Lip Gloss And Leather Jackets || Completed

ONE || A Video Of A Very Unflattering Situation

ONE || A Video Of A Very Unflattering Situation

Jaxon Lincoln isn't just bad. He's the worst.

Way back when in elementary school we used to be friends, but not anymore. I don't know why I put up with him, how I managed to put up with him. He's loud, annoying, unfunny, and... incredibly smart. Why such a horrible kid manages to get straight As, I don't know. But he does.

That's why when he walks up to me on the courtyard, holding up his phone, chest puffed out like he's the lord of the universe, I know something bad is happening. Or at least, about to happen. My eyes instinctively dart to the right, trying to avoid looking at that shiny screen, but in the end I have to, if I want him to leave me alone.

The video is horrific, and as soon as my mouth drops open, Jaxon smirks. It's grainy, but I can tell what's happening, and it's awful. It must've been from three years ago, in seventh grade, at my thirteenth birthday. I think I must've eaten way too much fondant, because it came right back up in front of all my friends.

I suddenly regret inviting Jaxon to that party.

As soon as the video ends and the vomiting noises and squealing stop, Jaxon leans to the left to peer at me from behind his gigantic iPhone. "Remember this, Angel?" He grins at me like an arrogant shark. An arrogant shark I wish someone would make shark fin soup out of. The thought of removing his limbs and leaving him to die calms me down. "Do you think they'll call you Vomit Girl?"

"What do you want, Lincoln?" I cross my arms and try my best to look scary, which is tough, because I'm barely over five feet.

"Lincoln? Really, Angel? We used to be friends." I grit my teeth and flatten my eyebrows. My signature stop shitting me face. "Okay, geez! You look like a bull. Chill. I just want to make a bet, that's all." He raises his phone higher and waves it around as my eyebrows reach impossible heights. "Just a silly little bet, you know?"

But I doubt it's silly, or little. I'm pretty sure that if I lose, the results will be devastating. That's Jaxon. At first, he might seem harmless and annoying, but in reality he uses all those smarts to tear down people who hate him, or he hates. He's ruthless, and he uses his brightness to get what he wants or see what he wants to see.

He waves his phone again, like his hand is a ride at Disney Land. "You got into the tutoring competition, yes?"

I nod. Every year, our high school holds a tutoring competition. People can enter their names on a slip of paper in a box outside the student council office. They choose the top five smartest students and make them tutor the students with the lowest grades, whom they call understudies - 'Stud' for short (pronounced 'stood' - it's meant to be funny or ironic, I think). The tutor whose Stud gets the highest marks in the year-end exam wins. I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is to us.

It is a very, very big deal to us.

Which is why it's a very big deal to me that I win this year. Jaxon and I both got in, among other people. I'm going to beat him and earn that basket of delicious, delicious chocolates. I'm going to make him wish he never entered. "Well..." He continues. "Let's have a wager. If I win, and my Stud is smarter than yours, then I release this video. And what atrocious impact would that have on your reputation, Angel? If you win, I delete the video, and let you be valedictorian. How 'bout that?"

If that video is released, my name will be torn to tatters. No one will like me and I'll have no friends to turn to, and they'll probably put it in my yearbook. Angel Gracelynn: Vomit Girl. I spot a loophole in his plans. "What if neither of us wins? We aren't the only tutors in this competition, you know." I wouldn't be surprised if he thought that. His egoism probably overpowers his intelligence.