"She's with me." Mason scowled at him.
Logan added, "And she's family. She's my family."
Nate shrugged. "That's why no one's spoke about this to you guys. They knew how you'd react."
Logan's eyes switched to mine. They were dark and angry. I stiffened as he asked me, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because it's my problem, not yours."
Mason exploded now. He lifted me in the air so I was straddling him. Grabbing my chin, he peered into my eyes. "Are you kidding me?"
I gulped at the rage from him, but I tightened my resolve. "It's my problem, not yours. I'm the girl coming into their group. I'm the one who's going to have to deal with them in the locker rooms or the bathrooms. You can't protect me everywhere, Mason."
"They won't touch you. I won't allow it."
I stuck my chin out and folded my arms. "I can't earn their respect if you're the one that's demanding it. I have to demand it. I have to earn it from them." I waited a heartbeat. I was too scared to breathe. "You know I'm right."
Mason was locked in a stand-off against me. He knew I was right. I knew I was right. His intimidation could only go so far, especially with these girls. These four girls were at the top of their school. They were tough. They weren't afraid of getting dirty, and they were loyal to each other. If I didn't want to go to school with fear every day, I would have to stand on my own against them. Mason would be gone after a semester; then it'd just be me and Logan. I needed to do this now.
He sighed and leaned back. He grumbled, "This is bullshit, Sam."
Relief burst inside of me. It was overwhelming, and I almost slumped against him, but I kept myself sitting up. My thighs tightened around him and I sucked in a ragged breath. I couldn't believe it had been that easy.
But it wasn't.
He lifted his head and met the gazes of his friends, one by one. "But the girls are exiled." He turned to Nate. "Is that going to be a problem with you?"
Logan let loose a whoop, but covered it up with a cough. The wicked grin couldn't be hidden.
Nate groaned, "Fine. That's not a problem."
"You sure?" Mason asked, heated.
"I'm sure. Like I said, Parker's not an exclusive thing. Might be good if she starts to realize that sooner rather than later."
Mason looked across the table. "Is that a problem, Fischer? I know you and Jasmine hook up."
He lifted his hands in surrender. "No problem at all. I knew it'd come to this anyway." He gave him a crooked grin.
The two other guys nodded their agreement, and it was done. Just like that. Whatever Mason meant by exiled, the rest of the guys would follow through.
After another hour on the patio, I grew restless and needed a bathroom break. Mason looked up, silently asking if I needed him with me, but I shook my head. I needed to start handling the girls on my own; besides, I had spotted a few of my friends below us. Adam was there, and I knew Becky and her boyfriend wouldn't be far. I spotted Lily and Anne from the diner as well, so I wanted to say hello.
As I weaved through the crowd, I caught sight of Heather. She looked out of place. Her eyebrows were bunched together in confusion. Two guys stepped into her but she swung to the side and evaded their drunken steps. That was when she saw me and her face cleared of all anxiety.
"There you are."
As she drew close, I frowned. "Hi. What are you doing here?"
She was shoved forward from someone, but she rounded with a growl emanating deep from her throat. They were already gone. Her shoulders dropped and she turned back. "I wanted to make sure you were okay."
I continued to frown at her.
"I didn't know if you had told Mason and Logan about the Broudou siblings?"
"Oh yeah." It all flooded back to me, but I shrugged. "A lot happened that night. I haven't even gotten around to telling Mason about those guys."
"You haven't?" Her eyes went wide.
"Yeah." I grinned, ruefully, and led the way for the bathroom. "Like I said, a lot has happened."
"Like what?" Interest sparked in her.
"I'll tell you later, much later. It's a long story." We grew closer to the bathroom. I didn't want to use mine since Mason kept the doors locked during parties so I picked one in the basement. The downstairs was less crowded, and there wasn't a line. But the door opened and Parker led her group out of the room. They were headed upstairs, we were headed behind them.
It was a stale-mate as Parker careened to a halt. The rest of her group stopped with varying stages of hostility.
I gulped.
Parker stood and sneered at me, and her best friend Kate stepped to the side. The other two went to her other side, Jasmine and Natalie…I think?
Heather bristled next to me. "What are you looking at?"
Kate, who had a wiry body and snapping hazel eyes, skimmed her up and down. She had a similar sneer to her thin lips and brushed some of her dark brown hair back. While Parker was dressed in tight blue jeans, ripped at the knees, and a tight white top, her best friend was dressed in black. Her pants were a second skin and the top molded to her body. The other two had similar outfits, all tight, all slutty. Their bra straps were visible, except for Kate. She didn't seem to be wearing a bra. All of them had athletic bodies, with tight muscles, but I knew Heather could hold her own.
Kate advised against it. "Don't get involved, Jax."
She folded her arms. "You think that's ever stopped me before."
Natalie spoke up, flicking her long black hair over her shoulder at the same time, "Tate's back. Did you know that?"
Heather froze, her eyes went wide. Something that looked close to panic started to appear, but then she shook her head. Her own hostility showed now. "You're pissing me off. So what? Tate and I stopped being friends long ago, around the time she got friendly with you, Tommy P's."
"Tommy P's." Kate rolled her eyes. She folded her arms and stepped forward. She was the leader. "You seriously still call us that? We're not princesses anymore." Then her eyes slid to mine and hardened. "We're more like bullies now."
"Oh, jeez." Heather threw her hands up as curses spilled from her lips. "It's going to be like that?"
"Yeah," Kate snapped. Her eyes were heated. "So stay out of it."
Then an elbow was linked with mine, and she tugged me close. "No. I'm sick and tired of watching you guys do the same crap to other girls." Her chin hardened and she raised it a notch. "You've never gone after me so maybe it's my turn. Maybe if you're going after my friend, you're going to have to go after me too. And you might be surprised at how many friends I have at our school, friends that you don't even know about. How's that for fighting words?"
"Your funeral." Kate was cold as she raised an eyebrow, but then she stepped back. She commented under her breath as her friends circled around us, "Duly noted, Jax." Her eyes snapped to mine. "And thanks for the exile, bitch. You just made it worse."
Heather sucked in her breath as the four filed in a single line and went up the stairs. Once they were out of earshot, she whirled to me. "They were exiled?"
I nodded. That couldn't be good, I knew that much.
"Do you know what that means?"
I shook my head.
"They're out, Sam." Her hands gripped both of my arms and squeezed tight. "They're fully on the outs with the guys."
"What does that mean?"
"That means that they're not included with anything anymore. The guys are closing ranks and those girls," she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, "were the only girls they included in their group, but now they're on the outs. That means no talking to them, no sleeping with them, not even hanging out. The guys won't acknowledge them in the hallways or anywhere. Being exiled means that they're strangers to the guys. Oh. My. God. Mason did that?"
I gulped. That seemed harsh, excessively harsh. But that's who Mason is…
Heather started to jump up and down.
I'd never seen her so excited.
"You have no idea what th
is means, do you?"
I shook my head. "This was my life about five months ago."
"Yeah, but not for those four. This is awesome, Sam. Get excited. Your boy delivered a huge blow to them, and it's going to sting for a long time." A smile stretched from ear to ear over her face. "And you have no idea how many other girls hate those four in school. Those four just got a lot of enemies that can finally push back. You have no idea!"
"You said that you have friends at school?"
Heather stopped bouncing. Her smile fell flat. "Yeah, I lied about that. I've got a few, but most of my friends go to Roussou."
"What's wrong?"
She glanced over her shoulder and bit her lip. "I'm still getting comfortable with this crowd. I'm used to being considered the enemy."
"You came here for me?"
She gave me a fleeting smile. "Yep, so you're stuck with me now. Let's go."
I gestured to the bathroom. "I really do need to go."
"Okay." But she kept looking around.
"What are you doing, Heather?"
"Looking for new friends." Her eyes snapped with a warning. "We're going to need them if we're going against the Tommy P's."
"I thought you said there were a lot of girls who could push back now?"
"Doesn't mean they're going to help us." She gestured towards the pool table. "I'm going to be over there. I know a few of those girls from the short time I was on the tennis team. Kate hates tennis, if I'm remembering right, and I know a few of those girls hated her back." She shooed me away. "Hurry up with the bathroom. There are a lot of people you need to meet."
She sauntered towards a group that looked perfect with smooth golden hair, tanned bodies, and faces that could've been in magazines. Each of them seemed cautious as Heather approached them, but it wasn't long until the group had circled her; listening intently.
Heather would have no problem making friends. I remembered Mason's words when he said Heather Jax wasn't a normal girl. I was glad she had befriended me. My gut was telling me I'd need all the friends I could get, and making friends was not a skill I had.
I turned around, and found myself face to face with someone else. I scowled. "What are you doing here?"
Jeff rolled his shoulders back and stuck his fingers in his hair. The ends were sticking up, but he spiked it higher. He flashed me a grin. "What do you think? Too high?"
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Jeff."
"Alright, alright." He stuck his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched together. He looked even smaller, and he was skinny enough. "So what's up with you and Jax?"
My eyes narrowed. "You know Heather?"
"Been to her place a few times."
There it was again, his same vague answers that I heard for three years. "Jeff," I warned. I didn't have time for his games. I needed to be making friends. No, I had to pee first.
"Okay, okay." He chuckled, "I come to you as a friend."
"You aren't anything else."
He frowned. "I know. You don't have to sound so happy about that."
"You cheated on me. For two years."
He lifted a shoulder in an easygoing shrug. "Bygones. I thought we made peace."
"I thought so too."
He studied me for a moment and then smirked, laughing some more. "Okay. I got it. No games, but seriously, how do you know Jax?"
"I work at Manny's." I frowned. "I thought you knew that."
"I didn't. Things make sense now."
I was growing tired of the conversation, but I knew something was wrong. He was stalling. "Are you going to tell me what you want or not? I just got served papers from the Tommy Princesses. Heather and I have to scramble so I don't get my ass handed to me at school."
"You?" His grin turned into a leer and he looked me up and down. "You can take 'em."
"There are four of them."
He shrugged again. "You could still take 'em. I heard about your rumble with Tate at that cabin party. You're tougher than you look. I think its cause you've got runners' legs. Might look stringy, but damn there are muscles there. If anything, you could just run in circles or run away. They won't catch you."
"Not helping," I growled before I started to move past him. He had wasted enough of my time.
"Okay, hey, hey. Stop. Please." He backtracked in front of me with his hands held in the air. I started another way, but he blocked me. "Please, Sam. I'm embarrassed about this and I don't know who else to talk to. You and me are different."
"I know. There is no 'you and me.'"
He scratched at his head. "No, I mean you're different than all the other girls. I know you and me weren't a good thing—"
My eyebrow arched.
He amended, "—and by that I mean to say that I wasn't good in a relationship. I'm still not good in a relationship."
"Wait." Wariness came over me now. "Are you still dating Jessica?"
His hand fell to his side with a thump. "Are you kidding? She's dating some wrestler from community college."
And from how he looked away, I knew there was more to it. I guessed, "And she's cheating on him with you?"
He looked down at the floor.
"Do you not learn, Jeff? My god." I wanted to wring his neck, but I needed to make myself clear. "Whatever you're going to ask of me, there will be no Jessica or Lydia attached at your hip. I mean it. You go back and forth with Jessica. I have no idea why, but I won't have her in my life again. I am done with both of them."
"I'm done with them too. I mean it. And that isn't what this is about. I promise."
I heard the insistency in his tone. I wanted to walk away from him, the guy deserved it after what he had done to me, but my feet didn't move. Then I realized what I heard, there was also desperation in him. And something that sounded close to…agony? When I looked again, I was seeing a different Jeff. He'd been a sarcastic badboy, but there was something new now. Vulnerability.
"What do you want?" I folded, but I was cursing at myself in my head.
A grin flared before he nodded, somber again. "Okay. So, we both know our history. I cheat on every girl I date. But I've met someone new."
I already knew where he was going with this. "And you don't want to do that to her?"
He nodded.
"You don't want to cheat on her?"
He nodded again, more eager.
"And you want to be the good guy she thinks you are?"
"Yeah! See you're perfect for this. It's like you know me."
I smacked him in the back of his head. "Because I do and you're not that guy. You cheat, that's what you do. Stop cheating and your problem is solved. Stop wasting my time. I have a mission."
"What mission?"
"I need friends. I have to make friends."
"I'm your friend."
"No, you're not. You're my ex boyfriend. We're not friends."
I started to leave again, but he darted in front. "Hear me out, please."
I growled at him.
"I will help you with your mission."
"You will?" Suspicion slammed against my chest. "How?"
"I know a lot of these girls. I cheated on you, a lot."
I growled at him again.