Queen of Nothing

3. Pretty Girls Don't Cry

Katie's mouth hung open as I recounted the details of the previous night, "So she was just...staring at you?" 

"Yeah," I whisper-screamed, as I slid my AP Economics book back into my locker, "It was so fucking weird, like is she spending all her time staring through his window or something?" 

Zara approached, wearing an all-denim outfit that made me want to gouge my eyeballs out, "Guys are we going to Logan's thing tonight?"

Katie and I exchanged a look. 

M: What the hell is that outfit? 

K: It's not THAT bad. 

M: It's fucking horrific.

K: Don't say anything 

M: I can't 

K: I'm begging you

"Zara, I have to say that is one god-awful outfit," I eyed the ensemble, from her denim pants to her denim vest, to the denim jacket and even the denim beret, "can you even wear hats in school?"

Her face fell, "I was trying something new, plus Gordon says it's in." 

I gave her a look of horror, "Since when is Gordon the authority on fashion?" 

"He's gay," Zara retorted.

"I don't think that means that you go to him of all people for fashion advice," I dug through the back of my locker, trying to feel around for the long sleeve I'd stashed a couple months ago when Cole and I hooked up on campus. 

"Mahi!" I whipped around. Great. It was Lola with Lily in tow, who was averting her gaze away from me with such a severe angle that I was surprised her head hadn't unhinged off her neck. 

"Hi Lola," I smiled, ignoring Lily completely. 

"I was wondering if you were going to Cole's thing? I was hoping to get some fashion advice, because, you know, you're usually the best dressed. Like that red top you wore yesterday, that was so cute, I was trying to thrift something similar, but-" 

"We're going!" I cut her off, already exhausted with her incessant jabber. 

"Oh, amazing, so can I maybe send you some outfit options later today?" Lola started, which I made a great effort to ignore. 

Lily was still staring off into the distance stonily, and when I followed her gaze, alarms started sounding off in my head. Cole was approaching, with his friends Dean and Jordanin tow. 

Cole noticed her immediately, and his face lost all humor, looking highly peeved. I should have been in flames by now, setting the corridor on fire, something. Inside, I had turned an ugly shade of violet, jealousy beating wildly against my chest. 

I'd seen Cole flirt with girls, girls he didn't plan on seeing for a very long time, and it looked a lot different than this. He never got bugged, never got irritated. So what was it about Lily Hayes that had him in a funk? 

"Here comes terror triad," Katie sang, her gaze lingering on Dean for a moment longer. I took a mental note of the instance, tucking it away for future reference. I had always assumed that Katie was strictly into girls, but the way she eyed Dean from time to time had me thinking otherwise. Dean was attractive too, with a debonair set of good looks and even better charm. A natural flirt, we had hooked up once freshman year, when Cole and I were on the "outs."

While I didn't bother myself with the intricacies of football, I knew that these three were some of the best in the sport, and also unfortunately inseparable. Some had made it their mission to bed all three, and much to my distaste, many had gotten pretty far. Although it wasn't much of a challenge bedding the campus man whores. I'd never shared the enthusiasm nor did I participate in applauding these three and their Casanova ways, even though I was shacking up with their leader.