FROM THE AWARD-WINNING AUTHORS OF THE CHEATER.FAKER.TROUBLEMAKER SERIES (WATTY'S 2016, FICTION AWARDS 2016, HACHETTE AUDIO 2017), JENNY ROSEN & KRISTEN MAGLONZO.
After bullies, braces, and brutal heartbreak shatters his faith in love, soon-to-be fre...
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CHAPTER 23
Elias
Tanner was wrong.
It's taken me six months, 182 days, and 4,380 hours to prove it.
For a little while, I genuinely believed every word he said about "karma". I begged the Gawker to take down the post until they finally listened. I spent most of my weekends getting wasted, hooking up with randoms, and breaking a lot hearts just to redirect the rumors back to me. I took the spotlight off Trish to the point where now she's barely an afterthought at Mission Bay.
And I did it all for the wrong reasons.
'Cause I did it all for him.
I did it to make Tanner happy--to make him feel like I was still his sad, pathetic Eli who's always apologized for everything. Who's never justified. Who's always wrong.
Even when he's not.
I wasted a whole semester saying I was sorry to a girl who nearly ruined my life.
But looking back now, it turns out that Trish just might've been the best thing that's ever happened to me--'cause thanks to her, I stopped being a loser and started acting like a king.
And the best part about being social royalty is--you basically don't have to follow the rules.
It's second period, I'm twenty minutes late for science class, and I'm more interested in tagging a Sharpie-stained bathroom stall than I am in learning about Alfred Einstein or whatever. Some ninety-minute lecture about a dead dude isn't gonna do me any favors, so I'm trading out Mr. Kissinger's academic iron maiden—for this place.
I've got everything I need in here—a burgundy chalkboard where I can update my hit and quit list, plenty of space to sneak a girl in if the chance arises, and total privacy. This third floor hideaway is one most guys are too lazy to make the climb to piss in, and teachers are too lazy to check.
The only person who probably cares enough to see if I'm ditching class or not is Tanner. Luckily, he's too busy maintaining his new valedictorian status to risk missing out on his precious teacher time just to find me. Win-win situation. Well, almost.
Will I get into trouble for this? Yes. Will getting caught land me in detention again? Absolutely. But that's half the fun. On a good day, detention at Mission Bay's like an episode of Desperate Housewives La Jolla. Girls everywhere. All of them bored—most of them rule breakers—and you'd be amazed what you can get away with when the teacher's not watching—and our teachers never do.
