Liar

Chapter 11

Jax is the one person I despise the most. We used to call each other best friends once. He was the person I could trust with my life. He knew where I lived. He knew my circumstances. He never judged. Until we became high schoolers. He did a complete 180. He started hanging around the bad kids, the shit starters. We were already popular, but he wanted all the glory. He wanted to date the hottest girls and throw the biggest parties, he wanted it all.

I couldn't stand him anymore. He was so self-absorbed. I called him out one night and he threatened to tell the whole school that I lived in the crooked part of town. He hangs that over my head waiting for me to do something he doesn't like so he can expose me.

"Oh shit," I hear behind me.

My head snaps to Edith. "Don't cuss."

She nods her head and pretends to zip her lips closed. "Sorry."

I groan and kick Alyssa's dumb stepping stool she uses to reach the stupid cupboards. It smacks the wooden cabinet. I throw on my black suit jacket and rush out of the dorm. I try to take deep breaths as I walk to Ella-Mae's dorm room.

I enter the girls' dormitories and draw all eyes. I hear the quick whispers as I pass. "Eden is so hot when he looks angry." "I wish he was my date." "Hottest man I've ever laid my eyes on."

I try to fix my face after I heard the 'he looks angry' part. I relax my jaw which has been clenched since Alyssa left with Jax. When I make it to Ella-Mae's door I knock. The door immediately swings open. Ella-Mae stands there in a floor-length, silk, celadon dress.

"Eden," she says with a wide grin on her face. Her dark blue eyes sparkle up at me. Her short blonde hair is curled in a beautiful pattern. But for some reason, I wish it was someone else on the other end of the threshold. A brunette in a red dress perhaps.

"Ella," I say, swallowing hard. I clear my throat focusing on the room behind her. Fairy lights are strung up on the wall. Her books lay in perfect position. Ella has always been a good girl. Maybe that's why I liked her so much.

"I'm glad you texted me. You're the only one I wanted to go with," she says and guilt floods me. I feel like I'm leading her on, but all I can think about is somehow hurting Alyssa.

I decided that even if I'm stringing her along for tonight, I'll make sure she has a good time. This will be our last dance together. I smile at her and stick my arm out for her to take. Her grin widens and takes it.

***

The lights glimmer and our decorations hang where we left them. I look around, admiring all the hard work we put in. I couldn't tell if Alyssa worked so hard because she's a genuinely hard worker, or because it was her idea and didn't want to look like an idiot if it looked dumb. I think the latter.

"Wow, you guys worked really hard." My eyes shift down at Ella-Mae who's hanging onto my bicep for dear life.

"It was nothing," I said, absentmindedly. I spot the devil herself with Jax in the photo area. She presses her hand against his chest and smiles at the camera. Her long dark hair covers the part of her dress that exposes her flawless back.

A tug on my arm makes her draw my attention back to Ella-Mae. Her eyes flash between me and Alyssa. She quirks a brow. "Are you okay? You look upset."

I sigh and unclench my jaw. "I'm fine. Let's go take our picture," I say, pulling her toward the photo area. I pull her so fast that her little legs struggle to keep up with me. I cut the line and Ella-Mae smiles apologetically at the long line behind us.

Alyssa's pale blue eyes flash into mine. I narrow my eyes at her nasty smirk. "Up next," the guy behind the camera says.

"Take a couple," I say to the guy as Ella-Mae and I get in position. She places her hand on my chest and we both smile at the camera. For the next picture, I tilt her head up to stare directly into my eyes. Her lips slightly part as she takes me in. She surprises me when she presses her lips to my cheek for the next picture.

"Here's your ticket," the cameraman says. "And I submitted it to the cutest couple nomination." He throws up both a wink.

Ella-Mae cuts in. "Um, we're not a couple actually–," he cuts her off.

"It doesn't matter, it's just for an event during the dance. You guys look like a happy couple that came to the dance. That's the only requirement."

A smile appears back on her lips and a blush forms on her face. "Okay, thank you," she says happily.

"Thank you," I say, taking the ticket from his hand.

"Don't forget to vote on the school's social media page," he calls and I nod, draping my arm around Ella-Mae's slim shoulder.

I lock eyes with Alyssa across the room. She narrows her eyes at the placement of my arm around Ella. A stone-cold glare that could send any man running for the hill faster than you can say, Jack Robinson. "Are you thirsty? I'll get us some punch," I say before tearing myself away from her and towards Alyssa and the refreshments.

"Oh okay–," Ella's voice cuts off as I disappear into the crowd of bodies.

I grab two plastic cups and flip the spout to release the red liquid into the cups. "Fancy meeting you here," her soft but vengeful voice calls.

I glance up at her. "Wish I could say the same." She glares at me and I continue. "If you wanted to take trash to the dance you could've taken the bag out of our dorm."

Her eyes gleam. "If you wanted to take the girl version of yourself you could've thrown on a wig and lipstick." I arch up one of my eyebrows. The fuck is that supposed to mean? The girl version of myself? My gaze flickers over to Ella-Mae who's surrounded by her friends. Blue eyes, blonde short hair, sharp jawline... My fiery gaze casts back to Alyssa. Her lips curl into a smirk. "Now you see it don't you? Now every time you look at her you'll see yourself. I mean I can't blame you, it would be amazing to fuck someone as good-looking as myself. I mean that's a dream come tr–."

"Shut the fuck up," I splutter. That makes her smirk grow; knowing she's gotten under my skin. "You're just upset that your date is scoping out every piece of meat in here. I bet you wish he was only looking at you. In reality, you aren't the hottest girl in here and he's finding that out right now." Her pale eyes flicker to Jax who's looking at a blonde with big tits.

"Do you ever shut up?" She barks before walking away. I take a swig of the drink in my hand and realize someone must have poured their flash in. I ditch one of the cups and fill it with water for Ella. She hates alcohol.