Falling for Hadie (24 page)

“Hmm…let me think. Why would you find Wednesday mornings so appealing?” Mariah tapped a finger against her chin, her expression thoughtful. “Oh, that’s right! We have English first thing, and you and your boyfriend get to make goo-goo eyes at each other while I lurk in the background like a flat tire that isn’t getting any.”

“Getting
any
what?”

Mariah looked at me, her expression dubious. “Didn’t your parents ever tell you how babies are made?”

I shoved her with my shoulder and she laughed as we both walked into class together. The seats were just starting to fill in when our teacher finally walked in. Mariah turned to me with curious eyes. “Where’s Link? Shouldn’t he be here by now?”

“Maybe he’s late,” I said, pulling my phone out from my bag and checking the time. It was already 8:05.

Normally, Lincoln met me by my locker every morning, but I’d been distracted with Mariah to notice that he hadn’t shown up. When Ms. Flick wasn’t paying attention, I texted Lincoln, keeping my phone out of sight beneath my desk.

Where r u? English already started.

I stared at the screen for a minute, thinking he’d message straight back, but got no response. Mariah was impatiently tapping her fingers on the desk waiting for me to let her in on what was going on.

I shrugged my shoulders at her to let her know that I had no idea where Lincoln was. There was a chance he was sick and couldn’t make it, but I figured he would’ve at least messaged me to let me know he wasn’t coming today. It wasn’t like him to keep me out of the loop like that.

It wasn’t until I was walking out of English—and Mariah left me to go and say hi to Connor—that Lincoln finally messaged back.

Not feeling too great. Won’t be at school until Monday.

What’s wrong? :(

Just not feeling well.

Does that mean dinner and the gig are off?

I should be fine by Friday.

Ok great. Feel better. :)

Not really paying attention to where I was going, I walked straight into someone quite solid.

“Sorry!” I blurted out, raising my eyes to take in the six-foot, muscular guy standing in front of me. I was met with a chiseled jaw, sky blue eyes, and dark blonde hair.

Of course I just had to run into Bennett. Or maybe he’d run into me on purpose.

I started to walk around him, but he held out an arm to stop me. In the past, I would have curled against that arm without a second thought. Now, I just wanted to karate chop it off. That is, if I actually knew
how
to karate chop.

“Hadie, can I talk to you for a second?” Bennett’s voice was sobering, and I turned to him with curiosity.

His eyes were a mixture of emotions—none that I could be bothered to decipher. I was done with his childish games, done with the way he played with my emotions, like I was a freaking human yo-yo.

“What is it?” I snapped. “I have to get to my next class.”

Bennett sighed and pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been acting like a complete idiot lately. I shouldn’t have said all that stuff about your boyfriend, or kissed you. It was totally out of line.”

I stared at him, waiting for the punch line. I hadn’t seen this side of Bennett for a long time; not since we’d been younger and popularity hadn’t been such a big deal for him. He was the Bennett I’d been in love with, the one I’d do anything for. The new Bennett didn’t care about anything except for sleeping with girls and acting like a jerk.

“Riiiight.” I wanted to roll my eyes but decided against it. Someone had to be the mature one in this situation. “What about the part where you lip-planted that hussy from Penthill High? I say “lip-planted” loosely because I’m sure you’ve planted a lot more than that.”

A part of me, that tiny part that had loved and cared for Bennett, was furious, but I didn’t want Bennett thinking that his actions still mattered to me. Okay, so some of them did matter to me but what was the point in working through these issues that made up an itsy, bitsy part of me?

I was happier than I’d been in a weeks. I had Lincoln, I had my friends and I had my parents, so why would I need Bennett? Why would I let him back into my life only for him to, most likely, disappoint me again? I was done with being used and abused. I wasn’t his property and I certainly wasn’t going to run back to him just because he’d finally worked up the sense to apologize to me.

“Kimberley isn’t a hussy.” It was remarkable that he could say that with a straight face. “She was just…someone to pass the time with. Things with her are over now.”

“Oh, so she has a name? I’m impressed you were able to tear yourself away from her long enough to find that out.”

There went my anger, bubbling to the surface again. I didn’t want to do this here in the school hallway with him, but I was so damn mad that I couldn’t contain all that pent-up anger that I’d bottled up over the last few weeks.

I started to walk around him again but this time Bennett grabbed me by the arm and pushed me against the wall. My eyes locked onto his blue ones, and that stupid part of me that still cared about him gave in. I wanted to stomp on his feet and sprint down the hallway away from him, but his gaze was so serious that it had an immobilizing effect on me.

“Hadie, when did you get so petty?” He brushed away a few strands of my flyaway hair and exhaled. “Listen to me, shorty. Things with her are over. I made a stupid mistake; it was something I should never have done to you. You’re the only girl I’ve loved my entire life. I’m going to marry you one day.”

My eyebrows shot up at this sudden turn of events. I placed both hands on Bennett’s firm chest and pushed him away with as much force as I could muster. There was an unbridled rage snaking its way throughout my body and Bennett’s words had been the catalyst for it.

“Are you freaking insane! You’re going to MARRY me one day? On what planet does it look like I would ever forgive, let alone marry you?”

Hurt flickered in his eyes. “Hadie, listen to…”

“No, you listen to me.” I jabbed him hard on the center of the chest. “We are done. There is nothing left between us anymore. I had a crush on you for as long as I can remember. I never thought about other guys while you were in my life. I loved you so damn much, Bennett. There was a time where I seriously thought I would marry you, but that time has long past. You are no longer in my life—Lincoln is. Deal with it.”

Bennett’s nostrils flared and he narrowed his eyes at me. “You know, Hadie, I’m not the kind of guy to beg a girl to be with me. I don’t have trouble getting any girl I want.” He straightened up and glanced around to see if anyone had noticed our exchange. “If you want to be with that loser, then that’s your choice. But when he screws with you, don’t even think about crawling back to me.”

It was laughable that Bennett actually thought I would ever get back with him. I placed my hands on my hips and took in his appearance; the cocky expression on his face further hit home how pathetic he really was.

“Lincoln would never do anything to hurt me. I don’t have to worry about not feeling worthy of him like I did with you, because he never makes me feel like I am anything but his equal.”

“You think you have such a perfect little life, don’t you?” Bennett spat, his voice full of malice as a sneer spread across his face. “You think you have such perfect friends, huh?”

I suddenly felt small, like Bennett could easily reach out and squash me with a fist. He knew something that I didn’t and he loved holding whatever it was over my head.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, despite being afraid of what he would tell me.

Bennett’s lip turned up in a sneer. “You think Lana’s such a great friend, don’t you? Well, I bet she didn’t tell you that we’ve been sleeping together since junior year.”

A burning lump wedged itself in the center of my throat and my next words came out as though I was choking. “You’re lying.”

“I don’t need to lie about anything,” Bennett said, his voice low. “And after you and me started dating, she threw herself at me. I fucked her again, Hadie. I fucked her so hard she screamed my name.”

“You’re an asshole!” I cried, shoving him away from me with as much strength as I possessed. “Lana would never do that to me!”

“Oh, baby, she did. She did me hard. And Mariah knew all about it.”

I was stunned. I was speechless. I couldn’t form words.

“One more thing.” Bennett leaned in closer. “Lana was the one writing the shit on your locker.” With a look of satisfaction on his face, Bennett walked away down the hall.

Still reeling from his words, I staggered heavily against the wall, my head a mix of messed up emotions. Lana would never do that to me. She was my best friend. She loved me. Bennett had to be lying. He was making this up to upset me. Yes, that had to be it. He was a lying jerk.

I let out a breath that I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding in. Bennett made me feel so tense and on edge. I’d never been happier to see him walk away from me.

As I turned, I caught Becky watching me out of the corner of her eye. She smirked at me as I walked past and I couldn’t help but feel a shiver run down my back.

I didn’t have the energy to worry about Becky’s snide looks. I had to talk to Lana right now and get to the bottom of what Bennett had told me about her. I kept telling myself that it couldn’t be true but I wanted to hear the words right out of my best friend’s mouth.

I sent Lana a quick text message telling her not to go into her next class. I knew she and Mariah had Drama with Mr. Sewell and he wasn’t too strict.

As I exited the building and walked into the D block where the Drama room was, my phone beeped. It was a message from Lana letting me know that she and Mariah were waiting outside their classroom for me.

Taking a deep breath to subdue the unease seeping through me, I turned the corner and found Lana and Mariah standing where she said they would be.

“What’s up, Hadie?” Lana asked when she caught sight of me.

“Did you sleep with Bennett?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

Lana stumbled back, her eyes darting to Mariah. “Wh-what?”

Her reaction was all the confirmation I needed, but I wanted to hear her admit it. “Did you sleep with Bennett?”

“I…” Lana straightened up, her eyes narrowing. “Yeah, I did. He wanted me.”

I nodded, trying not to let the hurt show on my face. Lana had been acting weird towards me for some time, but I hadn’t thought much of it. Her happiness for Lincoln and me had been forced. She had stopped caring about me for a while now.

“You don’t feel bad about it, do you?”

Lana shook her head and looked a little surprised by my directness. “Not really. I mean, if he wanted you that much then he wouldn’t have slept with me.”

“Bennett told me that you were the one writing the stuff on my locker.” It was obvious that she had, and I was only bothering to bring it up because I wanted to know her reason. “Why would you do something like that?”

Lana shrugged like it didn’t matter to her if she lost my friendship or not. “When I started spending more time with Bennett, I realized that I wanted to be a part of his group. Bennett and Kance thought it would be funny to write shit on your locker, so I did it.”

“Lana, I loved you like a sister. We grew up together.” There was desperation in my voice as I spoke. “You didn’t have to do this to try and be popular.”

The expression on Lana’s face turned cold and her features became harsh. “It’s not about that. Why should you get easy access into their group just for dating a jock? I don’t get what these guys see in you. First Bennett and now Lincoln. What’s so special about you? What do you do to make them want you so much?”

“For starters, I don’t spread my legs like a two-dollar hooker.” The words fell out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

“Whatever,” Lana spat, her light brown eyes growing strangely dark. “I don’t need to be friends with someone like you. Kance was right when she said you were a loser.”

Lana shoved past me and stalked into the Drama room leaving Mariah standing outside with me.

Anger still surged through me and I wasn’t done with my confrontations yet. I turned back to face Mariah who was pressed against the wall looking guilty as hell.

“You knew about this the entire time, didn’t you?” I demanded.

Mariah looked genuinely devastated. “I swear I didn’t know that she was vandalizing your locker.”

“But you knew she was sleeping with Bennett.” It was more of a statement than a question.

Guilt plagued Mariah’s features as she nodded. “I did but let me explain…”

I held up a hand to silence her. “You don’t need to explain. I understand everything perfectly.”

Without a backwards glance at my backstabbing best friend, I stormed out of the building as my life fell apart around me.

Lincoln

My eyes raked over Hadie as she stood on my door step.

She looked beautiful in a simple way that only she could pull off. Her silky, brown hair was pulled up in a loose ponytail and loose tendrils of hair curled around her face. She wore a plain white dress that hugged her waist and then flared out loosely around her hips.