The Other Girl

Chapter X

"Fuck off, Lasker," Stacey said, shrugging the boy off. "Why don't you go bother someone else?"

"You know you love me, Stacey," Chad replied with a smirk. Such exchanges were common during freshman and sophomore year of uni after Chad took an interest in the opinionated dark-haired freshman whom he had never really paid attention to.

During middle school, Darrien Darner was the boy on Stacey's mind. Darrien Darner was the bad boy that everyone wanted to tie down and call their own. Rude and crass, the boy had more detentions that you can count with all your fingers and toes, but at the end of sophomore year in high school Stacey finally caught and held his interest. The two were "dating" by the start of junior year, and they were inseparable even though their relationship was built primarily off sweet, empty compliments and fantastic, hollow promises.

Their very dramatic and very public breakup during senior year was no surprise, although we were all impressed Stacey managed to hold onto him for so long.

"There are better girls—prettier and skinnier girls who are less clingy and more willing to give me what I want," Darrien had told her one lunch, the courtyard his stage and the school his audience. "And I never liked you anyway."

"Picking on girls nowadays, Darner?" Chad had shouted at the dark-haired boy as tears streamed silently down Stacey's face.

"Wouldn't want to mess up your pretty face, Lasker," Darrien had retorted before storming off. "And Stacey, wipe your face off—you look like a melting raccoon."

His words changed Stacey. No longer did she inquire about how romantic boys were—it was always "Was the sex good?" Or "Is he hot?" She didn't pine for true love anymore either. All middle school girls did in one way or another, for we were all so innocent, so inexperienced.

"Prince Charming?" Stacey would say scathingly as we talked flippantly after a princess movie. "He can go to hell if he's not good in bed."

It was precisely this phrase that represented Chad and Stacey's relationship in the early stages. Stacey wasn't the least bit tied to the "Prince Charming" that saved her from the "Darn Dragon" in the beginning, citing that he must have a small penis since he was rejected by me. After numerous admonishments and denials, she ended up hooking up with him because she "wanted to take his hot bod out for a spin."

Needless to say their official relationship didn't begin until late into sophomore year of college when Stacey finally allowed another male into her walls. Despite their harsh words at times, it's clear that they loved each other on some level. After Chad found Stacey, he slept around significantly less; Stacey no longer frequented parties and clubs for one-night stands, not that she'd ever admit it. I think despite all her nonchalance about their relationship, Chad really has won her over—even if just subconsciously.

"You're beautiful," he'd whisper to her sometimes, when he thought no one was listening.

"Am I?" I'd hear her whisper before I could fully exit the room, but the answer was always constant, unchanging:

"You are to me."

---

"Remind me again why we shouldn't bring the boys?" Stacey said, frowning as she flipped through her following on her phone.

"Because they'll hold us up," Karen said simply, rolling her eyes as she polished off her breakfast bagel. The girls had gathered at Quinn's flat to discuss what we should do for the day, which was determined to be shopping.

"I agree," Whitney said, flipping through a magazine. "Quinn, where do you find these magazines?"

"I think they're quite interesting," Quinn defended, a tinge of pink appearing on her cheeks. Her subscriptions went to articles following designers and style trends, which matched with her interest but was easily lost on most people.