"Oh God, here she comes," Audrey says when we see Heather enter the room.

"What should we do?" I ask worriedly. I'm not as good as Audrey at giving her the silent treatment. I could hardly handle it yesterday at lunch. She sat with us and we acted as if we couldn't even see her. If it wasn't for Lisa inviting Heather to her table— I probably would've given in.

"Good morning," Heather says with a smile. Audrey looked up at her and then rolled her eyes before turning away toward me. "You're still not talking to me?" Audrey glanced at Heather and sneered. "Okay," Heather nodded, "you too, Ali?"

I sigh hopelessly, "Well, it's just that-"

"Shut up, Alison," Audrey harshly silences me.

"No, I want to hear it. What did I do that was so bad?"

"Is that a trick question?" Audrey scowls at her.

"You lied to us," I say.

"When did I ever lie?"

"You said you were dating a guy from St. James," I reply.

"No, I didn't," She denies, "I said my deb escort is from St. James, and he is."

Audrey scoffs through laughter, "So, this burnout is good enough for secret hookups, but you're too embarrassed to show the world what you're putting your mouth on?"

"If you can't even take him places, do you really think this is a good idea?" I ask.

She glares back at us like we really hit a nerve, "his name is Leo, and I'm not embarrassed by him, okay? I like him, and as my friends, I would hope that you care that I am happy."

"If you're so happy, Heather, then why aren't you taking Leo?" Audrey challenges.

"Because he would hate it," she says as if it's blatantly obvious.

"Because he's not like us!" Audrey argues.

"You mean he's not like you."

"Exactly."

"Well, then you're right," She stands up, "he's not a bitch."

I gasp in surprise. "Heather-"

"Wow, Ali," Audrey interjects before I could reason with her, "I guess Jace isn't so crazy after all...those drugs are making her lose her goddamn mind."

Heather scoffs, "Excuse me?"

"Save it for the intervention, hon," Audrey responds before smugly pursing her lips and looking away.

I frown as Heather shakes her head at the both of us and moves to a desk on the other side of the class.

"I'm sorry," I mouth to her, but she places a book up so that she doesn't have to see us.

"I hate her," Dennis complains as we leave out of math.

"You know they say she was fucking one of the basketball players last year, right? He graduated and now she's a bitter hard-ass," Campbell replies.

"I thought the story was that she gave the whole basketball team head in the locker room?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"You believed that?" Cam scoffs.

"If it's not true then which player's balls were in her court, huh?" I say skeptically.

"I don't know, if that got out she'd be fired by now. But definitely not all of them, she's gotta have standards."

"Standards and she fucks students? I don't think so," Dennis adds.

"Yo, Isn't that your locker?"

Cam points to the one that has a heart decorated goodie bag and streamers taped to it.

I sigh, "yeah, that's mine."

I walk over and pull it off before opening my locker and finding a pink slip of paper that looks like it was torn out of a diary. This is the third one I've gotten.

"The fuck is this?" Dennis laughs, taking the letter out of my hand.

"This little freshie has a crush. She's always leaving me stuff like this," I snatch it back and ball it up.

"Wait— you know who it is, and you just let it happen?"

"What am I supposed to say to her? She doesn't even put her name down. All I know is I saw her once."

"How do you know she's a freshman?" Dennis asks.

"Because she looked it," I shrug, "and this is classic freshman behavior."

"Are you going to close?" Campbell says deviously.

"Hell no, she's a kid, man."

"It's not a case," he shrugs.

"I don't care, I'm too old for her. That's probably why she runs and hides."

Freshman girls are weird. Some of them have been riding older guys since middle school, and the others are a little scared but still find a way to nab an upperclassman like it's a good thing— like a guy my age will have good intentions.

"What's the note say?" Dennis nods to where I stuffed it in my pocket.

"They always sound the same," I say indifferently. "You looked hot yesterday and shit like that."

"I love freshman girls. They're so cute...and easy," Cam smirks.

"You're terrible," I chuckle and shake my head. "You make them do stuff like they're your secretaries or something."

"They ask to do stuff," he says in his defense. "You're the one accepting gifts."

...candy is candy.

"I don't want to hurt her feelings," I admit. "But I'm not gonna touch her. She's probably a virgin."

"Don't knock it till you try it."

"I'm not trying anything. I'll pass her off to Zach."

"The gay boy?" Dennis says in confusion.

"What? Zach's not gay," I say without hesitation. Dennis and Cam exchange looks with each other like I'm the only one in the dark. "He's not," I repeat.

"I heard he was," Dennis reaffirms.

"Me too," Campbell adds.

"His friend is, I think, but-" I stop once I think about that day after his birthday party.

The comments I let go over my head....and the jokes I didn't catch....that's what was so funny?

"But?"

Fuck it, never mind."

Campbell smirks, "Guess she's all yours then."

He laughs, "are you serious?"

"Does it look like I'm joking?" Tony responds.

"I have to check it out then-"

"Jace!" I angrily call for him, interrupting their conversation.

He looks over his shoulder and sighs when he sees me. "Heather," he responds, sliding his hands into the pockets of his pants.

"Are you telling everyone that I'm on drugs?"

Jace shrugs, "I'd call it stating the obvious."

I slap the sly look off of his face.

"Woah, hey-" Tony steps in between us to hold me back.

"How could you be such an asshole? What have I ever done to you?" I shout and try to get past Tony.

"Oh, look, she's getting violent. What's he got you on, Heather?" Jace says arrogantly.

"Shut up!" I launch for him only to be grabbed by someone else. "Let go of me!" I fight against the arms of another one of his friends, Novak maybe or some other lacrosse idiot.

"Heather, calm down," Tony speaks softly to me as if that will help.

"I think she's having withdrawals," Jace continues, "check her for track marks while you're at it."

"That's enough, Jace," I hear Evelyn say to him.

We have quite the audience now.

"Track marks?" I laugh, "check him for that Bulgari hair clip I didn't want. Are you really so jealous that I broke up with you and started dating someone I actually like? I'm sorry that Evelyn makes you question whether you'll be miserable and regretful for the rest of your life, but that has nothing to do with me." She looks at me with a stunned expression and sad eyes. I could tell from the sinking in my chest that I'd feel terrible about this if I wasn't already so mad.

"That's not true..." Jace speaks with significantly less pride than he had before.

"No, saying I'm on something is not true. But you not having any actual feelings for Evie is one hundred percent correct," I say harshly. "Now get off of me," I elbow whoever is behind me in their ribs to make them release me. I step away and right in front of the assembly of people we've drawn. It's almost intimidating, but I think I'm getting used to the whispering. I put on a sarcastic smile, "well, If you'd all excuse me, I believe the show is over."

The crowd begins to dissipate, allowing me to get by and farther from their prying eyes. I didn't realize how suffocated I felt until I turned the corner and finally inhaled.

But then again, that might be because I see you.

"Uh oh," Danny says when he sees I'm visibly upset.

"Hey," Leo comes in for a hug, "what's wrong? Did I do something?"

"No," I say as I rest my head against his chest.

"You sure?" He rubs my back soothingly.

"It's Jace..."

"What about him?"

"The stupid rumors he's been spreading," I sigh.

"I haven't heard anything," Leo furrows his eyebrows and turns to Danny, "have you?"

Danny shrugs, "Yeah, I heard something about you keeping her coked-up in exchange for..." he pauses and his eyes shift back and forth from me to Leo, "you know," he says suggestively.

"Yeah, alright," Leo clenches his jaw, "I'm gonna kick his ass."

"Cool," Danny nods, prepared to follow after him.

"No," I plead, "I just want to go home."

"Heather-"

"Can I go home...with you...please?"

He takes a deep breath and contemplates for a second.

"Yeah, okay. We'll go. "

"Yeah?" I ask hopefully.

"Mhm," he responds, "because if I see that fucking asshole..."

I nod, "I already took care of it." I hear him sigh and see that he's looking away from me, staring at a wall or a locker, trying to distract himself. "So, let's just leave," I say in his ear, "and go to your place...so I can take care of you."

He pulls back with an intrigued expression, "...really?"

I furrow my eyebrows as I look at them. Heather latching onto his arm and leaning on his shoulder.

"Do you want anything?" He says quietly to her.

Look at him, what a fucking softy. This is the guy who always picked on me for the things I did with Val? The one trying to buy lunch for the girl who could buy the entire restaurant?

How hilarious, Leo's whipped.

I laugh to myself, and he narrows his eyes at me like he's reading my mind or something.

"Just wait until I tell your mom I saw you here," Penny crosses her arms.

He sighs, "I thought you worked afternoons."

"I'm filling in for someone," she replies, "I thought you had school on weekdays."

"...it's a holiday," I lie. "One of those that no one really cares about. Flag day or something— those pretentious freaks love that kind of thing."

"Flag day is in June, idiot," Penny snarks, and I shrug in defeat.

"It's fine. She's not gonna tell my mom," Leo shakes his head.

Penny scoffs, "Yeah, why not?"

"Because you like us," he says confidently.

"Yeah..." I chime in, "I got Caleb off of Cherry for you."

"You're why he called me?"

"You're welcome," I smirk.

"You asshole, I told him off for having the nerve to dial my number."

"Oh..."

She sighs in annoyance before diverting her attention to the girl holding onto Leo like he's gold. "Is this her?"

I nod and Leo smiles a bit, probably trying not to show how smitten he really is, but just look at the guy.

"Hi, I'm Heather," she reaches out to shake her hand.

Penny laughs lightly, "I've been hearing about you."

"Have you?" Heather asks as she turns to Leo.

"...might've mentioned you once or twice," he admits embarrassedly.

"And here I was thinking Danny was kidding when he said you were taken," Penny eyes them in amusement.

"Nope, he's gone full Lloyd Dobler," I respond. "So take a break and sit here, I hate being the third wheel."

"Aw," she teases, "Leo has a girlfriend, and now you're all alone."

"Shut up, I have a girlfriend too. We just don't skip school to go on dates."

Leo chuckles and rolls his eyes, "you're not even third-wheeling, we're all hanging out."

"Yeah, right," I say sarcastically. "You're gonna make me drop you off so that you two can make out and then what do I do?"

Penny nudges me, "you can come bus some tables here to kill time."

"Fuck off," I scoff at her suggestion. "I bet Kat's home. I'll go over there."

Kat dropped out of school a year ago. She works now but mainly nights, so she doesn't have to wake up before noon. She'll wake up for me, though.

"Ew," Penny replies.

"What?"

"Kat Tunney is so slutty, Amanda too, but at least she has better people skills."

I raise an eyebrow at her, "So much for female liberation, huh?"

"Oh, don't even pull that crap with me," she argues, "I'm all for women having as many sexual partners as they want, as long as they're not fucking someone else's boyfriend."

"Well, that's none of my business," I shrug.

"Then, what is it?" She says with doubt.

"We're friends, alright? We get along, and she lives close by. It just works."

"Mhm," Penny rolls her eyes.

"God, you're one of those people who thinks it's impossible for boys and girls to be friends with each other, aren't you?" I question. "You're a girl, we're not...so how are we friends?"

"I'd like to think of it as babysitting," she says slyly.

"You can pretend all you want. We know you like us," Leo laughs.

"Let me guess, you and her were just friends at first. " She points toward him and Heather.

He sighs, "...I'm not in this."

"Answer the question."

"Sort of...but I don't think we were ever really going in that direction," Leo confesses, and Heather gazes at him fondly.

"See," Penny says triumphantly.

"Forget them, they're a bad example. He just said they were always trying to get into each other's pants."

"I didn't put it like-"

"He's friends with Amanda," I assert.

"That's true," Leo maintains.

Penny scoffs in disbelief, "Weren't you screwing Amanda?"

"I-" he stumbles..."I told you, I'm not in this."

Leo looks down to avoid having to say anything else. Heather doesn't seem bothered by any of this, but the way that Leo's face flushed speaks for itself— he doesn't want to talk about this in front of her.

That honeymoon phase is a bitch, isn't it?

"Well, I'm not screwing anyone but Val. If you hop on every guy you know, then whatever, but that's just you."

Penny scowls at me, "someone's defensive. I guess it's safe to assume Val doesn't know that you're buddy-buddy with Kat Tunney."

"There's nothing to know."

"You trust yourself around her?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Well, folks," Penny stands up with a devious smile, "we've got our answer."

"It's a weird feeling knowing what class I'd be in right now," Heather says after glancing at the time on my alarm clock.

I smirk at her,"...Have you never skipped before?"

"I've missed classes and stayed home when I felt sick...but no, not really."

"Geez...I'm already a bad influence on you."

"Yeah, you're the worst," she teases as she gets closer to me.

I smile as she pushes me back until I'm on my bed. "Is this about what you said earlier?"

"Remind me..." Heather comes up next to me, "what did I say again?" Her hand gradually slips past the hem of my jeans and under the band of my boxers.

"Woah," I breathe out in surprise. She looks at me...and we hold eye contact...and I feel her hand start to move.

She smirks when I lean my head back and groan. "Yeah, I thought that's what I said."

I chuckle and she grips me tighter in her hand. "Shit, Heather..." I say as my breathing gets heavier. "Come here," I grab her face and pull her in, kissing her sloppily as she strokes me faster.

I pull away to moan, and Heather starts undoing the buttons on her shirt with her free hand.

When it's open enough to expose her bra, she goes back to kissing me, straddling my waist so that I feel her against me— and with these damn skirts...

She hums against my lips, and my hands move to steady her when she starts rocking against me. The contact feels nice...really nice. And with the little moans leaving her system...and the way she gasps whenever I hold her down to grind harder on me...we're going off the deep end.

"Heather," I say breathily, "...Maybe we should stop."

"Mm," her lips brush over mine, "why?"

"I think we're probably going too fast."

She giggles, "that's funny coming from you...and your wandering hands."

I chuckle back, "but I'm serious. What if we rush, and it messes things up? I like you too much for it to get weird after sex."

"Why would it get weird?"

"That just happens sometimes when two people think they're ready when they're really just...horny."

"Well, even if I am just..." I give her a suggestive look, "that's not what we're going to do anyway."

"Oh?"

"Oh," she replies, moving back in order to take off my jeans.

I watch her intently, unbuttoning them before tugging them down. I'm already hard from what she was doing with her hand, and she can see that...

She raises my shirt a bit and drags her fingertips down my stomach.

I'm suddenly very aware of my breathing.

Ragged? Maybe.

Heavy? ...definitely.

Especially when the boxers come down too.

She touches me gently, not meaning for it to be teasing, but it is.

"Heather..." I breathe out...

and she responds by wrapping her fingers around me.

I lean back and swallow hard, watching as she lowers her head until my dick slides past her lips.

Jesus fucking Christ.

I feel her tongue swiping and swirling across my tip before she takes me all the way into her mouth, pulling back slowly and releasing with a soft moan.

I became hazy...so focused on having her here like this— wet lips wrapped around my cock.

Our eyes lock, and she presses her tongue firmly against the side, slowly tracing it up to the top so that it's wet enough to stroke with her hand.

My body tenses as she sucks at the tip, flicking her tongue over it more and more until I'm practically panting and clutching the sheets.

The neediness takes over, and I grab her hair, guiding myself further into her mouth and letting out a breathy grunt at the warm feeling.

She hums and sighs softly...moving her head back and forth at the pace I've set.

I can hardly keep my eyes open, but I love how it looks when my cock comes out glistening from her mouth.

"That's it, butterfly," I say breathily, "that feels so fucking good." Her eyes glimmer in excitement, and she starts twisting her hand faster, using more pressure to jerk me closer to spilling on her tongue. She's so eager to make me cum...and how fucked am I for wanting so badly to see it dripping down her chin. I groan huskily and start thrusting up, matching the movements of her head.

I try to keep my moaning as quiet breaths, not wanting to be louder than the sounds coming from her sucking me off— the sloppy, messy noises that turn me on so fucking much. Shit, I'm so close.

My stomach starts to clench, and strangled grunts fall from my lips one after the other. Heather notices and starts taking me deeper, her tongue gliding over me during each pass-

Holy...fuck