The Perks Of Being Amanda Summerlyn

Chapter 12: Biting The Bullet

The next day, I'm walking to lunch by myself when I see Ricky. I'm about to call him over when I hear a female giggle. I jump behind a wall and peer from behind at Ricky. He's talking to a girl who looks a lot like Ashley Marks. 

What the hell is Ricky doing talking to Ashley Marks?

I get my answer when I see him lean down and kiss her smack on the lips. I cover my mouth to keep from gasping as I watch this with my own two eyes. His hands are on her ass while her hands are on his shoulders.

I can't watch anymore.

I start running the other direction, desperate to get away. So it's true. Ricky is cheating on me. How long as he been doing this, sneaking around with other girls?

I run into the girl's bathroom, kick open the nearest stall, and go in. I lock the door and sit on the toilet with my head in my hands. I try to cry, but I can't. I seriously can't. My eyes are dry. But even if I can't cry, I'm still hurt by the fact that Ricky would do this to me. At least I actually have a reason to break up with him besides saying our relationship is getting "stale". I hear the door open and slam against the wall from the impact and footsteps.

"Amanda?" It sounds like Faith's voice.

"In here," I say, my voice croaking.

I open the lock for her and she pushes open the door. She looks like some kind of rock star model with her black shirt and the glitter skeleton on it and her skinny jeans with sneakers. Her hair is up in a ponytail and her nails are painted red. She's looking down at me in concern. "I saw you run in here with your hand covering your mouth," she says. "Are you sick?"

I shake my head, biting my lip.

"What's the matter?" she asks, pulling me up.

I look at her, and at least, I feel my eyes getting watery. "You know Ricky Sanders?" I ask.

"Yeah," she answers. "He's your boyfriend."

"Well, today I saw him kissing another girl," I say.

Her eyes widen in disbelief. "What?"

"There were other signs too," I say. I tell her about what Ally said yesterday and about the perfume on his shirt being the same perfume Lindsay wears.

"Why didn't you break up with him before?" Faith asks.

"Because I wasn't sure if he was cheating or not," I answer.

"Amanda," she says, her hand on my shoulder, "if you smell perfume on his shirt that you know isn't yours and you see him coming out of the school's slut's house and kisses her the next day, then he's cheating."

"Yeah, but I didn't see him coming out of Ashley's house," I say.

"Even so," she says. "You should break up with him. You don't deserve to be played like this."

"I am," I say. "At lunch."

"I'll be sitting next to the Snapple machine if you need support," she says. "Break up with him there. But first, we need to clean up your face. You look like shit."

She grabs a wad of toilet paper, wets it, and scrubs my face clean of tears. Then she lines my eyes out in mascara and uses my lip gloss to paint my lips. Afterwards, she goes out of the bathroom first and then I go out a minute later.

I walk in the lunch room and see Ricky sitting down at the table in back of mine. Ally catches my eyes and nods towards him. I sigh and begin to walk over towards his table. I tap his shoulder and he turns around, his face annoyed. He smiles when he sees me.