Page 86 of The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad

Betty was sitting across from me at one of the many tables here at Shady Grove. We were having our five o’clock tea. Cora was there, too, sipping her Earl Grey. So much had happened that I didn’t really know where to start, but I gave it a shot anyway.

“It’s going,” I said. “There are only four more items left to do, but they won’t be easy.”

Cora took another sip of tea then said, “Only four? Well, that’s just wonderful. And your coach? How’s he doing?”

“Yes, dear sweet Colton,” Betty smiled. “How is our boy?”

“He’s good,” I said, trying not to blush. I didn’t think Colton would appreciate being called “dear” or “sweet” since he was neither. But Colton could fight his own battles, as he’d proven once again today. “He got into another fight at school, punched a boy right in the face, nearly knocked his teeth out. Though the guy deserved it,” I muttered.

“Well now,” Betty said, leaning forward, “I must hear more. What was this fight about?”

“Did the other boy get any hits in?” Cora asked.

I shrugged. “He tried. But Colton was upset—and absolutely in the right this time.”

Remembering the scene I’d walked in on, I grimaced. Kyle and Zayne were at Kyle’s locker—where I’d been headed—and Billy was there, too. He’d apparently seen something, some sign of affection, between the other two guys and couldn’t resist being a jerk.

“Damn Z,” Billy said. “If I’d known you swung that way, I would’ve covered myself up in the shower.”

Zayne for his part rolled his eyes. “Not much to cover, my friend.”

Kyle grinned at this, but Billy was not amused.

“What are you smiling about queer?” he said to Kyle. “Your brother’s not here now. I could jack you up, and even your boyfriend here wouldn’t say a word. It’s against team policy. Never rat out a teammate.”

Zayne slowly shook his head. “I don’t know about that. Pretty sure bullying’s against team policy, too.”

“So, you’re taking his side over mine?” Billy scoffed.

“Yeah,” Zayne said. “I am.”

“You don’t have to stick up for me,” Kyle said. “I can handle him.”

“But you shouldn’t have to.”

Billy hooted out a laugh, and it wasn’t a pretty sound. “You’re just gonna stand there and pretend like you didn’t make fun of him and his uptight girlfriend along with the rest of us? Wow, Z. That’s real big of you.”

“Some of us evolve,” Zayne said. “And some of us stay assholes forever. Guess which camp you’re in, Billy.”

“Yeah right.” Billy looked to Kyle who seemed to be bracing himself. “Do you know what we used to say about you?”

That was my cue to step in, but before I could make it, Colton said “I got this, Sadie,” shot past me and into the fray, placing himself between Billy and the other two.

“What’s going on here?” he asked.

“It was a running team joke,” Billy said, ignoring Colton, not taking his eyes off Kyle. “If your brother wasn’t always there to defend you, we would’ve settled it a hundred times over.”

“Maybe you need another warning, Billy boy,” Colton said menacingly.

Billy either didn’t hear or didn’t care at this point.

“We always wondered,” he said, taking a step forward, “why you two hung out with a girl like Sadie. I mean, she’s no prize to look at. She doesn’t party or mess around. But then we figured, you and your brother must be hitting that. It was the only thing that made sense.”

I gasped, couldn’t help it. His words were so vile. Billy glanced from me to Colton, who looked like his head was about to explode. But my mind was having trouble processing it all. So, people had actually been saying this behind our backs? Colton knew, and that was why he… This was why he got in fights all the time? And what did Billy mean first saying I was uptight then implying I would…with both… God, some people really were disgusting.

With a hateful smirk, Billy said, “You want to settle this for us, Colton? You guys take turns or what?”

Colton went at him then, and it was as if someone threw a switch. He wasn’t holding back. Billy was on the floor, his mouth a bloody mess, before I could draw my next breath. Colton looked like he wanted to kill him, and I wasn’t sure what to do. Kyle and Zayne were frozen, looking on as if they couldn’t believe what was happening, watching as the two boys punched and rolled. So, I did the only thing I knew would break up the fight.

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