Kiss and Break Up - Ella Fields Page 0,73

into Jackson, who cursed and glanced around. “Get it together, man.”

“Daph,” Lars said, or slurred.

I wondered if he was drunk and eyed him. The untucked shirt, absent tie, and haphazard hair. Then I looked at his bloodshot eyes. He was something; that was certain.

“Go eat something, Lars.” Daphne took a sip of her water through her straw. “You look like hell.”

“I am in hell. We need to talk.” The whole cafeteria seemed to be holding their breath as he wobbled closer, his hands slapping onto the table as he leaned over Daphne.

She appeared content to ignore him, but I knew she didn’t really want to. Her feet shifted beneath the table, and her shoulders tensed. “Go,” she said.

“Oh, fuck you. You don’t want me now, is that it?”

Daphne kept her eyes down.

“Huh?” Lars bellowed. “At least look at me when you lie through your ten-thousand-dollar teeth.”

Daphne braced her hands on the table, about to get up.

“Mr. Bradby. Head to the principal’s office. Now.”

Lars’s hands slipped off the table as he threw his head back, a quiet, rasped laugh falling past his lips. “You’ve got to be shitting me. Why?”

Mr. Denkins just arched a bushy brow as he gestured to the doors.

Lars groaned, and Jackson thumped him on the back. “Get it over with.”

We watched in silence as they left, and then all at once, mouths started moving.

Including mine. “He’s high?”

“When is he not?” Daphne said.

“I didn’t think they got high at school.” I folded the wrapper over my lunch. My appetite still hadn’t entirely returned.

Willa chewed her pasta, then swallowed. “They don’t. Well, not always.”

I licked my lips, watching as Daphne tried to act like the past few minutes didn’t happen. “You are allowed to be upset, you know,” I finally said.

Daphne rolled her eyes. “I am, dummy. I’m just not letting him see that.”

“Why?” Willa asked. “He clearly still wants you.”

Daphne slammed her water bottle down on the table. “He’s knocked up another girl. I’m not going to become an extra on some teenage parenting special.”

I knew she didn’t mean that. The glass filming over her eyes betrayed her bitter words.

Willa wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and Daphne closed her eyes, collecting herself. “Just because she’s having his baby doesn’t mean they need to be together. My parents are proof of that.”

“I know. But I don’t want to be in the way of some poor kid’s parents potentially being able to raise he or she together.” Daphne grabbed her bag, checking her phone. “You never know, this is high school. Annika might not be so intolerable five years from now, and I won’t be the reason they look at each other and wonder what if somewhere down the line.”

With that, she got up, heading for the doors with eyes following the swish of her hips.

Willa and I glanced at one another. “Should we follow?”

I shook my head. “I think she needs a minute. She knows we’ve got her.”

Willa finished eating, and I wished we’d sat outside. He wasn’t here, but I couldn’t help but look for him in every empty chair.

Especially during the last class of the day, where he was supposed to sit next to me. It was beginning to drive me mad. I didn’t want to look for him. I didn’t want anything to do with him. Ever. Again.

But why wasn’t he here?

Outside, I raced to my locker and swapped out my books, grabbing my keys as I made a beeline for the glass doors that led to freedom. The freedom to feel without everyone trying to dissect you like some science experiment. The freedom to be angry instead of keeping it carefully veiled, lest you be known as the heartbroken fool who was slightly deranged.

“He made this groaning sound.” Kayla’s voice caught my feet, stopping them in their tracks at the bottom of the steps outside. “It was yum like you wouldn’t believe. And he’s as big as the rumors suggest.”

The curtain covering my anger dropped, and I glared at her. “Seriously?”

Kayla tilted her head, blinking like a doll. “I’m sorry, are you talking to me?”

“I’m not sure. Were you the one just talking about having sex with a guy who couldn’t even blow his load with you?” At her gasp, I grinned, malicious satisfaction curling deep. “Oh, yep. That was you, right?”

“You’re just jealous it wasn’t you.”

I couldn’t stop the words from fleeing my lips if I’d tried. “Uh-huh. That’s why he was able to come down my throat within a minute of my