait, so she cheated, then broke up with him right after, all so later she could claim it wasn't cheating?"

"Exactly, she was hoping to play it off like she hoed-out after the split if he ever found out, when really she cheated, then broke up with him hours later." Kathrine  takes a quick bite of her sub. "I guess she showed up to the bonfire in the hopes of getting back with H, tried to use her planned excuse, but I guess he told her he knew what she did before she even broke it off with him. He was waiting for her to admit it."

"And then he told her to fuck off," Mandy adds, remembering the tail end of the fight a large group of us happened to walk up on.

"Wow." Cassie chuckles. "Girl needs to have some class and stay away."

"She needs to stay away period," Mandy snaps, then smiles all dreamy-like. "He's Josephine's now."

I give a tight chuckle, quickly covering it by taking a drink.

Kathrine  eyes me and I slowly screw the lid back on the bottle.

"What?" I draw out.

"I sort of... sugar-coated part of the story..." Kathrine  says slowly, pulling her lips back to show her teeth.