Best Served Fake

fourteen // you're such a dick

I nodded solemnly. "Oh, that's actually true."

Tommy placed his hands over the sill of the window, his knuckles bleached white as he clenched them. "Valerie knows exactly what I think about her. How much I think she's worth; she's worth everything. I've spent two years telling her that."

A small smile reached his lips then, a victorious smile. I stared back at him with wide eyes. Did he really think—? Surely not. Did he think I was the kind of girl who could be moved by a small and sappy speech?

Watching Tommy, I suddenly got the sense that this boy was small and pathetic. Inferior to me in every way. The car door that separated us, and the foot or so of height that Kai's large car afforded me, made me feel distant from Tommy. Irrevocably separate. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but absence from Tommy Aster has done nothing except make my heart shake him off like a winter coat. Sydney would be harder to shake, but I didn't need this boy anymore. He was just extra baggage from a season long passed.

"I know what you think of me, and how much you think I'm worth," I said softly. His eyes on me were gentle, expectant. Waiting for me to crack and run back into his arms. "You think I'm worth just a little bit less than one night with my best friend."

Kai's hand came to rest over my leg, a touch that was equal parts reassuring and congratulatory. The tips of his fingers were rough; only slightly, but just enough to feel the graze of callouses as he ran his fingertips over the soft skin of my leg.

His smile turned from wicked to gleeful. In that moment, I knew exactly why Kai had agreed to my scheme. Knew that I didn't have to offer any repayment, any deal. This moment, right here, was compensation enough for his help.

The look on my ex-boyfriend's face, which was equal parts horror and despair, and the triumphant set to my spine, was exactly why Kai had done this.

"He's using you," Tommy said abruptly, his eyes fixed on the contact between my leg and Kai's hand. "He's only being nice to you because he knows I would hate it."

I nodded sagely. "I'm just making friends, honey. Don't worry, the fact that you hate it is only an added bonus."

Kai leaned towards Tommy conspiratorially. "It's just a really great bonus."

I could practically hear the cogs in Tommy's mind turning as he considered his options. Weighed the benefits of making a scene, of stomping and raging, versus the quiet pleading.

I knew his mind, knew by the set of his shoulders what he'd decided. Kai and I were a united front. We'd planned this, and my complete apathy to his anger was something that Tommy hadn't anticipated. I knew this boy—I'd loved this boy—and he was hardly the type to take something lying down. But he also wasn't the type to make rash decisions, affair with Syd notwithstanding.

Through gritted teeth, he snarled, "I hope you know what you're doing, Ally. I hope this is some kind of elaborate revenge. Because if you're deciding to replace Sydney and me with Kai Delaney of all people, you're as much of an idiot as me."

"Kai Delaney hasn't fucked my friend."

"No," said Tommy darkly. "He's just fucked everyone else."

Kai's shoulders tensed, but he didn't say anything. I could feel his hand tighten on my thigh, barely perceptible, but just enough for me to know that Tommy had hit a nerve.

I said it for him. "Strangely enough, I don't think that's even half as bad. But I sure hope your mum enjoyed it."

I gave him a simpering wave, before leaning across Kai to press the button for the window, rolling it up directly in front of Tommy's face, effectively cutting off his response. Tommy slapped his hands against the glass with an ugly twist to his features. The group of girls walking past looked over, startled, but Tommy waved them off impatiently, without taking his gaze off me.