HBIC: Head Barbie in Charge

18 - Fall Out

BUNNY AND MAXWELL were never going to be together. She had friend zoned him for too long to see him as anything more. Still, she couldn't stop thinking about his chivalry. He had been doing her homework, giving her rides to and from work, and putting a few dollars in her pocket keep her afloat. This was a dude who knew her worth, but what was Xavier doing? Kicking the same repetitive field goals and expecting her to scream about it. No doubt Bunny would look good in a short skirt and a pom-pom in each hand but her priorities were much bigger than being a cheerleader. Yet, he wanted Bunny to lose her voice over him when he didn't even have enough money for the signature tossup at the Super Bowl, let alone enough to keep her properly financed. How ironic that he was a quarterback, because Bunny wanted a refund on this relationship.

And no, she shouldn't have had to tell him. He was supposed to get it. He was supposed to know what made her tick. If he didn't know her in and out after being together for a year, he was never going to know her.

Bunny doused on her signature fragrance, Pink Sugar. She had just put the finishing touches on her makeup, eyebrows fleeked to the highest degree. Now all she had to do was slip into her tight lace gown to be the belle of the ball. If Xavier couldn't look at her tonight and see more than just a trophy, she was going to have to let him and his mama go and focus her sights on Greg.

Was it wrong of her to steal her best friend's man? Of course. That was vile and went against everything the Barbies stood for. That was why she needed Greg to come to her and this dress was, sure enough, a matter that was going to draw him in.

With the sound of Ms. Steele's car pulling up, she grabbed her gold clutch off the bed and traveled down the stairs. Daddy instantly jerked his neck when he saw his half naked daughter. She reveled in his discomfort. "Where do you think you're going dressed like that, baby girl?"

"Well, Daddy, since you made me get a job and pay for my own clothes, you haven't been able to dictate what I pick out anymore." Daddy's eyes were reduced to slits. "This is what you both wanted, right? An independent daughter who can make her own choices?"

Mom and Daddy turned toward each other, searching for something to say. Xavier rang the doorbell. Daddy went to get it. Bunny put on the fakest smile she could muster.

Mom gushed as he entered the room. "You're looking just as handsome."

"I try," he replied shyly. He had no idea that she was going to make him eat his words.

"You two have a nice time. Have Bernice home before midnight."

"Will do, Mrs. McCoy," said Xavier, and the three of them were off to the ball--him, Bunny, and Ms. Steele.

She had gotten no more used to riding with Xavier's mother in the backseat, and each and every time, she counted down the seconds until they reached their destination.

Bunny admired the way that Xavier respected his mother, but at the same time, she wondered if maybe they were too close. Nobody likes a mama's boy. With Bunny being forced to be independent, the last thing she wanted was a boyfriend who wasn't. Not to mention the fights she and his mother would inevitably have. Whose side was he going to take? Bunny had to be his number one, not his runner-up.

Ms. Steele took off, leaving them standing at the front entrance. Average girls were nearing the gym arm in arm with their dates thinking they were the shit. She felt sorry for girls like them because they would never even begin to know what it felt like to be this stunning. But even more, she felt sorry for herself because the man on her arm didn't even realize that he had the flyest of them all.

Fashionably late, the gym was fully packed by the time they entered. The losers who had come on the dot had managed to get the party popping. Two rookies rushed to the door to greet Xavier like he was royalty. Bunny wanted to gag. He hadn't even been named a team captain and they had already dubbed him Greg's successor. They were escorted to the table that had been reserved for the football team, all the while being devoured by the eyes of her admirers. She may not have been on the team, but she was for sure the interception that had everyone putting down their punch. She herself set her sights on her Heisman. He was going to want to make her co-captain once he saw her in this. As great minds think alike, he proceeded to make a fashionably late entrance as well, sauntering in right after them.