DECEPTION; Bradley Simpson

4.

As I get back to my dorm, I find Maggie sitting on her bed with her laptop in her lap.

"Hey," I close the door behind me.

"Oh, hi," she smiles up at me. "How was your day?"

"It was good. I didn't know Brad majors in psychology too?" I sit down on my bed, throwing my bag next to me.

"Oh, yeah," she nods.

I decide to study, so I take out my notes from my classes and start studying. My mind wanders to that party again, when Brad was so close we almost kissed. If Maggie didn't interrupt us, would he have kissed me? That question's been in my mind since that night.

"Hi, Eve," James' friendly tone snaps me back to reality.

"Hey," I smile up at him.

"We're going out to have dinner with the others. Wanna join?" Maggie asks.

"Um, I don't know. I still have to study," I look down at my notes. Truth is, I didn't study at all. I just kept thinking about Brad.

"You've been studying for hours. Take a break," she rolls her eyes playfully.

"Fine," I sigh and stand up. I slip on my sneakers and follow them outside. We sit in James' car, where Kirstie was already waiting. I greet her and take a seat at the back with Maggie sitting next to me.

James drives off towards a restaurant. It's a small one and not too fancy. It's really cozy, though. We spot the others in the back of the restaurant and walk towards them. I make eyecontact with Brad, who's arm is around Ashley's shoulder. I quickly look away, not understanding the feeling that took over me. I sit down between Maggie and Lucy.

"Oh, Evelyn. Didn't expect you to come," Ashley looks at me with disgust. What is her problem?

"Yeah, Maggie invited me," I shrug. A waitress walks to our table and takes our orders. I order the same as Maggie, then turn back to the others.

"Tell us something about yourself," Tristan smiles at me.

"Well, I came from New Jersey. My mom wanted to move to Birmingham a long time ago," I shrug.

"And what about your dad?" Ashley asks. I look down at my hands, not answering the question. I hate talking about him and his new family.

"You're an idiot, Ashley," Brad says. I look up at him and see him rolling his eyes.

"No, she didn't know. It's okay," I shake my head, looking into his eyes. "He has a new family."

"Oh," they all mutter.

"Do you have siblings?" Kirstie asks.

"Yeah, I have an older brother. His name is Timothy," I smile.

They asked a few more questions about me during dinner, and I answered all of them. Thankfully, non of them asked about my dad again. Even Ashley seemed to be sorry for me, even though she clearly hates me.

We walk out of the restaurant and talk a bit more before everyone leaves.

"Girl, Brad couldn't take his eyes off you," Maggie whisperes my ear.

"Stop," I roll my eyes.

"It's true. He seems to like you a lot more than I thought," she smirks at me.

"No, he doesn't like me," I shake my head, remembering how rude he was after I accidentally walked in on him and Ashley.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Maggie chuckles.

"She's not wrong," Kirstie turns towards us.

"Now you too? I thought we were friends," I joke.

"We are," she laughs. "I'm just saying, Maggie is right. Brad clearly likes you a lot."

"Okay, change of subject please," I say, making James laugh.

"Why did your mother want to move here?" James asks.

"Well, my dad lives here with his family and she wanted me and Tim to be closer to them, so we don't have to travel so much to see them," I shrug. "He moved here a year ago. Until then, we visited him every weekend."

"Oh. Sorry if it's hard for you to talk about it, I didn't know-" he apologizes, but I cut him off.

"It's okay, really. You don't have to apologize," I shake my head.

James soon pulls up at the dorms and Maggie and I climb out, thanking him for the ride. We walk inside our room and sit on our bed.

"Why don't you wanna admit to yourself that Brad is into you?" Maggie raises her eyebrow.

"Not this again," I groan, laying back on my bed.

"Come on, Eve. You know very well, you've seen it with your own eyes. I'd love to see Brad finally having a normal girlfriend, but I'm telling you, be careful with him. He really knows how to hurt people, and I'm not talking physically," she says. I look up at the ceiling and think about what she said, while she walks into the bathroom to take a shower. I just met him a few days ago, why is everyone making assumptions already? Just because he acts different with Ashley when they're around me? That doesn't mean anything, does it?

"Evelyn!" Maggie shouts from the bathroom and I stand up, walking over to the door and pressing my ear to it, so I can hear her.

"Yeah?"

"I ran out of shampoo. Can I use yours?" she asks.

"Sure," I shrug.

"Thanks."

I sit back down on my bed and check my phone. I see a missed call from my mom. I decide to call her back and I walk out of the room, leaning my back against the cold wall on the hallway.

"Hey mom," I greet as she finally picks up.

"Hi, Evelyn. I called you, but you didn't answer," she says suspiciously.

"Sorry. I was out with Maggie and her friends and my phone was silenced," I bite my bottom lip.

"Maggie? Why are you hanging out with someone like her?" she asks, making me raise my eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" I ask in confusion.

"Can't you see the way she dresses? And her makeup, have you seen it?"

"Mom, do you hear yourself? What's wrong with people who have different styles than you or me?" I raise my voice.

"Evelyn, don't you dare raise your voice at me!" she threatens.

"You don't even know Maggie," I ignore her comment. Silence falls on both ends as I roll my eyes. Why is she talking about Maggie this way? Okay, my mother wears sophisticated dresses, like a rich woman does, but that doesn't mean everyone has to wear the same clothes.

"I gotta go," she says and hangs up the phone before I could say anything else.

I sigh and walk back into our room. Maggie is sitting on her bed now with her laptop in her lap. I probably pissed my mother off by raising my voice at her and defending Maggie, but I don't care.

"Where were you?" she asks, not looking up at me.

"Just talking to my mom on the phone," I shrug, throwing the device on my bed.

"Think about what I said," she looks into my eyes. I nod and lay down on my bed. I was thinking about it for what felt like forever, until we heard a knock on the door.