Very Bad Things (Briarcrest Academy #1)(48)

Emma chortled. “Is sweet Miss Priss taking up for the geek?” she sneered, pushing her fingers into Mila’s chest until Mila staggered back and fell into a chair. Emma tossed her full cup of beer into Mila’s face and turned back to me, her eyes like death rays. “Boyfriend-stealing sluts are not allowed at my party, so leave.”

My adrenaline from my skirmish with Matt rose back up to the surface. I’d had enough. Enough of guys putting me second, enough of people pushing me around and telling me what to do, and enough of trying to please them all. None of them knew the real me, the one that carried a six-inch knife.

Plus, she’d just poured beer all over the sweetest person I knew.

“Emma, do you know what your problem is?”

Emma twisted her lips. “I don’t care what you think, bitch.”

“You’re a mean person, and these people here aren’t really your friends,” I said. “Oh, they’ll kiss up to you because they want to be popular, but behind your back, they talk about that mole on your cheek that looks like a zit or how big your ass is in that mini skirt.”

She grinned evilly. “Everyone wants to be me, Nora. I’m not just a cheerleader; I’m the cheerleader at BA. I’ll always be the popular girl. And you won’t.”

I cut my eyes at her bestie. “Why are you still friends with April? Guess you gotta keep your enemies close, huh? Making sure she doesn’t sleep with Matt again?” I said, purposely pushing the one button I knew set her off.

Her face turned a bright cardinal red. She cursed and shoved me hard, making me stumble and crash to the concrete on my bottom. My elbows caught most of my fall, and when I glanced at them, blood was dripping down my arms. I tried to get up, but she kicked me in the stomach before I could roll away from her heels. I managed to stand, determined to not let her kick my ass in front of the entire senior class.

She laughed. “Matt was only using you to make me mad.”

“Matt is a serious douche,” I said, squaring off against her.

She called me a very unladylike name and ran at me, but I stepped to the side at the last minute. She turned around quickly, though, and elbowed me hard in the ribs, except this time I managed to balance myself. She came at me again . . . and I slugged her in the face with my fist. I clearly had no idea how to land a good punch, but Mila and I had watched Fight Club junior year. My fist must have connected well because she screamed and stood there, holding her eye.

“I can’t believe you hit me!” she screamed. She ran at me like a crazy woman at a Macy’s clearance sale, her hands slapping wildly at my face. It became a full-fledged chick fight when she yanked a handful of my hair. When I saw the hunk of red she’d pulled out of my head, I returned the favor.

She teetered when she tried to kick me again with her stilettos, and I heard someone in the crowd laugh. She grabbed at the bodice of my dress and tugged, trying to rip it off. Her sharp fingernails pressed against my piercing, and I screamed out, the pain slicing through my chest. I threw her off me.

She grunted and barreled at me again, looking a lot like those over-the-top wrestlers you see on television. When she made contact this time, I rushed her with my shoulders. She yelled and flailed her arms wildly as we both hit the pool water with a loud splash!

Sebastian was the first person I saw when I came up out of the water.

He scowled but reached in and pulled me out of the pool. Water was dripping everywhere, and I couldn’t help but get him wet as he held me.

“Are you drunk?” he asked me, a frown on his face.

“Most likely,” I sighed, wringing the water from my ruined hairstyle.

“What the hell?” he said, looking upset.

I shivered from the suddenly cool air. “PMS? Which I like to call Psychotic Mood Shift. It sounds scarier.”

He shook his head. “Come on, let’s get you out of here before anything else happens,” he said, taking my hand and leading me back around the side of the house where all the cars were parked. I decided right then to not tell him about Matt. I didn’t know how far Matt would have gone out there, but I didn’t want to create trouble for Sebastian when he was a brand new student and had to play on the football team where Matt was the quarterback.

“What about Mila?” I asked, stopping him so I could take off my wet shoes.

He blew out a breath, like he was fed-up. “Already rounded her up. She’s meeting us at the car.”

I eyed him carefully. “You’re angry. Why?”

“First it was Cuba, then you and Matt, then the fight with Emma! What’s next?” he said.

“So?”

“So! I worry about you. You’re a magnet for trouble. You have been since the day I met you.”

Tears threatened, but I swallowed them down. “Well, don’t worry about me, okay. I live in a twenty million dollar mansion alone!”

He raised his brows, and I felt guilty for yelling at him. He’d come to mean something to me, and I didn’t want to screw that up. “Just be my friend,” I implored. “I only have a few, and I can’t lose you, too.”

“I’ll always be your friend,” he whispered, gently easing me into a hug, like I was fragile. I guess I was. I pressed my nose to his chest and inhaled, hoping he smelled like butterscotch, but he didn’t. And at the thought of Leo, I grew sad, letting our last conversation play back in my head.