Jaded

Laughter smattered across the auditorium, but Bryce took his time finishing our kiss before he lazily looked up and called out, "We're good. Thanks."

Principal Gregory coughed in disapproval and I slid off Bryce's lap.

"Thank you, Miss Jeneve, for putting our good tax payers' money to use. Chairs are meant to be sat upon."

"They're not as comfortable," I replied and I saw Principal Gregory hide a grin while the students broke out in laughter.

Principal Gregory nodded, "Thank you for pointing that out, Miss Jeneve, but that is not why we all have come together in this auditorium."

With those words, I was forgotten.

Principal Gregory looked over the auditorium and took a deep breath. It changed the atmosphere and everyone quieted. We all just waited.

"I am sure, by now, that everyone has heard the recent events that occurred over the weekend. Some schools would not openly address the tragic loss that we have experienced from the death of Leisha Summers, but I disagree. I have invited the local Sheriff to address some questions we all may be feeling and Miss Connors will have her own say about how to handle some of those emotions that you might be experiencing. After school, we will adjourn our last period thirty minutes earlier where a silent candle vigil will take place in the parking lot in memory of Leisha Summers." He nodded once and said, "With that—Sheriff Adley."

Sheriff Adley wasn't there to speak about Leisha's murder. He was there to address further safety in the community. He repeated most of what Corrigan had mocked, but without the buddy system. He said to be smart when leaving your home at night. Check in when you leave and always give an estimated time when you're to arrive and where. Make sure to check in again after you've arrived. Pepper spray is a weapon of choice among many police officers, its use wasn't deadly and still effective. Don't walk in any area with poor lighting. Park your vehicle under streetlights. Watch over your shoulder and if you feel someone is following, don't be afraid to call 911.

After he opened the forum for questions, he gave no comment on all the questions that were about Leisha. He only replied that his staff and deputies were pursing all avenues and hope to make an arrest in the near future.

Disappointment transcended the auditorium, but it was understood.

Miss Connors took the podium next and spoke about how to handle grief.

I tuned her out and left through the back door.

Mr. Sayword wasn't surprised when he saw my entrance in the art room.

The room was empty except for the two of us and he nodded in sympathy, "I'm sorry, Sheldon. I heard that you found your friend."

I shrugged and moved into the darkroom.

It didn't matter that it wasn't my film that I developed. My hands needed to be busy and moving.

After the second bell rang, I heard the murmur of voices on the other side of the door.

I sighed, replaced the camera I'd been holding, and left. Students were lingering around the tables.

I plopped on the nearest empty one and remained there, content to be alone when I heard a soft voice beside me, "Hey." She was teeny tiny with soft golden hair that surrounded a pointed nose. Her eyes consumed too much of her face. And she had the barest hint of lips I'd ever seen.

I studied her a moment, searched my database, and then said abruptly, "I have no idea who you are."

She flushed and hugged her books tighter to her chest. "I'm Grace Barton."

"You're Mena's new friend," I announced as comprehension flooded me.

Caution flashed over her features again and I got the distinct impression that a burst of wind could've knocked her over. "Yeah," She sighed and moved closer. "That's why I came over here."

"What do you want?" I asked flatly after she'd taken a few breaths for bravery.

She jumped slightly at my question, but rolled her eyes in self-condemnation. "I'm here because Mena's really hurt by what you did."

"I didn't do anything to her."

"She said that you're not friends with her because Bryce and Corrigan don't like her."

I laughed and remarked dryly, "She's gotta be pretty stupid to screw that up. Mena's hot. Corrigan always likes hot girls, but if she did something to piss him off—then that's on her, not me. I don't tell them who to like and who not to like."

Grace looked like she was about to fall over again.

"And you didn't help the situation," I said flatly.

Grace frowned and asked, timidly, "What do you mean?"

"You're a social loser. If you want Mena to be liked by me, Corrigan, and Bryce—she shouldn't be hanging out with people like you and your brother. Whoever invited her to your party saw that she'd already been outcasted. Mena could've fought it and been fine, but you guys sent her the invitation because you saw someone 'cool' who could be in your crowd."

Grace gasped and swayed on her feet.

I stood up. "Look, I'm not saying this to be mean. I'm just saying it because it's true. And I'm not going to be duped into feeling guilty that Mena has some hurt feelings. She knows the deal. If she wants back in, she's gotta earn that respect. The rules apply to everyone."

"Sheldon," Mr. Sayword spoke up, across the classroom.

I turned and saw Corrigan at the door, watching me.

"Yeah?" I asked. I saw a note in Mr. Sayword's hand.

"You're wanted in the counselor's office."

My eyes caught and held Corrigan's. We both thought the same thing, group therapy time.

"Fine," I muttered and left the room. Corrigan fell in step beside me when he asked, "What was that about in there?"

"Just telling a social loser that she's a social loser." I remarked.

Three other students were there and we saw Bryce lounging against the wall. His eyes sharpened when he saw us and he pushed off from the wall. Corrigan booted the students off the couch and we sat down instead. Bryce leaned on the armrest near me until Miss Connors stuck her head out and gestured for all three of us.

"Come on back, guys." She said, friendly.

She'd set up three plush chairs around her office and I saw, surprised, that it was cleaner than my last visit. Miss Connors looked tired, but professional with her outfit spot-clean and pristine.

She looked like a therapist.

"So," she breathed out and sent another warm smile at us. At me. "How are you guys doing?"

Corrigan leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as he remarked, "I'm having a hard time handling all the emotional distress that my two best friends have recently undertaken due to the traumatic loss that they witnessed."

Bryce and I both laughed.

A grin slipped past Corrigan's lips, but he added as he attempted to sound vulnerable, "I feel left out because I wasn't there when they found her body, but I realized over the weekend that this was a pattern that's been constructed since Bryce and Sheldon started sleeping together. Isn't there a term for that? Peer isolation?"

I fought a grin, but Miss Connors rolled with it. She nodded and asked, "And when did that start?"

Bryce spoke this time, "First time we screwed was in freshman."

"I remember." Corrigan nodded. "It was that party when Trevor Bently thought he could score with Sheldon and you told him that she'd be busy with you instead."

Bryce grinned. "And he punched me, hit like a girl."

There had been no Trevor Bently, punching, or party when Bryce and I had first slept together. And that's why I loved my two best friends so much. They were lying for me. She knew it. And they continued to lie.

Miss Connors shifted in her seat and stared at me. "I'm glad that you think this is a joke because I'm sure your friend would've thought the same about you. Wait—no, she wouldn't have. Your friend probably would've cried if it had been you instead of her. How do you feel about that, Sheldon?"

Bryce commented, "You're a great counselor. You make people feel like shit."

"No doubt," Corrigan added his two cents.

"And when the two of you stop talking for Sheldon, maybe we can actually get somewhere instead of all three of you jerking my chain," Miss Connors said briskly. "Sheldon, I asked you a question. How do you think Leisha would've reacted if your places were switched?"

Bryce opened his mouth again, but Miss Connors cut him off. "I want to hear Sheldon's voice. She's got one."

He closed his mouth and leaned back.

I leaned forward and said simply, "The difference between Leisha and me is that she was a decent person. I'm not."

Miss Connors was cool when she asked, "So is this your martyr bit? Am I suppose to tell you how great and wonderful you are, how much potential you have? I've already said that. If you choose to listen or believe me, then that's on you. It's your life at the end of the day. You're the one who falls asleep at night, but you still haven't answered my question. How do you think Leisha would've reacted?"

"I can't answer that because I'm not Leisha."

"You were friends. That's what everyone says. It's funny that I never saw the two of you converse in the hallways. I usually notice that, but everyone has told me that you guys were friends with her."

I leaned back and said coolly, "I considered her a friend, yes. Not best friends, but I liked her."

"Enough to have a guy she liked call her. Right? Carlos said that you were the one who suggested that he should call her. You were looking out for a friend, weren't you?"

"What?" I countered. "Does that make me a decent person now?"

"No," Miss Connors clipped out. "One act of decency just shows that there is decency inside, but it doesn't make a person decent. No, but that wasn't your question was it? Your real question is if I think you're a decent person, right?"

Bryce remarked, seemingly casual, "Why don't you back off of her?" He looked bored, but everyone in the room knew he wasn't.

"And you come stepping to the plate," Miss Connors stated. She waved a finger to each of us, "Is that what you do? You step up and shield Sheldon when you think she can't handle anymore?"

Bryce leaned forward. "Why don't you stop trying to classify us as awful people and do some counseling? That's what you are, aren't you?"

"I think my question to Sheldon was if she wondered if I wondered if she was a decent person. An 'awful person' never came into the conversation."

"What's your point?" Bryce demanded as he leaned back, back in cool control.

Miss Connors watched him and shook her head as a grin tugged at her lips. "Bryce Scout, you'd be surprised how many times I hear your name in this office. Little girls who think they're in love. Some just want to lose a few more pounds so you'd notice them. Some try to convince themselves that you'll love them if they sleep with you or sleep with your friends. And then there's the scorned ones. The ones who finally realize that you don't love them and you'll never love them. Those are the ones that break my heart because they think they've lost everything." She shook her head, astounded. "How do you do that, Bryce Scout? How do you get everyone to want you so bad and they still want you even when you've tossed them out?"

Bryce locked eyes with her and neither budged.

I sighed and stated, "I know what you're doing."

"Hold on, Sheldon. I'm talking with Bryce Scout now."

I ignored her. "You're trying to understand us so you're going after all of us. You went after me, Bryce, and Corrigan's next. You want to know who speaks up for who because you want to understand us."

She ignored me in return and murmured, "So, Bryce Scout, how does it feel to have Sheldon think you can't handle anymore? She just stepped up to save you, like you did for her."

"I'm bored," Corrigan proclaimed.

A smile came to Miss Connors as she reflected, "And your best friend just threw in his bit. He's trying to save you too."

"Maybe they're trying to save you," Bryce said softly.

"Oh yes," Miss Connors breathed in appreciation. "I get why all the girls pander for you so much. You've got this cool arrogance that make them flock to you. It's interesting, though, because everyone in this room knows that the one girl you love, you can't get."

She looked at me without flinching, "So what's it about you, Sheldon? What've you got that all the other girls don't? And Corrigan? How do you feel on the outskirts as you mentioned before? You've got two best friends who circle around each other, sleep with each other, and there's you."

"This is a waste of time." Bryce yawned, pointedly. "You're just attacking us. Where's the sympathy? We found a dead body Friday night. I thought this was about that."

Miss Connors looked at him steadily and replied, "Really? You really want this session to be about that when the three of you came in here and gave a dog and pony show for me? Because all four of us know that when you walked in here, there was nothing I could do to hear the truth from the three of you. How it really feels to know someone that died, to know that you were the ones who found her first, to see a dead body, and to know that she was killed by the same pervert who's sending sick twisted notes to Sheldon." She waved a finger around the room. "All four of us know that went on and yet, the three of you band so tight together, no one can get in. I knew no matter how much education I have behind my belt, the three of you would never let a stranger into that bond."

Bryce fell silent.

Corrigan fell silent.

So did Miss Connors.

So I spoke up, "It's not you, Miss Connors. I don't talk to them either."

She was surprised. I saw a brief flash in her eyes, but Miss Connors recovered instantly and asked, "Have you ever?"

"What?"

"Have you ever talked to someone?"

I had. I had talked to my parents. To my father once.

Corrigan and Bryce didn't say anything, but I knew they both thought the same thing.

My parents were in the room, even though they were across the ocean.

I relented, "My parents."

"And they left, didn't they?" Miss Connors asked, nonplussed. She leaned forward. "For the record, Sheldon, I think you have truly awful parents. They left their child when it was legal to leave their child. I can't do a damn thing about that and they're very self-absorbed when it comes to their only daughter who has every right to be as bitter and angry as you are. I get why you don't respect me. I really do. I wouldn't either if I had a mother like yours. But I want to make one thing very clear—these two guys will not leave you if you talk to them."

She leaned back again and added, "I've talked to a lot of students and the three of you are always mentioned as the top dogs in this school. I'll be honest, until the last few days, I would've thought the worst about you two, Bryce and Corrigan. But I've also heard some great things about you guys. You protect Sheldon. The two of you are incredibly loyal to your friends. So I'll just say, and this is for you Sheldon, that these two best friends you have will not leave you if you talk to them. It'll draw them closer to you. You will not break down if you cry about Leisha. And that's it for today. I want all three of you back in here in two days. Have a good day and don't skip any classes."

Miss Connors dismissed us and we left, slower than when we'd entered.





Chapter 18





After our session with Miss Connor, neither of us wanted to be in school. After we saw the majority of teachers wandering around, comforting students, and only a handful of students were actually attending classes—Corrigan had bailed. Bryce and I were gone after that.

And now I tilted my head back as Bryce's lips settled on my neck where he sucked, licked, and generally made me melt. One of his hands held my hip while the other slid up and down my thigh in a slow caress. His legs rested on the bed to my side, but the rest of his body lightly rested over me. He traveled up my jaw and found my lips again. I gasped as his fingers worked the inside of my jeans and his tongue swept inside.