Broken and Screwed 2 (BS #2)(9)

I didn’t say a word. I should’ve, but I kept my lips shut. When I heard the bed squeak, I knew she had sat down. Her voice rose higher, shrill now, “Not that Cord and I are dating, but I care about him and you already know that he and I are more than friends. Or, at least, I hope we are. Oh my god. Why am I saying this stuff to a freshman?”

My shoulders stiffened, but I still didn’t say anything. She kept talking and I was surprised, but I went with it. As she laughed at herself, the ball of emotion left my throat. I felt more in control of myself, but I continued to listen to whatever she was going to spill.

“You have to admit, I have reason to be thrown for a loop here. I mean, Cord is on the basketball team. He’s a starter. He’s at the top and here you are, some little girl that waltzes into his house. He drops everything to help you. He doesn’t say a word to me about who you are. He doesn’t explain anything. Cord doesn’t do that. Ever. Not even with me, he doesn’t do that stuff. But you’re someone important to him, obviously. I mean, he’s helping you move in. He wouldn’t even help me move in and he’s done most of the work for you, some freshman. Who the hell are you?”

I whipped around and snapped, fed up, “Ever thought that I’m none of your business? Maybe that’s why he hasn’t ‘explained’ me to you? It’s none of your business.”

She jerked to her feet. Her eyes flashed in anger. “Are you kidding me? Anyone that’s connected to Cord is my business. He’s my boyfriend—”

“Chandra!”

I didn’t register the tone, but I looked up, expecting Cord. I saw another golden beauty instead. This one was even more stunning than Kara. What was it with this school and all the blondes? Kara’s hair had been platinum blonde, but this one was a golden wheat color. Her hair fell down to her waist and she was dressed in similar clothes, with white khaki shorts and a blue polo instead. The material clung to her like a second skin, but it wasn’t tight. It fitted her perfectly. With crystal blue eyes, she could’ve graced the cover of any fashion magazine.

I wasn’t ready for all these girls. Even Chandra was beautiful, though hers was more from her make-up and tanned skin.

All of them looked like sisters.

“Tiff, what are you doing here?” Chandra stumbled over her words.

The girl’s eyes narrowed before they rested on me.

I felt branded. She had scorched me with some meaning behind her gaze. I wasn’t sure what it was, but my skin crawled from it. She didn’t have a good opinion of me. That much I knew, but I had no idea why. She didn’t know a damn thing about me. My head lifted. My shoulders rolled back and I rose to my highest height. For some reason, I didn’t like this girl and she didn’t like me.

She murmured to her friend, but her eyes hadn’t thawed as she stared at me, “I came to check on Kara and see if she needed help with any of the girls. What are you doing here?”

Chandra moved around me to her friend’s side. She gestured to me. “This girl walked in on me and Cord. I was upset and came to cry on Kara’s shoulder.”

The girl, who I knew without a doubt was their leader, frowned. “She walked in on you guys?” She scanned the room. “And she lives here?”

“Yeah.” Chandra seemed miffed about that.

I had no idea why.

“That’s…odd.”

Her entire attitude towards me was odd. I glowered back at her. “Can you two please leave? I need to unpack.”

“No, you don’t.” Cord swept an arm around each of the girls. He squeezed them together and lifted them from the doorway. Chandra squealed, delighted by the attention. The other girl’s eyes widened, startled from the sudden movement. As he deposited them back down, away from my door, he motioned for me. He threw an arm around my shoulder. “Well, little Connors. It’s been riveting. I’ll be seeing you.”

My mouth dropped. That was it?

“Where are you going, Cord?” Chandra spoke up.

He shrugged. “I’ll call you later, Chandra. Family matters first.”

“Family?” The leader’s tone sent chills down my back. Her eyes narrowed as she pierced through me. “Whose family, Cord?”

He stiffened next to me, but forced a carefree chuckle out. “Not my secret to tell, Tiffany. See you later.” He tapped my shoulder. “And you’ll have a package arriving…tonight…” He scrunched up his nose, the nodded to himself. “Yeah, sounds right.”

Before he could leave, Tiffany folded her arms over her chest and stepped forward. “We’ll be seeing you tonight. Did you forget?”

“Oh yeah. Forgot about Jamie’s thing.”

“I’m coming over in an hour to start setting up.”

Her tone sounded casual, but I felt like it was more of a warning. I wasn’t sure if it was to me or Cord, but he lifted a hand before he shot down the back stairway. “Well, see you two in an hour then.”

Chandra’s smile relaxed and she nodded. “Bye Cord.”

One gone. I looked back at both of the girls. Two more to go.

“How do you know Cord? You’re not really his family and what was he talking about, that he had to go and do something for family? He left you here.” The leader spoke for the both of them. “Do you know the rest of the guys?”