The Bad Boy Theory (Radish)

2. Using Disarming Weaponry

CHAPTER 2

Using Disarming Weaponry

"He turned you down?" Ruby asked, hands on her waist.

"Yep." I grabbed another tissue. I was blowing my nose and walking the Road of Acceptance while sitting on my friends' living room couch. If that wasn't badass, I didn't know what was.

"But this isn't right." Ruby's expression was a mixture of annoyed and even more annoyed. She started pacing in front of Erin's Pilates mattress. "How could I be so wrong?"

"What's more important—you being wrong or Alex not getting the guy?" Erin asked.

"I hope you're not hinting that I make everything about me, because that's totally not true," Ruby declared.  

Erin raised her eyebrows. 

Ruby cleared her throat. "Anyway, it's just that I rooted for him, you know? I don't do that often, and when I do I'm usually right!" She did a little flamboyant hand-wave and pushed her teal how-could-anyone-ever-look-better-than-me Chanel glasses up her nose, just as I heard my phone buzz.

My notifications included a newsletter from Silver Sea Care Center, the nursing home I volunteered at, a confirmation e-mail from Mark, the awesome hat lover that arranged the tree planting trips I participated in, and a text from one of my friends.

hi sweets! :D we're on campus, where you at? 

I felt Ruby standing over me. I started typing my response to Ava. 

I'm @ the twins' house. News says I asked Lucian out but

"Oh my God, you're not telling Ava he said no!" Ruby huffed. "She'll tell Mindy, Mindy will tell Georgia, and Georgia will tell everyone."

Georgia, the Homecoming Queen herself, was pretty good at circulating news indeed.

"Those three were drooling all over Lucian," Ruby said. "His singling you out had been driving them up the wall."

"Yeah, but they only asked things. They were never mean to me about it."

"Who cares? Now they'll be so sickeningly pleased!"

I smirked. "You're taking this way too seriously."

"It is serious though, it's—"

"The world's not gonna come to an end because I won't get to fondle Lucian Nyx and satisfy my curiosity about his mysteries, Ruby," I said, snorting. "Therefore, no, I won't be lying or avoiding mentioning what happened like it's some sort of secret I'm embarrassed about."

Ruby gasped, ethical—or egotistical—offense written all over her face. "But you're the only one he's ever paid attention to! What about your awesome pride?"

"My awesome pride, as you said, has survived the hit because I'm looking at the bright side of the situation: the fact that his no has given me something that resembles a closure." Something that resembles a closure, because I was still walking the Road of Acceptance—let us not forget about that.

"Ugh, it's like Nyx is out of the equation and your level head is back with a bang." Ruby pouted. "This is not normal, you know. Your genuine occasional maturity is a weird thing, it's offensive to all everyday dramatic teenagers out there, and I hate it."

"Don't you worry, Alex—I love it," Erin piped up, grinning.

"And now I hate you both," Ruby stated, both Erin and I snickered, and then I finished texting Ava.

Later that night, after I returned to campus, Ava, along with Georgia and Mindy, knocked on my dorm's door. When I answered, Mindy twirled inside and wrapped around my neck the pashmina I'd lent to her last week. It was clean and ironed, smelling like vanilla—same as the cupcakes Ava had brought for us to share. As we munched on them, Georgia noticed that Cien Años De Soledad was on my nightstand and asked to borrow the English version, which I'd mentioned to her the other day.