Kiss and Break Up - Ella Fields Page 0,72

morning, I knew she was trying to hide just how much it was hurting her.

“You okay?” I asked. “Sorry, that was stupid.”

“It’s fine.” Her brows scrunched, a layer of concealer heavy beneath her eyes. “You look like shit.”

Before I could say anything, she was pulling me toward the girls’ bathrooms, Willa tagging behind.

A few juniors lingered, applying lipstick and straightening their knee-high socks. With one hiss from Daphne, they collected their things and made themselves scarce.

“You didn’t need to do that,” I said, watching the door close behind them.

“I did. What happened Friday night?” Daphne opened her bag, plucking out her makeup bag and rifling through it.

I looked at Willa, who shrugged and came forward with a hairbrush. My eyes widened as she launched to her toes to reach for my tangled hair.

“With Dash?” I scowled. “Ow.”

“Sorry,” Willa said. “Knots galore.”

Daphne started brushing foundation over my face. I didn’t typically wear it, but I didn’t protest when she said, “You’re so blotchy it looks like you have eczema. So shut up and let me work.” My mouth snapped shut, and she groaned. “I didn’t mean shut up about Dash. What happened? Lars and Annika’s baby news might be a hot topic, but that doesn’t mean people don’t know about Kayla and Dash.”

I contained my sigh being that Daphne’s face was inches from mine. “Of course.”

“It’s Kayla, so naturally, she wants the attention on her.” Daphne pulled back, inspecting my face, then nodded and grabbed her powder.

I closed my eyes as she brushed it everywhere. “I walked in on them.”

Willa gasped, the brush getting stuck in my hair.

“Jesus, Willa.” I rubbed at my scalp.

“Sorry. That’s … no wonder you look like shit. Why didn’t you call us?”

“I was busy being miserable.”

Daphne snapped the lid shut, then turned and grabbed her mascara. “He’s such a fucking idiot.”

“Biggest asshole,” Willa added.

“I went there to apologize, to try to explain, and then I found that?” I felt tears gathering, but I pushed them back as hard as I could while Daphne finished coating my lashes. “Then, somehow, he found out exactly what happened in the limo and came to my place.”

Willa’s touch vanished. She moved to her bag, grabbing an elastic. “That was me.”

Daphne’s gaze snapped to her as she capped her mascara. “You told Jackson?”

Willa offered me the elastic. I took it, glaring at her.

She bit her lip. “I’m sorry. But I knew he wouldn’t talk to you. Jackson was going out with them that night, and I thought it might help if he knew the details.”

Daphne’s button nose crinkled. “Your heart was in the right place, but still, that’s shitty, Willa.”

Willa nodded, and I flipped my head forward, scooping my hair into a small ponytail and tying it up. I knew her intentions weren’t to betray my trust, but rather, she’d wanted to help in some way, so even though it irked me, I chose to let it go. “Don’t worry about it. But I’m sorry to say it won’t make a difference now that he’s gone and slept with Kayla.”

Daphne put her makeup bag away and checked her own makeup right as the bell sounded. “Try to ignore her smug smile. She’s just gloating.”

“He didn’t even orgasm.” I don’t know why I said that. It was petty, but hell if I cared about being petty or not anymore.

Willa laughed. “Oh, my God. Really?”

I nodded, smoothing some of the foundation caked near my eye. Daphne’s skin tone was a shade darker than mine, but the bad match didn’t look terrible and was a vast improvement from how I’d arrived at school.

Daphne snorted. “I can’t believe you watched.”

“I couldn’t move,” I said. “Like a bad wreck or something, I could only stare like an ogling moron.” I blew out a breath. “And now, I’ll pay for it forever.”

Willa pouted, then rubbed my arm.

Daphne sighed, then flicked her hair. “His loss, and I bet he’s already feeling it.”

I wasn’t sure if she was referring to Dash or Lars. I shouldered my bag, following them out and down the hall to our lockers where we quickly dumped our stuff and headed to class.

Lunch came and went before I realized I’d been bracing myself for a storm that wasn’t coming. Dash hadn’t shown, and no one seemed to think anything of it. Perhaps they thought he was still suspended, but I knew he should’ve been back by today.

Lars and Jackson stalked through the cafeteria, the former about to stop at our table, when he stumbled, swaying