Page 46 of The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad

“No,” I said, looking at her streaks and piercings again in a new light. It wasn’t hard at all for me to believe Colton would be interested in her. They would look perfect on a cover for punk rockVogue. “But I mean, you’re just so cool. And Colton is…well, he drives me nuts most of the time.”

“We weren’t together long,” she said, setting aside the needle and pressing an ice cube against my ear. “It wasn’t anything serious, and we figured out pretty fast that we’re better off friends.”

Colton Bishop, friends with a girl—and not just any girl but this cool chick sitting before me? I never thought I’d see the day.

“Don’t get me wrong. It was hot.” Athena looked at me and grinned. “But it was nothing on the heat I see between the two of you.”

I snorted. “Oh please, we can’t stand each other.”

She shook her head. “Didn’t look that way to me. I could see sparks shooting from your eyes and his.”

“I loathe him, Athena, and I assure you, the feeling is totally mutual,” I laughed.

“Why are you guys here together then?”

I blinked. “Like I said, he’s my coach. Colton’s helping me with some things I wanted to do before graduation.”

Athena tilted her head. “Did he offer to help?”

“Only after being forced into it,” I said, thinking about Betty and the bet with Kyle.

“I know Colton,” she said. “He doesn’t get forced into anything. If he does something, it’s because he wants to.”

“I’ve known him since we were kids, and he’s always despised me,” I said. “There’s nothing going on between us.”

“Whatever you say.” She still sounded dubious, and I wanted to argue—but I forgot about that as she moved the cork and needle into place. “Are you ready?”

I took a deep breath and clenched my fists.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Afew minutes later, the little diamond studs were in my ears, shining in the light of the kitchen, and I couldn’t stop staring at them in the mirror. Yeah, it had hurt, but I was loving the results.

“They look fantastic,” I said, turning my head one way then the other. “I’ve wanted pierced ears since I was a little girl but never actually did it. Thank you so much, Athena.”

“My pleasure,” she said as she put away all of her things. “Just don’t forget what I told you, Sadie, about keeping them clean. Trust me, peroxide is your friend, and infections suck big time.”

I nodded. I definitely wouldn’t forget about that, wasn’t going to do anything to screw this up. This was one of the coolest things I’d ever done. It made me feel like I’d taken complete control of my body. The power and adrenaline coursing through me were heady.

“So, you did it,” Colton said as he walked up to us.

Putting down the mirror, I said, “Yeah, what do you think? I love them.”

“They look good,” he said, studying me with a frown. “But…”

“But what?” I asked.

“Something’s not right.”

Colton stared at me a second longer then reached a hand up to grip the hair clip. In one swift motion, he removed it, and my riotous curls came tumbling down around my shoulders.

“Ah, that’s better,” he said. “You look more like you.”

I didn’t know what to say. Colton had always teased me, and one of his favorite things he loved to hound me about was my hair. The comment was so un-Colton like. I felt as if I’d been blindsided by his niceness.

And then he had to go and ruin it.

“I almost didn’t recognize you without the crazy lion’s mane, Sadie. You can’t just alter your appearance like that,” he added. “It throws people off.”

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