Page 49 of Girl Like Me

“I think he would be honoured and cry a lot. I’ll send you his number. Call him.”

“Thanks guys, I’ll talk to you after school. I have to go find Chloe and see who she is bringing.”

They all say goodbye and I hang up the call.

“You know that isn’t going to work.”

My head snaps up to see Sebastian lurking around the corner.

“Maybe, maybe not but it’s none of your business.”

“He isn’t going to like that.”

I don’t wait around to be the firing end of his abuse. Who isn’t going to like that? Who is he? I keep it in my mind to corner Sebastian somewhere safe, not behind a building where no one could find me for hours. That’s if anyone even realised I was missing. Look how long it took for my own family to come and get me.

I cut through the school and out to the courtyard, it’s starting to get cold now and I pull my school blazer closed.

I see Chloe sitting with my old group of friends; I take a seat beside her and try to catch up on the conversation. The girls are all talking about formal, their dresses are a huge deal and no one is revealing what theirs look like, for whatever reason, I’m unsure.

“Who are you taking to formal now that you’re not with Sebastian?” Ambrosia asks.

“Some friends,” I say, not because I’m ashamed of my guys but because I don’t remember how close I was to any of these people.

“Friends,” Sebastian scoffs as he joins us. “Don’t you mean your new boyfriends?”

“Gasp, shock, horror,” Clarissa laughs. “Don’t any of you judge. Every single one of us is screwing more than one person and it’s usually behind their backs. At least she has the guts to do it out in the open. Get over it already.”

“Whore.” Lydia mutters but tries and fails to cover it with a cough. I raise my brows at her. She is the last person who can judge me.

Everyone at the table laughs at her. “I’m pretty sure it was you who was screwing her boyfriend behind her back, so you need to look in the mirror before calling her a whore.” Chloe says, which has Lydia throwing her a murderous glare.

“Shut up nerd. Bristol has taken you on as a pity project. Just wait until she stabs you in the back and you realise all of this is an act like we all know it is.”

Chloe looks down and her cheeks go red.

“Fuck off Lydia, the nerd is okay to stay, she’s pretty cool.” Carter snaps and it makes me wonder if he has a split personality. He seems to change how he acts every day depending on what is happening around him.

Everyone here is about connections and I wonder why no one has befriended her sooner on that basis alone. Chev isn’t welcoming so a connection wouldn’t be made with him. Maybe she was smarter than that and knew so she kept herself hidden.

Lydia huffs and gets up, her small posse follows behind her, not before throwing nasty comments Chloe’s way.

“Don’t listen to them. If their parents weren’t rich as fuck they wouldn’t sit here with us.” Clarissa says, pulling Chloe into a hug. I’m still not sure what to think about Clarissa yet, she is definitely a wild card. She isn’t a typical rich girl, yes she spends all of her father’s money, but she also has a very wild personality. She doesn’t pretend to be something she isn’t.

When the bell goes we all head our separate ways. I don’t have anyone in my last class and it’s peaceful not having to deal with the bullshit and politics of being rich, I just melt into the background and get on with the class.

As soon as the school day ends I decide to go and pay Echo a visit. I don’t know how much I can trust him but he seems like a man of his word. The Eastside isn’t too far away from where the school is and the drive is easy. I didn’t tell Chloe I was coming because I need to talk to him in private and don’t need him distracted.

I pull up into his driveway and thankfully there isn’t a party going on. I make my way to the front door and knock.

Mossy answers in a pair of boxer shorts, it looks like he is only just now waking up. “Hey B, what’s up?” he says motioning for me to come inside.

“Not much, just needed to talk to Echo. Is he home?”

“Check his room. I’m going back to bed unless you brought Chloe with you,” he smiles. When I shake my head, his smile falls and he walks away, leaving me to go to Echo’s room.

After making my way through the hall, I knock and open the door. Hoping I don’t find a naked Echo or worse, a girl in his bed. As I push the door open thankfully he has on a pair of cotton shorts and is alone. I take a moment to appreciate the ink that covers his back.

“Are you going to say something or stand there and check me out.” he says lazily.

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