The Million Dollar Senior Year | ✓

Chapter Thirty-Four

Ria slung her bag over one shoulder and stormed out the room into the nearest girl's bathroom. Hot angry tears dared to spill out from the corner of her eyes as she held the side of the sink and stared at her reflection. She examined her appearance, deciphering what exactly it was that made it hard for her to keep just one friend. After Reagan, her best friend, had transferred elsewhere, she looked for her surrogate and was defeated every time.

Her brown eyes were pink from the tears and fury rage that was building inside her. Ava was right; she didn't care about the money so much as the others. All it had represented was something that she had the right to possess because after all, if she hadn't switched topics with Mari in the first place, she would be doing this scavenger hunt on her own and in peace.

She wiped the slow tears with the back of her hand and ran a hand through her dark brown hair. It was time for her to stop feeling belittled and weak, rise to the top, and make Ava feel like utter shit.

"Wrong," Blake said, holding his world culture textbook in hand. Mari groaned, pulling the crook of her elbow over her head.

"Japan?" she squeaked.

"China," he corrected.

She sat up on his bed, frowning. "Ugh what a bish."

"A what?" he arched his eyebrow, shutting the book.

The duo were studying for their world culture exam and like always, Mari was struggling while Blake effortlessly answered each question. She fell back into her bed, refusing to get up.

"A bish."

Blake laughed. "Keep repeating it and I'll know what you mean," he said, sarcastically.

"My mom says I need to stop cursing and be more 'lady-like,'" she air-quoted.

"Let's hear it."

"Shit is shiz, fuck is fudge, and damn is dawn."

Blake sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed her feet. His hands kneaded against the bottom of her foot and she sighed in relaxation from the impromptu foot massage.

"Why not dang?" Blake wondered.

"Because she says it's too close to the meaning of damn, therefore dawn it is," she explained. He chuckled and moved closer, nearly hovering over her. He pressed his cheeks against hers, and wrapped his arms around her small waist. A soft giggle slipped from her lips and they rolled all over the bed with soft butterfly kisses. It wasn't until Mari sat on top and crossed her arms down, gripping onto the hem of her shirt that Blake's eyes widened with envy.

She tossed her shirt off to the ground and leaned into kiss him. They continued feeling each other, peeling his shirt off as well, until one of them heard a crackling noise from downstairs. He lifted his head up, pausing and willing his ear to extend to as far as he could to hear what that noise could be.

"Yo, where you at?" Stefan hollered from the garage.

Mari and Blake snapped their heads at one another, eyes alert and big with horror. They immediately scrambled off the beds, throwing their shirts back on. She sat on the bed, grabbing the textbook that was laying on the table beside them onto her lap and casually flipping through the pages while her heart continued pounding. Blake sat on the table, browsing through his laptop when Stefan stepped inside.

"There you— oh, hey Mar! What's up?"

Mari looked up and smiled. "Hey! We're just studying for a test we've got tomorrow."

"Did you forget that Rudy asked us to clean the garage?" Stefan asked Blake, slyly.

Blake shook his head, guiltily. "Crap, I completely forgot. Let's do it after food. I'm kinda' hungry."

"I'd like a turkey sandwich and Mar?" Stefan asked, pointing at her quizzically, "she'll probably get the chipotle chicken, right?"

"You know me so well," she applauded.

Blake rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll be back with your food, your highnesses."

He grabbed his keys and walked out the room while Stefan sneered. It wasn't until he realized that he was alone with Mari that he lingered by the walls awkwardly. Charlie's words of flirting and playing along was stamped into his brain and every time he saw Mari after that, he wasn't sure whether to do it or not. But once he noticed that Mari's tag was out from behind, the devil in him spoke.

"So, your shirt is inside out," he commented with a hint of tease. Mari glanced down, noticing the obvious stitches and feeling the tag behind her neck. She struggled to hold a casual face, nervously laughing. "It's okay. It happens to the best of us. You can change, though. I don't mind," he smirked.

Mari's face was astonished to say the least before it melted into a half-hearted smile.

"You boys are always at it!" she exclaimed.

"Just for you, babe," Stefan responded and he knew that it would be easier to play along once he imagined him talking to Charlie and not Mari. "So," he said, huskily, walking over to the edge of the bed. "Comfortable?"

Mari missed the connotation of his words and just shrugged her shoulders before looking down at her textbook. "I'm not ready for this test at all."

"You can practice on me," he offered.

"You're not even taking world culture," she frowned. "I should have taken this last year like you and Dustin."

"Just draw the world on me and you can explore my culture," he smiled, deviously but in that moment, his head was screaming at what he was saying. It was Mari of all people, the sweetest girl he's ever known. Charlie owed him big time for making him feel like a jerk who thought between his legs.

Mari gasped inaudibly and averted eye contact and Stefan decided it was time to step back. It was easier for a girl to flirt with a guy not the other way around, as he had just experienced. He sat on Blake's window sill and waited for his car to arrive any moment and save him and Mari from this cringing situation. His eyes caught the sight of an old maroon sedan parked across the house by the curb. He had seen that car before for the past two weeks. Either that make and model was far too common around him or something just didn't seem quite right.

"Mari, has that car been here before?" he asked. She leaned over, completely forgetting their weird encounter just a few minutes ago, and followed Stefan's gaze. She noticed it, too.

"It parked when I got here. It's kinda' strange but I've seen that car around me before."

"Me too!" Stefan agreed. "It's gotta' be a coincidence, right?"

Just then, Mari's phone vibrated. She glanced down at her phone and smiled.

"What she say?" Stefan asked, noticing Charlie's name on her phone.

"Just that she's bored and home alone. I'm glad that she's alright about the whole USC thing. That girl can't handle a lot of bad news or she breaks," Mari explained, knowing her best friend so well.

"Let's hope there's nothing that breaks her," Stefan said, lightheartedly. "Alright, where's Blake? I'm starving."