Page 31 of The Good Girl

I’m not sure when I decided that riling up Lena’s jealous side was a good idea, whether it was when I saw her glancing over at the jock or if it was when she didn’t meet my gaze, but either way, I find myself flirting with her friend and ignoring her. I know it’s backfired when I see her drinking from her bottle, hand clenched around the plastic, fingers digging in as she swallows. The movement of her throat is like an ‘Oh shit’ moment, and I know that whatever comes next is going to piss me off.

The corner of her mouth twitches seconds before she shouts, “Hey, Sam! You want to take me out tonight?”

She wouldn’t dare. Would she? The perfect little princess was going to go and hang out with a pretty boy footballer on a Friday night? Drinking? I think fucking not. I watch as the burly motherfucker says yes like he’s won the lottery, and I stand there as she leaves with him like I’ve been glued to the spot. What the heck just happened?

I won’t let this happen. I won’t let her push me away.

“Hey, you want to go to that party together?” I say casually to Serena. I knew she’d be there, with or without me, but it might just piss off Elena if I was there with her best friend. I’d seen Serena there before, but I’d always been with Blythe or one of the guys getting high, and cheerleaders weren’t usually my type. Too high maintenance.

She replies shyly, but it feels insincere. “Yeah…”

“I’ll pick you up at nine.” I nod, before leaving. I didn’t want to hang around here with the cheerleaders and jocks if Elena wasn’t here.

* * *

“What the fuck are you doing here with her?” Blythe demands as she corners me in the kitchen. She’s wearing a black denim skirt and crop top, leaving her belly button ring and hip tattoo exposed. I wonder if Elena has any secret piercings. I grin, I doubt it. But then again, she did get a tattoo with Athena and Tabitha. A tattoo which I still had yet to see.

The music blaring out of the speaker system isn’t to my taste, but at least it’s not clubland shit. The huge house is full of faces I recognize. All of the Legacies who are currently in Silvercrest are here, I realize, as I spot Atlas in the hallway, while Tabi and Attie are headed towards the kitchen. Hunter will be here somewhere if Atlas is here, and when I see my friends Max and James vanish outside, I know Clayton is here getting high somewhere, which means Noah must be lurking around too, but I can’t see Elena yet. Serena is in the lounge chatting with some of the other girls from the squad, I can see them look my way every now and again as they talk about me.

“Huh?” I say as I grab a bottle of vodka from the freezer and pour myself a drink. One good thing about rich-kid house parties was the choice of alcohol, I never had to drink warm, flat beer or cheap wine.

“The cheerleader, Tristan.” Blythe jabs a finger in my shoulder. “Is that your fetish now? First that Montgomery slag and now Serena Suliman?”

“I’ve warned you.” Taking a slow sip of my drink, I count to ten. “Don’t talk about Lena like that.”

She scoffs. “So, what? You’re friends now? What Atlas said was right, about you wanting her?”

She steps back, with her arms crossed, and I know she’s angry. I never promised Blythe anything, we were never even in a relationship because I could never give her that. I explained that countless times. We got high, we fucked. We used each other. That’s all it was.

“The head cheerleader offered it up on a plate and now you want the whole squad? Is that it?” she snarls, and I know she’s drunk. She’s always nasty when she’s had too much, but it’s not my responsibility to look after her.

I grab a beer for Serena from the fridge and pop the cap off. “It has nothing to do with you, Blip. So, leave it.”

Blythe slams her hand down on the kitchen counter. “Blip? Did you just call me a blip?”

“Did I?” I shrug as I leave her simmering in her rage.

“Fuck you, Tristan. You’ll come crawling back when you get bored with the innocent act,” she calls as I head back into the lounge.

I haven’t even been here for ten minutes and my night is already going to shit. I sit beside Serena, trying not to flinch as she links her arm with mine and leans in to talk to me. She spouts some shit about the squad and their new routine when Lena arrives, under the arm of the meathead.

There’s something about the glint in his eye I don’t like, earlier he looked pleased, like he was the luckiest guy ever, and now he looked…. predatory. And I hated him for it.

Lena is wearing a fitted navy dress with gold buttons, embossed with anchors. It hugs every curve of her body, and it’s making me angry how everyone keeps glancing her way. Didn’t they realize that she was gorgeous before? Were they blind?

Sam’s arm slips from her shoulders and comes down around her waist, as he pulls her in and whispers something in her ear. She looks up at him and nods with a small flirty smile, but I know it’s all pretend. Everything with Elena is an act. Except when she’s with me. Even the other Legacies never see the real her, because she keeps them at arm’s length.

Watching them, I take another sip of my drink, it makes my skin crawl the way he keeps touching her. His hands are on her hip, on the bottom of her back, her arm, and he even brushes her hair away from her face.

“Don’t they make the perfect couple?” someone says, and Serena laughs.

I watch them both as they do some shots with some of the football team before moving into another room. I debated following, but I wasn’t some puppy dog who was going to beg for its master.

“Yeah, they’re definitely homecoming king and queen material,” Serena agrees as she leans into me. “It’s just a shame about all those rumors from last year. Sam really doesn’t deserve all the whispering.”

I take a drag of a joint someone’s offered me, I know Lena hates it, but tonight I’m wound tighter than a coil. Ignoring the gossiping, I try to casually look around and see if I can spot Lena. Whoever’s house this is, liked an open plan, and while I could see into the kitchen and the finishing room, I still couldn’t spot her or the jock.

A dark-haired girl called Shanice tuts, “Yeah, like I can’t believe that Chelsea thinks anyone would believe her lies.”

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