Bitter Kisses (It's Just High School #3) - Thandiwe Mpofu Page 0,97
up for the games just to see Julian Fitz with those little starved eyes and he, well, he looked for you too.”
Oh God.
“How… how do you even know all that?”
“You’d be surprised at the things I know, Mia, trust me on that.”
I don’t doubt it.
I remember the way she and her squad handled Casey before. They didn’t shout or curse her out. They just said a few things and sis was about to pee herself before she stumbled away.
“My mind is reeling.”
“You’re smart, you’ll catch up,” she says softly. “But what I want to know is…”
“About Liam, and whether or not I’m in love with him, is that right?”
“In a nutshell.”
“Why would you ask me that when you know I don’t remember him?”
She steps closer to me and then tentatively reaches for my arm. Before I can freak out, I realize that I was trembling when she held me sit back down on the bed. God, I hurt all over. That morphine must have worn off by now.
“Thanks.”
“I was sick of waiting for you to fall over.”
“Have you always been this….”
“Bitchy?”
“Well, yes.”
“Oh yeah, unlike my sister,” she seethes.
What’s that about?
“Well?” I mutter. “Why do you say I should remember him? Attending football calls doesn’t mean anything.”
“Oh, come on Mia, I asked because I saw Julian was in here today.”
Yes, he was, listening as I divulged my fucked up past to a room full of people I knew didn’t want us together.
“Yes, and?”
“Didn’t your little heart do a one of those cliché dances?” she asks, looking frazzled and out of her depths.
“My heart?”
“Yes,” she says, looking nervous as hell and confused. “I read about it. People who are in love know each other, like their hearts flip or stop beating.”
“Wouldn’t that mean I’d be dead?”
“Urgh, come in Mia, don’t mess with me. Don’t hearts do that?”
Who is this girl and what did she do with, ‘love is a meaningless emotion, felt by meaningless people with nowhere meaningful to go’?
“Hmm, Roxy, I might have a shitty memory but tell me this, are you in love with this Liam character?” I ask, unable to keep the small smile off my face.
“Hey, hey, listen! I don’t do love!” she says with so much vehemence that for a moment we fall silent. “Sorry, I just, I don’t do love or boys with issues and hold grudges like you wouldn’t believe!” she snaps. “And besides, I hate him!”
Well then.
“You hate Liam?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He…” she trails off then looks up at me. “I don’t really owe you an explanation, now do I?”
“And yet you won’t tell me why I didn’t get in the Paris Opera Ballet company unless I tell you about this guy.”
We stare at each other for a beat.
“Hmm, touché.” She steps back. “Okay, some time ago, I had a feeling that well, you and Liam were a ‘thing’. I mean, that’s what he made us all think at this party thing that was thrown at your house.” Fuck, I remember that. “In my anger and feeling betrayed, I made a few calls.”
This bitch!
“Calls?”
“Yes well, my family has, uh, ties with the Paris Opera Ballet company and when they called that you were there to audition, I made sure they would reject you.”
My God.
I had a feeling when I was in that room that someone didn’t want me there and now to find out that it was her… I’d expect this from someone like Kristine, but Roxy? All because of Liam?
My jaw drops as I stare at her.
“Oh, come on, don’t look at me like I ran over your puppy, Mia,” she says, shifting on her feet looking uncomfortable again. “I swear this is the first time I’ve ever felt bad for the things I do, and I have to tell you, it sucks.”
At a loss, I just stare at her.
“Well, say something,” she whispers. “I can’t… I can’t stand the silence.”
“You’re such a bitch,” I whisper back.
“Yeah, I know that.”
“And you’re messed up.”
She looks up at me so fast, a gasp escapes her parted lips.
“I’m… I’m what?”
“You’re messed up because you’re broken, Roxy,” I say, really seeing her. “Something or someone broke you, and now you what? Hurt people for annoying you? For seeming close with people you claim to hate? Seriously?”
She just stands there, looking small and vulnerable. Her eyes wide and full of hurt. So, so much hurt. What happened between her and Liam?
“You don’t understand,” she mutters.
“Then make it make sense, Roxy.” She keeps her mouth shut. “Okay fine, then at least tell