Exotic

~ friday night lights ~

Friday was good. Friday started with a text from Caleb – I'd changed his contact name in my phone to Caleb, in an act that felt somehow risqué despite being completely mundane – that read; Mum's agreed to reduce my grounding if she can meet Steph. I'm never getting out of this fucking house.

I smiled at my screen, legs tangled in my sheets as my alarm rang distantly in my ears.

hire an escort?

Reece thumped the wall outside my room, and I startled upright. I slapped my hand down on the alarm, jaw tense.

But they've seen a photo...

blonde, pretty, big feet... i'm sure a quick search will garner a fuck tonne of options...

No one looks like you. Plus, I'm broke, remember?

Friday went slightly downhill once I went downstairs. Reece asked me in the kitchen whether I was coming to the garage after school to see Caleb's car off. I was tempted to say yes, just so I could see him, but then I remembered who would be likely paying for his car to be repaired. I wasn't mentally prepared for another round of scrutiny from Mrs. Proust.

"I'm going to Aaron's," I told him. "And we're going to Max's game tomorrow."

"Soccer?" Reece asked, and I nodded into my cereal. "Since when did you like soccer?"

"I'm supporting my friend."

Reece hummed, pouring himself a mug of coffee. He'd started shaving again, which didn't do much for his overall appearance, but it did make him look remarkably less homeless. "If I called Aaron's mum..."

"He lives with his aunt and uncle," I replied irritably. He'd been a part of my life longer than Aaron had, the least he could do was keep his ears open for little details like that. "And, yes. We've had this conversation before. Where else would I be?"

"With Steph," he replied automatically. "Sorry. Lauren."

His tone was cynical enough to make me pause. I turned a little in my chair. "Do you have a problem with me dating now?"

"Nope," he stirred his coffee ominously, tapping the spoon against the side. "I might have a problem if you're messing around behind that nice girls back, with someone else."

I almost spit up milk all over the tabletop. "What?!"

"Jesus, I'm not stupid, Miles," he growled. "I found blonde hair in your bedroom, not black. Dyed it. Do you think I believed that for a second? You told me her name was Steph. And you seemed pretty damn urgent about me not meeting her, or telling her mother about you two..."

I cupped my hand over my face, squeezing my eyes shut. I should have been thankful that the conclusion Reece had drawn from the holes he had poked in my story was that I was leading on two women, but it just made me feel ill. The bags under my eyes felt like they were seeping back into my skull, settling there like a dark fog that ached.

"I don't think I should need to have this conversation with you," Reece persisted, only adding to my headache. "But what you're doing is wrong. It's cruel and stupid and it's only going to end in disaster. Do you think girls don't talk? Do you think this town is big enough that it won't get back to them? No town is too big for that, I'll tell you that."

I pushed away my breakfast. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I don't want to talk about it," he echoed. "But that Lauren girl seems nice, if a little naïve. Messing around behind her back will hurt her when she finds out."