Underneath

8

delilah

It was the end of the school day and Delilah was beyond exhausted. She couldn't seem to shake off the humiliation and failure she felt from her encounter with Hunter at lunch. All she wanted to do was go home and smoke a joint while listening to mellow music.

Delilah stopped by her navy blue locker. She could see Emma Williams approaching her from the corner of her eye. "Uh oh. Your boobs are overflowing out of your shirt. Who's the victim this time?"

"What?"

"Your boobs. There're practically out of your shirt and in my face. You only do that when you want something from a guy," Emma said pointedly, flipping her long soft brown hair behind her shoulders. Her indigo eyes bored into Delilah's, waiting for an answer.

"That's not true," Delilah said, crossing her arms defensively.

"Oh please, Delilah. I know all your tricks. We've known each other since what -- the second grade?" Emma crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow in silent inquiry.

Delilah let out a small laugh. She had forgotten that hardly anything ever got by Emma without her noticing. She pulled out her red English binder from the top shelf of her locker and turned towards Emma.

"Remember how I dealt to Parker yesterday?" Delilah asked. " You, Parker, Noah, Aria, and Mia were all there. The only person there that wasn't our friend was Hunter."

"Hunter?"

"The guy with the brown curly hair." Delilah adjusted her striped v-neck top to cover her up cleavage. The last thing she needed right now was more attention on herself.

"Oh yeah, the random guy at our table. Things were so intense between Parker and Hunter that I seriously thought there was going to be fight."

"Right? Normally when Parker confronts a guy that who isn't our friend, they back down immediately," Delilah said. She bent down and shoved her binder into her yellow JanSport backpack.

"Wait, his name is Hunter? Why does his name sound so familiar?" Emma scrunched her freckled nose, deep in thought.

Delilah shrugged as she closed her locker. "To be honest, I didn't even know who he was until yesterday."

"Oh, I know!" Emma's eyebrows rose in concern. "His mom used to be friends with my mom before she moved away. Delilah, his dad is Lieutenant Ellis down at the police station."

"No. Way." Delilah exclaimed sharply. Did she hear correctly? His dad was the lieutenant? The one who conducted the investigation against her? Emma looked at Delilah, the worry lines on her forehead deepening. Delilah's jaw dropped and a panicked look spread across her tan face. "Are you sure? Oh my god Emma, I'm so screwed."

"Wait, you weren't able to convince him not to tell anyone?" Emma asked, surprise seeping into her voice. "I've never seen a guy reject you."

"No! He didn't want anything from me."

Emma gasped for a moment and her hand instinctively covered her mouth. Delilah tried to shrug it off, but she could feel her face growing warm. This was even more embarrassing to talk about.