Page 10 of Scarlett and the Kiss Thief

“You know what’s hot? Being able to date in public without getting arrested. You’re going to give your dad a heart attack.”

“My dad won’t care. He’s cool. Unlike yours,” she said through fake coughing.

“Hey.” I shoved her shoulder. But she had a point. My dad said he’d ground me if he saw my skirt rolled up…which it currently was. I couldn’t even imagine what he’d do if I started dating a teacher. Which again, would be such hypocritical crap. Since he’d literally been my mom’s professor in college. Gross.

“I’m kidding. I love Uncle James. Now let’s go get Axel to fall in love with you.”

“How tragic,” someone said from behind us. No, not someone. Because I knew exactly who it was based on the way that her shrill voice made the little hairs on the back of my neck rise.

I turned to see Gigi standing there, her minions missing. They were probably off torturing a cat or something.

Gigi smiled. “You really think a guy like Axel Stevens would date a girl like you? Darling, there’s a reason you’ve been friend-zoned for 17 years.”

It didn’t seem like the time or place to tell her Axel and I had technically dated in pre-school.

“Because he…” she took a step forward. “Is so far out of your league. You know how I know that? Because he’s in mine.”

“The league of troll people?” Sophie said. “I don’t think so. And wake up call, Scarlett is one of the two most popular girls at this school. And the other isn’t you. It’s me.”

Gigi made a disgusted noise with her throat. “We’ll see about that. I’ve always wanted to know if Axel’s a good kisser.” She pushed through the doors to the cafeteria.

“What does she mean by that?” I asked.

Sophie cringed.

Oh God, no.I ran into the cafeteria.

Gigi had marched right up to my usual table. Where Axel and Jacob were already sitting. They didn’t look up at her as she approached. And for a second, I thought she might just walk right past them and go get a salad or something to eat. But no such luck.

My feet froze as I watched Gigi plop herself down right on Axel’s lap. She grabbed both sides of his perfect face and kissed him right on the mouth.

Sophie gasped.

I closed my eyes and turned away from them. I could feel tears pooling in the corners of my eyes. Of all the people Gigi could have kissed. Why did it have to be him? Why did she have to torture me? It felt like I’d been punched in the gut. Or like someone had stabbed my heart with a knife. Yeah, I was definitely going to be sick.

Liam walked up next to me. “Rough day?”

I sniffed. “What? No, everything’s fine.” I blinked away my tears before they could fall. I was not going to break down in the middle of the cafeteria in front of my little brother.

He lowered his eyebrows as he looked at me. “Want to sit with my friends instead of with those guys?”

Friends plural? He’d been going to this school all of five minutes. How did he already have a huge group of friends to sit with? I was supposed to be the one offering to let him sit with my friends. Not the other way around.

“She’s gone,” Sophie said with a slow exhale. “So much for phase three. You can’t sit on Jacob’s lap now. It’ll just seem like you’re mimicking Gigi and you’ll look so desperate.”

I felt desperate. But I wasn’t going to sit on Jacob’s lap. I wasn’t sure I was ever going to do that. But I also wasn’t going to cower either. “It’s fine, really,” I said. “We’re just friends.” The words felt like acid in my throat. “And we should sit with our friends.”

“We’ll sit with you too then,” Liam said. He gestured RJ over from their own table full of new friends.

“Savage,” RJ said as he joined us. “Right in front of you.” He shook his head.

“What?”

“You’re in love with Axel,” he said. “And Gigi just kiss-raped him.”

“Does everyone know I like him?”

RJ shrugged. “I guess everyone but him.”

Great.My little brother and cousin even knew how pathetic I was. And probably the whole school.Everyone but Axel.But was it everyone but Axel? Because I was pretty sure he knew it too. And he didn’t care.

It felt like everyone in the cafeteria was staring at me. I knew it was just in my head, but I just wanted to scream. Enough was enough. Axel Stevens didn’t like me. Clearly. He’d just made out with the person that had enjoyed making school a living hell for me for the past several years. And I didn’t freaking like him anymore either. He’d kissed the devil. He’d literally kissed every girl but me.

Everyone thought they knew me. But they didn’t know me. I could be bad just like Sophie could. And I was about to be very bad.

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