Bad Boy's Baby Girl

Corrupted

*Monroe's POV*

I unfortunately don't get to watch the sunrise while I run this morning because of the thick grey clouds that conceal it. It's definitely going to rain at some point which means I won't be taking my bike today.

After my shower I decide that since I can't take my bike, I might as well take the opportunity to wear a skirt. I throw on a black high- waisted mini skirt with pleats and a grey cropped sweater. I put my hair into a high pony, since I don't have to worry about it fitting under my helmet. I throw on my waterproof black combat boots, throw my raincoat into my bag and grab the keys to my BMW.

As I'm driving down the curvy road, I think about how much fun this car is to drive. I should really take it more often. I park my car closer than usual on account of the impending rain. As I get out of my car, I look towards the smoking pit to find Cade, Xander, Brett and Jason watching me. I suppose now is as good a time as any. I walk over towards them and Xander smiles warmly and nods towards my car as he says, "A ducati and a BMW? I'm impressed."

I grin and glance over to Cade. His expression is unreadable. I look back at Xander and say, "Could we have a quick chat?"

He looks at Cade and they have some kind of silent conversation before he says, "Yeah for sure, let's take a walk." Once we get a safe distance away, I wring my hand together nervously and say, "So, um, I wanted to talk about Saturday, and you know the whole us making out thing. I just wanted to apologize because I like you a lot as a friend and I don't want you to feel like I'm trying to lead you on or anything."

When I look up at him, I expect to find anger or sadness or something along those lines, but instead he's just grinning at me. What? "Good," he says, "I like you a lot as a friend too. It's very sweet that you considered my feelings though."

"Oh thank God. Do you know how much stress I've been going through thinking about having this conversation? Somehow I managed to picture a thousand different ways for this to end, and this was not one of them."

"I think that's called a shame spiral," he says with a wink. I smack him on the chest and say, "Fuck off, it's only human to be concerned about your friends' well-being."

He opens his arms and says, "Alright bring it in friend." I hug him and breathe in, feeling a weight being lifted off my chest. He leaves one arm around my shoulder and leads me back to the group. I see the questioning look in everyone's eyes and Xander says, "Monroe was just telling me how lucky she is to have me as a friend."

Jason snorts and says, "Yeah, right."

I laugh and say, "Well, he might be paraphrasing a little, but that's not not what I said."

"Told you," says Xander smugly.

Jason narrows his eyes and says, "Is he blackmailing you?"

I take a step away from him and shrug off my backpack and dig around for my cigarettes as I say, "Wow Xander, your friends really think highly of you." I finally locate my pack and pull one out with my lighter. Just as I'm slinging my bag back over my shoulder, the stick is ripped from my fingers and Xander looks at me with a mix of shock and mild amusement and says, "What the fuck is this?"

"Clearly that's a cigarette." I hold my hand out waiting for him to give it back.

"Jesus, we've been friends for like 5 minutes and I'm already corrupting you."

I smirk and say, "Oh honey, it's cute that you think you had anything to do with it. Trust me, I was corrupted long before you came around." I snatch my cigarette back before he can process my words.

I look over to Cade to find him watching me. The way his eyes darken when they meet mine suggest that he's also thinking about the last time we were smoking together. I feel my insides heat and find myself clenching my thighs together as my brain starts imagining what would happen if I just walked over there, jumped on him and wrapped my legs around his waist.

The warning bell rings, derailing my train of thought. I divert my attention to stamping out the remainder of my cigarette.

I walk into Chemistry with Cade and Xander following closely behind me. When Charlie notices this, she raises an eyebrow at me.

"So? Did you talk to Xander?" she asks.

"Good Morning Charlie, I'm good thanks for asking. How are you?" I say jokingly.

She giggles and says, "Sorry, good morning. Now spill!"

"Geez, someone is impatient today."

"Monroooe," she whines.

"Fine, fine. I spoke to Xander this morning, and it turns out I was worried over nothing. He also just wants to be friends."

"Well that's good. How about Cade? Have you spoken to him yet?"

"No, not yet. I don't know how to approach him. How does one start a conversation like that? 'Hey, how's it going, I don't really know you, but I kinda want to jump your bones and also sorry for calling you a man whore.' Yeah, I'm sure that'll go well."

She laughs and replies, "Yeah, it definitely needs work."

"It would be so much easier if my body would catch up to my brain and realize that getting involved with him is a terrible idea."

I have basically the exact same conversation with Maddy when English Lit rolls around and then I spend the rest of morning thinking about Cade and paying absolutely no attention to my classes.

Why should I be the one to talk to him? That's what he wants me to do. It's what he expects from girls and it's not like he tries to hide it. Although I'm still struggling to reconcile this version of him with the one that seemed genuinely upset at the party when I accused him of hooking up with that other girl.

I come to the conclusion that it would be illogical and naïve to think that he would change for me. It's not like I'm anything special. If he ever did decide to settle down, it would definitely be with someone less fucked up than me. The more I think about it, the more my resolve strengthens. I refuse to chase after Cade. I refuse to become one of his used tissues.