BOY KING (CFTM Prequel)

CHAPTER 20 *NEW*

Now he can't.

He won't.

His fists made things 100% clear, and now that I'm lying here, sprawled out in the dirt, I finally get it.

I get him.

Josh doesn't want to understand. He wants Trish.

Right or wrong.

Liar or not.

He's always wanted someone like her. Someone who'd lie to him so he felt important. Needed. A girl to give him the status and attention he's been after ever since his brother showed him it was possible. He's got big shoes to fill after Marcus, and Trish is his first step in that direction.

Future "it" boy.

Future superstar.

Josh has the whole world ahead of him, and there isn't any space for me in it anymore.

Just girls like Trish. Two-faced liars who'll keep him happy in the bedroom and keep their dirty little secrets hidden from him behind closed doors.

But that's the thing.

If this is who he is now, our friendship is as good as dead.

If this is who I am now, then I'm the one who killed it.

My throat tightens, swells, and nearly pushes me back into another breakdown, but I swallow the impulse and struggle to get to my feet.

I shut my eyes to keep the worst parts of tonight out of my mind, but the memories keep coming. The noise of the fights I had and things everyone said spikes to the point where sound's on the verge of splitting through my skull. Every second that passes forces me to relive every word that Josh said, every punch I took, every mistake I made. And I need a way out.

I need it to stop.

I need a distraction.

I need to forget.

And at this point, I don't care what it is as long as it'll make me numb. As long as it'll shut out the noise.

I stumble over to the closest snack kiosk and scare the crap out of the bright-eyed, chipper looking girl behind the counter. She hides a gasp behind her hand and is quick to recover her salesperson smile. I should thank her for it—acting like nothing's wrong with my face when everything is, but I don't.

"Can I get s-something for you, sir? Popcorn? Or something to drink, maybe?"

I don't know why it happens the way it does, but a bad idea pops into my head and starts taking root like a virus. I don't have to be this guy. The one who gets pity stares from popcorn girls or laughed at by every other person who walks by. 

I can change the story. 

Elias King doesn't have to leave this stadium looking like a loser tonight. He doesn't have to walk around with his tail between his legs so all anybody talks about next week is how he got his ass kicked.

He can become the person that Josh regrets doubting.

That Trish never should've messed with.

The guy no one would ever look down on again.

If the school wants something to remember, I'll give it to them. No matter how far I have to go.

I lean over the edge of the counter and get way closer to Popcorn Girl than a customer probably should.

"Actually, I was hoping to get your number—and a cup of ice, please. I got into it with some kids at Cardinal, and I really need something to turn my night around," I say.