Page 14 of Faux Real
Sawyer shakes his head, a disgusted scowl plastered on his face. “What happened to you, Kennedy? You used to be nice.”
“Iamnice, just not to Corrine,” Kenny scoffs. “And after what she did to me Sophomore year, I don’t have to be.” Her face falls. “You of all people should know.”
Sawyer takes a deep breath. “Yeah, well, I guess people change, right?” He nods toward me. “When push comes to shove, some of us upgrade, others...downgrade.”
Kennedy nibbles on her bottom lip. I just know that she’s trying to muster up a comeback but she’s taking far too long.Fuck it.In the midst of trying to put Kennedy down, Sawyer made an unfortunate error in judgment, he insulted me.
“A downgrade?” I say, utterly amused by his flawed logic. “What qualities are you basing your assessment on? Looks? Because in that case, I win. Charm? Me again. Intellect? Well, I’ll go out on a limb and say that I’m smarter than you. And then there’s wealth. Which I can guarantee, I have more of.”
Sawyer scoffs, making icy eye contact with Kennedy. “You sure know how to pick them.”
Kennedy crosses her arms and gives Sawyer an obvious and somewhat sassy once-over. “Clearly.”
Sawyer rolls his eyes. “Whatever, KC. Have fun withthat.” “I will!” she exclaims as Sawyer starts walking away.
When we’re finally alone in the hallway and Malibu Ken is out of earshot, I turn to Kennedy. “Care to explain what the fuck just happened?” I ask.
“It’s none of your business,” Kennedy mutters and begins walking down the hallway.
“I think implying that I’m your new boyfriend makes thisone hundred percent my business.”
“You’re right, I guess it does,” Kennedy says lifelessly, then pauses, her eyebrows knitting together. “You had several chances to say something...why didn’t you?”
Fuck.“Good question,” I murmur.
Kennedy leads us up the stairs to the third floor. “I guess I should say thank you for going along with it. I just—I don’t know. Sawyer is—”
“A douche?” I supply.
Kennedy lets out an emotionless chuckle. “Yeah, that’s one word for it.”
“I think that’s the reason I didn’t say anything,” I admit. “He was acting like a complete wanker.”
“This is the library,” Kennedy says, pointing toward two glass doors. “And yeah, well, he wasn’t always like that. I don’t really know what happened.”
I nod as we pass a few more rooms that supposedly are not worthy of an introduction. “What happened with you and Corrine? You said something about Sophomore year.” I am not normally this nosy, but I’m itching to know the details.
“I don’t really want to talk about it,” she whispers, pointing to a room with its door closed. “This is the guidance counselor’s office.”
“That bad, eh?” I ask, trying to read her face. It amazes me how she can go from being on one minute to completely off the next. Girls are peculiar.
“Let’s just say police were involved,” Kennedy sighs. “Not that anything came of it. Corrine’s father is the Chief. I doubt he’d let his own daughter be charged with—” She stops herself. “Doesn’t matter. It’s in the past.”
“Her dad’s a cop?” I muse. “That explains a lot.”
Kennedy frowns. “What do you mean?”
“She just seems like the type of person who thinks she can break rules and get away with it,” I explain.
“Sounds about right.” She nods then stops walking, her spirited eyes looking up at me. “Isyourdad a cop too?”
“Mine?” I throw my head back and laugh at the image of my father in a uniform. “No, not at all. Why would you ask me that?”
She cocks her head to the side, grinning. “Seems to me likeyouthink you can break rules and get away with it too.”
Ah, the motorcycle.“Are you going to issue me a blue slip?” I tease. “If I recall correctly, you did threaten me with that.”
Kennedy bites her lip, her eyes scheming. “No, I won’t,” she says slowly, taking two steps toward me. I can practically see the gears in her head turning. “Actually, I won’t give youanyblue slips this year.”
