"YOU HAVE A lot of explaining to do, Braylen Adams," Robyn says, reaching over and taking a piece of my chocolate croissant. I make a face at her and she raises a finger. "I deserve this. There's something going on between you and your archenemy and you didn't even tell me!"
"Robs," I groan, taking a sip of coffee.
She shakes her head. "No. You can't do that. You can't patronize me, Bray. I saw it with my own eyes. And I know you two ate lunch together. What's going on?"
I blow a raspberry, trying to figure out what to say. I didn't want to lie to Robyn but I couldn't tell her the truth either. "Okay. Okay, when you ditched me at the party I found him there. I took him home and we talked a little and that's it."
"Why'd you storm out, then? At lunch?"
I bite my lip, ripping a piece of the croissant off and shoving it into my mouth. Robyn sighs, reaching over and grabbing my plate and shoving it away from me. "Hey! I was eating that!"
"Talk! What happened at lunch?"
I swallow hard. "He just knows how to get under my skin. That's all. We're fine now."
"So you two are a 'we' all of a sudden?" Robyn presses, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Braylen, need I remind you he posted photoshopped pictures of you all around the school? Riding a unicorn? Naked?!"
I roll my eyes. "You couldn't see my junk."
"Yeah, 'cause the unicorn horns covered it!" Robyn spits. "And now all of a sudden you two are best friends?"
Reaching across the table, I loop my fingers around Robyn's. "You are my best friend. Sebastian and I aren't anything together, okay?" I gnaw on my lip, needing to figure out a way to convince her. An idea comes to mind. "I was actually just thinking of how I could get him back. You know for the Mabel thing last semester."
"Yes!" Robyn squeals. "Scheming. Finally, something normal."
I laugh as she hands me back my croissant. She takes a sip of her drink before sighing softly. "Promise me something?"
I raise an eyebrow. "Anything."
"Promise me that you will never, ever, ever even think about being friends with that guy, okay?"
I swallow hard. "Since when did you hate him so much?"
"Since he made my best friend suffer for eight years of his life!" Robyn exclaims.
"I wouldn't say suffer," I mutter. Robyn makes big eyes at me and I sigh. "Okay, fine. I promise."
She makes a face. "That wasn't convincing. Spit swear?"
"No way! We haven't done a spit swear since you started being sexually active. I have no idea where your spit has been!" I argue, scrunching my nose. She rolls her eyes, spits on her hand, and holds it out to me. With a glare, I do the same and we shake, sealing the promise.
¥
"Bray?" Oba's voice calls. "Can I come in?"
"Yep," I call back, bringing my knees tighter to my chest. Aunt Amanda pulls the door open before sliding into bed next to me. She grabs the box I'd been digging through, sighing softly.
"Wanted a little trip down memory lane, yeah?" she asks, picking up a picture of me and the twins on our first day of school. I was starting eighth so they were starting fourth. They looked ecstatic; I looked passive. "You were quiet at dinner. Everything okay?"
My fingers grab a photo of my mom and me. We were in Maine at a restaurant eating lobsters the size of our faces. I couldn't have been more than four. "Mom took me to one of the best lobster places out there," I say, smiling wryly. "She said we were celebrating. I didn't even know what we were celebrating. I don't think we were.
"I hated when she got like that, you know? The bad periods were awful but the manic periods were even worse. Why would you take a kid to get lobster? Why would you leave him in that restaurant all by himself to go and get high with your friends? Did she not want me? Was I not good enough, I...?"
"It wasn't your fault, Braylen," Oba murmurs, hand grazing my knee. "I'm sorry that she left you there alone and I'm sorry that you felt you weren't loved. You were far too young to feel like that."
I sigh, shutting my eyes and forcing the tears away. "Oba? Do you think people can change?"
"I don't know," she murmurs. "I don't know. I like to think so. It'd be a sad life if nothing ever changed. But then again, everything can be so artificial these days. Pictures are photoshopped and words are taken out of context and people act all of the time."
I sniff. "Yeah."
"But aren't we all acting, in a way? I'm Amanda Adams. I play the role of a middle-aged mother and aunt with no clue of what I'm doing," Oba says, tucking a strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear. "I pretend to be a good cook, a good doctor, a good person. But if I took all of that away, who would I be? Who would you be, huh? What roles do you play?"
I glance at the picture once more before sliding it back into the tattered old shoebox, shutting it out of view. "I think I'm really tired, Auntie. Can I turn in?"
"Of course," she whispers, disappointment in her voice. I know she wanted a better answer from me. But how could I tell her the parts that I play when I didn't even know? "Get some rest, okay? I love you."
"Love you," I whisper back, leaning back against the pillow. Aunt Amanda stands up and grabs the box, placing it back underneath the bed where I keep it. She turns off my lights before heading for the door. I watch as she walks out and shuts it before turning on my back, staring at the ceiling.
I knew what I had to do. I knew what role I needed to play. It was the only role I could play.
¥
The second day of school goes by without consequence. Robs doesn't make us sit next to Sebastian and his friends and we instead spend the lunch period talking about everything under the sun. It felt good to be sitting here talking to her. I much preferred it over being talking with Sebastian.
I hadn't spoken to him all day and I was considering myself lucky. I needed to focus to figure out what my scheme would be. The closest I'd come was briefly seeing him talking with Hunter and Devin. I'd ducked into a classroom and suffered extreme embarrassment as I realized it was for ninth graders. Now, I was sitting on the lawn outside of school scrolling aimlessly on my phone, waiting for Oba to pick me up.
"Hey, stranger," a voice says. I look up and smile at Hayley. Her blonde hair is braided up instead of down like at the party and she's wearing a tank top and blue jeans. "Can I sit?"
I shrug softly and she slides onto the grass next to me. "How's school?" she asks, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
I glance at her, gnawing on my bottom lip. "Why didn't you ever text me?"
She chuckles, leaning back into her hands. "I tried, Braylen. You must've put the number in wrong, though. When I called some woman named Daphne answered. She did not appreciate me interrupting her soap opera."
I blush deeply, coughing so she doesn't notice. "Wait, seriously? I must've been more drunk than I thought. How could I get my own number wrong?"
"I don't know," Hayley says with a laugh. "At first, I thought you'd given me the wrong number because you didn't like me, or something. And then I was like, well, I could easily just go and find him at school. But I thought it'd be weird. Is this weird? I—"
"It's perfect," I murmur. She smiles softly and I grab her chin, bringing her lips to mine. Hayley kisses me back eagerly, resting her hand on my knee. As we pull apart, I grin. "You really came all the way here to see me?"
Hayley blushes. "So you do think it's weird? Ugh!"
"I'm joking, I'm joking," I assure her, grabbing her hand and kissing the back of it. She smiles sweetly, lowering her eyes. "Let me take you out."
"You think it's that easy, huh?"
I purse my lips. "You drove to a high school just to tell me my number was wrong. I'd say yeah, it's pretty easy."
Hayley giggled. "Okay. Where are we going?"
"Give me your phone," I say and she raises her eyebrows. "I promise, the number will be right this time!"
She hands me the phone with a smirk and I take extra care in typing in the number. I even send a message to myself. The ding rings from my pocket and I show her that it worked. "I swear, Braylen. You're like a grandpa."
I laugh and she rises to her knees, leaning over and kissing me again. "I'll see you soon, okay?"
"I'll text you," I murmur, touching the bottom of her chin. She nudges me as she stands up, walking back to her car. I watch as she drives off, glancing back down at my phone and saving her contact.
Footsteps startle me and I look up to see Sebastian. He gives me a small smile, sitting down. "Hey," he mutters, setting his backpack next to him. "Didn't see you today."
"You were looking for me?" I mumble, attempting to act disinterested. I had to keep my promise to Robs, and besides, Sebastian Grey was bad news. He'd always been bad news.
He cocks his head to the side and shrugs. "Yeah, actually. I...I'm throwing a party. At my place."
"I'm sure that'll be a great time," I murmur, training my eyes on my phone screen.
Suddenly, the phone is taken from my hands. "Hey!" I shout as Sebastian holds it up over his head.
"You're being a douche," he responds. "I'm trying to invite you to my party! I'm trying to be nice!"
"I don't need you to pretend that we're friends!" I yell back, reaching over to grab my phone. My chest crashes into Sebastian's and we tussle for a minute until he shoves me off, effectively pushing me onto my back until he's hovering over me, the phone still in hand. I breathe deeply as his eyes scan my face, a small smile forming on my lips. "This feels like fourth grade all over again," I murmur, blushing as my heart beats rapidly. I really hoped he couldn't hear it.
He laughs softly, eyes turning softer than I was used to seeing them. "Come to my party," he murmurs nearly pleadingly.
"I can't," I whisper, biting my lip. He lifts up and we return to our regular sitting positions. Sebastian brings his knees up, wrapping his arms around them.
"Did I do something?" he asks. "I know yesterday was weird, but—"
"Yo, Sebastian!" a voice calls. I turn and see Devin and Hunter running up to us, their ties swinging behind them as they did. I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "What's up, man? Still on for my place, right?"
Sebastian glances over at me. "Yeah, in a minute. Just talking to Braylen."
"Actually," I say, standing up and grabbing my bag. "I think I left something inside the school. You should just go."
He looks up at me, eyes confused. "Bray—"
"Yeah, see you, man! I'd invite you over but don't really think you'd be interested," Devin says with a laugh. "Unless...?"
"I'm good," I mutter, knowing he's basically offering me drugs. "Thanks."
I look down at Sebastian once more and am surprised to see the hurt on his face. I shrug it off and stalk back into the school, forcing myself not to turn around.
Robyn would be so proud of me.
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not me forgetting it was friday and updating this at 1:00 a.m. saturday...anyways hope you enjoyed ! see you soon (if i remember) <3!!!!!