My Dirty Little Secret/Enemies with Benefits

"Shut the fuck up, Zyaire," Troy shouted from down the hall. His friend group: Tyler, Calvin, Chanel, Nelson, DeMarcus, Michelle, and Xavier laughed and high-fived him. I immediately flushed red that he embarrassed me like that; I was in the middle of telling a very animated story about my lack of a love life to my best friends Nadia, Rita and Carla. I was jumping up and down, throwing a mock fit and getting strange glances from kids who were passing by, and I didn't give a fuck-all the kids from Shining Star Magnet School, SSMS, weren't brave enough to stand up to me!

Except then there were the real shining stars: Troy and his friends. No, Troy was not the leader of some cliché friend group who decided they were better than everyone else; no one really paid them much attention, and SSMS didn't have much of a social hierarchy but Troy and his friends did stand out. This group happened to be the debate team, and SSMS was ranked first regionally and fourth nationally. Calvin and Michelle, seniors, were co-captains. Troy, a junior, would probably be captain next year. They took it so seriously it was kind of amusing.

"Why don't you come over here and make me, Troy," I spat out his name like Clorox bleach.

"Does that involve me touching you? I don't want to catch your rabies Miss Abreu." He chuckled and laughed to his friends.

DeMarcus whispered something in his ear then voiced aloud, "Oh yeah, Zyaire, I heard you gave some boy herpes when you guys were in the spare classroom down the hall, is that true?" Troy high-fived him. By now, the hallways were buzzing about what the debate team was talking about. Students didn't stop completely, but they slowed down, peeked around, whispered to each other and then kept it moving. Julia and her friends from Newspaper Club stopped by Michelle and asked what was going on-they were so nosy. I frowned at this. Troy was now glaring at me. I rolled my eyes, grabbed my friends and tried to storm off. It was really clumsy though; Carla tripped and stumbled into Rita, it was just an epic fail. As I tried to slide by the debate team with my friends, Troy grabbed me by my collar and slammed me up against the wall. He looked furious. I hadn't even done anything to him, he was such a bitch.

But what he just did kind of hurt. "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't touch me like that, faggot."

He continued to glower. "Don't ever try to embarrass me like you just did. I have a reputation within SSMS and the community to uphold. Now, if you challenge me-you are a little person, and I am not referring to physical size but authority-then other students will begin to think they can do the same. For that reason, do not challenge me."

"I hate you Troy," I barked. He was so fucking overbearing and controlling it was annoying. Although he'd been trying to be low-key, the rest of the debate team plus extras turned around and were watching. I was a tough cookie so in reality that was my reputation to uphold, and Troy was embarrassing the shit out of me. "I hate you so much." I clenched my teeth and narrowed my eyes as I growled out the words with as much acid and hatred as I could muster, but my anger melted to sadness and my eyes got all watery. I tore away my arm quickly and stormed off with my friends trying to keep up. Tears were now streaming down my face and my vision was blurry. It was the end of the day, and it was time for extracurricular activities.

"I fuckin' hate you too Zyaire," Troy called after me coolly.

Damn him.

"Let's go to the bathroom. Come on, Zyaire, you have to calm down. He's the only one who ever manages to get under your skin, it must suck huh?" Nadia soothed, rubbing comforting circles on my back.

I nodded, putting my sleeve up to my face and wiping away the tears.

We detoured to the bathroom, and Carla and Rita kicked in all the stall doors to chase away anyone who was in there. One geeky girl who was in chess club and played squash, they chased out.