My Dirty Little Secret

Chapter Twenty Seven

Monday morning I was early to school, so I was sitting in the cafeteria with some of my friends waiting for the bell to ring. I was rarely early enough to see the morning crew of kids who repeatedly arrived before the first bell, so it was a somewhat new experience seeing who was there. Among them was Tiffany Medlock, one of the junior girls on my cheering team. We never talked much although we occasionally stunted together. She was captain of her JV team, but switched to Varsity this year, where I'd beaten her out for it. I didn't feel sorry. I'd been on the team since my freshman year and felt entitled to it. Vainly, though, I felt as if she didn't like me because of it.

"Chelsea," Tiffany said brightly, sounding surprised to see me. "I didn't think you'd be here."

"How come?" I asked, honestly unsure.

"Well, after Friday, I didn't know if you'd be walking around yet."

"Oh," was all I said, beginning to understand. "Well, here I am."

"You're still cheering?"

"Yup," I said proudly. "I'm feeling a lot better. It was just twisted, I think."

"You should get it checked out anyway," she said. "You never know."

"I feel fine," I reiterated. "I would go if it still hurt."

"Hm," she said, obviously unsatisfied though my health had never previously been a concern of hers. "I wonder if you should be stunting so soon."

"I'm okay," I told her for the third time, this time a little more firmly. "It's no big deal."

"Just don't want anything to happen to you, Chels," she said as if we were closer than we really were. "That would really suck."

 ______

Later that day, I stopped by Brooke's classroom during a free period I knew she had. I'd already had English (and not done so poorly on the test after all), but I'd managed to lose my homework before the day even ended, so I took it as an excuse to see her face. 

The door was shut when I arrived, so I knocked. "It's open," she called from inside, as if I were a guest showing up at her house. Her face changed from a concentrated expression to a much happier one when she saw who it was, and admittedly, that made me feel good.

"Hey," she smiled, sitting back in her chair and leaving whatever she was doing.

I shut the door behind me. "Miss me?" I asked.

"You were here two periods ago," she laughed.

"That's not what I asked," I challenged.

She bit her lip, holding back a smile. "Well, maybe a little." Standing up, she came around the other side of her desk and put her arms around my neck, kissing me.

"Brooke," I whispered uncertainly. "Here?"

She laughed a little bit. "Live on the edge, Chel."

"If this puts me on the edge, where does that put you?"

She crossed her arms, leaning back against her desk, point clearly taken. "At the bottom of the cliff, probably."

I took a seat on top of one of the desks. "So why are you here, then?" she asked.

"I lost my homework," I said, biting my lip.

She shook her head exaggeratedly. "I'm very disappointed in you," she said, reaching into a folder.

I smiled. "Please forgive me, Miss Chandler. It won't happen again."

"I expect better from you in the future," she kidded, handing me the paper. "Next time, I won't be so nice."

I narrowed my eyes promiscuously. "Teach me a lesson," I said, half making a joke and half making a sexual pass.

"Hm, someone's making dirty jokes," she condemned in a sing-songy voice. "I thought that about twenty seconds ago you were reprimanding me for trying to kiss you, but that must have been an illusion."

"Fine," I said. "Teach me a lesson later, in a different venue."

She smiled. "You're on."

"And anyway," I said, "You wish you could ever 'not be so nice.'"

"Hey!" she said, defensively. "Maybe I have a dark side."

"That's interesting," I said. "We haven't met."

Brooke laughed, though somewhat at her own expense. "She's shy."

Then, a different expression took over her face, a more inquisitive one. "Where are you supposed to be right now?" she asked.

I looked at the floor, sheepishly. "Math," I said, looking back up at her.

"Chelsea!"

"Oh please, it's not the worst thing I've ever done."

"It's not?"

"Well, don't tell anyone," I whispered, "but I once got sexually involved with one of my teachers."

"Funny," she said, sarcastically.

I exhaled, making the eyes that I occasionally did when I needed a favor. "Am I funny enough for you to write me a pass?"

She rolled her eyes, pulling a stack of late passes from a drawer.

"No," she said. "But I like you anyway."

 A/N: I hate feeling like a story's going to end soon...I'm not ready to say goodbye! Lol, this one's not done quite yet though. Still a lot going on. And in this chapter I introduced one of my favorite characters! Hahahah, so I'm excited about that. If you guys didn't know, I write way further ahead when I publish. I send after I'm sure I got it right.

I forget why else I started writing this note, except to say thanks again to everyone who's voting and commenting. It's up to around 7,500 reads, I think, which is super amazing, and further than I ever thought this story would go! So if you're still reading this (and I don't blame you if you're not) thank you! I love you all. (:

- Railene