Jealousy Best Served Devious (Clash Of Cliches Book 1)

Chapter 8- A Family Affair

Chapter Eight

A Family Affair

I caught up with Janessa and Shelly in the lunch line later on, barged in between them and grabbed the tray Janessa handed me. We do this all the time. Usually, however, our little routine is never interrupted by giggling fits from Janessa.

"I can't believe you said what you said and Mr. Perfect was standing right behind you!" Janessa spluttered, her shoulders shaking with laughter. My lips tightened as I shot a surly look at her. "Do you know how hilarious that is?"

I glared at Shelly too, and she had the decency to look embarrassed. "Ain't nothing sacred anymore," I mumbled loud enough for her to hear. Her dusky cheeks flushed guiltily. A disinterested lunch lady filled our trays and told us to keep it moving, which we did. Once we got to our preferred table and sat down, I turned to Janessa, who was still laughing, and said "Yuk it up, Nessa. At least you're not the one who has to face Ryder in Science class."

Oh, the shame.

Ever since I opened my big fat mouth and spewed that line full of fail, I'd been avoiding Ryder. And not in a discrete manner, either. More like a 'when I see him I run fast in the opposite direction' type of avoiding.

The Avoidance of Ryder had already almost gotten me into trouble with my English Lit. teacher, who had been explaining that I had 'completely missed the point of your last assignment'. I was just asking him if everything else about the assignment had been okay when I spotted Ryder over a sophomore's head and took off. To make matters worse, it seemed that every time he saw me, he wanted to talk to me.

Or maybe I'm just being paranoid.

I hoped I was. I didn't relish dealing with Ryder before I came up with a foolproof lie to clear my name, but so far the only thing I could come up with was 'I was talking about another Ryder.' Yeah, I know- super-duper lame.

Still giggling, Janessa gave me a clap on the back. Unfortunately, Janessa works out, so that 'clap on the back' hurt. "Oh, cheer up," she wheedled. "Look on the bright side! Hey, it could always be-."

I put up a finger to stop her talking. "If you say it could always be worse I will kill you."

"You gotta admit, you were totally in the right. After all, you were just saying what was on your mind at that particular moment," Shelly put in. "I'm just not sure why you were lying since it's pretty obvious to everyone that your world revolves around Ryder but-."

She shrugged. I rolled my eyes, spooning a mouthful of coleslaw into my mouth. "Whatever."

Silently, Shelly pointed to my closed English Lit. notebook. My face heated as I glanced at the doodles saying 'Makayla Jefferson. Mrs. M Jefferson. Mrs. Ryder Jefferson' .

Oh, come on, you've all done it at some point!

I stuffed my notebook into my bag, out of sight of prying eyes, as Shelly continued.

"And Ryder was just plain wrong for eavesdropping."

"He wasn't eavesdropping!" I shook my head vehemently. "He was just- walking down the hall!"

Yeah, that's it. He was just walking down the hall and he just happened to hear me mention his name, so he stopped to listen. That's exactly what happened.

"So what was he doing standing behind you and me?" Shelly was really enjoying her role as Grand Inquisitor. "We were practically leaning against your locker when we were talking to Tyler, remember?"

You mean when I was supposed to be talking to Tyler. I narrowed my eyes balefully at her. Who was she these days?

"He was-," I started, opening my mouth to make a point so poignant that I hadn't even thought about it yet.