Best Friends Forever

15

The past week of school passed in a flurry of gossip and drama. The aftermath of Brad's party had left the entire student body with enough to talk about for the rest of the year. At first, I thought I was lucky enough that whatever happened at the party would stay at the party, but it wasn't until Friday that I realized how wrong I was.

I was standing by my locker alone, grabbing my things for the next class and waiting for Lucas and Jason to come back from the cafeteria. I was scrolling through my Instagram when someone bumped into me, making me drop my phone.

"I'm so sorry, Leila," a male voice said. "I didn't see you there."

Looking up, I was immediately annoyed to see Brad there, standing with two other guys from the soccer team. Rolling my eyes at him, I bent over to pick up my phone, then slammed my locker and walked away.

As I was leaving, I overheard one of Brad's friends. "Dude, I can't believe you chose Addy over Leila fucking Anderson."

"Dude, I know. She was just all over me, and it was kind of a turn off," I heard Brad say.

Unable to control my annoyance, I whipped back around and gave a sarcastic laugh. "That's funny, Brad. That's not what you were saying when you were begging me to give you the time of day on Friday."

He seemed taken off guard, but recovered quickly. "Look, if you're still so interested, I'll give you a shot."

"Ew, no thanks. The last thing I want is some community dick that's been passed around the whole school," I snapped back.

His friends started laughing, but immediately shut up when Brad glared at them. "You couldn't get this dick. I'd rather give it to your hot ass mom, what a total MILF."

And just like that, he had stooped to a level I couldn't forgive. "Don't fucking talk about my mom, you piece of shit."

The situation was about to escalate far further than I had ever expected it to. How did me rejecting him turn into him spreading rumors about me and saying derogatory things about my mom? I wanted to stand my ground and cuss him out, but nothing I would say could change anything. He was controlling the narrative, and honestly why should I care? People could think I was desperate all they wanted, and how would that affect me?

I was still deciding on what to do when I heard Lucas's voice behind me. "Hey, Lei," he said. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah, everything is fine," I said, taking a deep breath to calm myself down. "Brad was just leaving."

"Hey, Lucas," Brad said, a complete change in tone as he went from slimy to friendly. Brad knew he couldn't alienate Lucas, he was one of the team's best offensive linesmen. "I was just saying hi to Leila. See you at practice later."

They walked away, and immediately I felt better. When they were out of sight, Lucas turned to look at me. "Is everything really okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry. Nothing I can't handle."

"If you want Jason and I to talk to him about leaving you alone-"

"No, no. It's fine. He's harmless, just an idiot."

"If you change your mind, just tell me."

"Okay. Thanks, Lukey," I smiled at him.

"I got you a cranberry white chocolate scone from the cafeteria," he said, holding out the baked good for me.

"Oh my god," I said, grabbing the pastry from him. Those scones were my favorite, but the cafeteria barely ever made them. Finding them was like finding treasure. "Thank you! You're the best."