Not good for you

18;

On Monday morning, Perkyn waited for me at the hotel's entrance with a brown bag in his hands, just as he'd promised.

"Good morning," he smiled as I walked up the stairs.

"Hey," I mirrored his smile.

He raised his hand and shook the bag in front of me.

"I brought some bagels."

I glanced at him with an innocent expression and nodded.

"Bon appétit, then," I said, and he scoffed.

"One of them is yours."

"Seriously?" I replied, pretending to be shocked. He sighed and handed me the bag.

"I hope you're not in trouble," he said with concern as I opened the bag. I frowned in confusion. "That Seeley guy really seemed angry last night."

"Oh, he..." I stopped myself before revealing anything too personal about him; after all, I've only known Perkyn for a few days. "He isn't usually like this."

Perkyn flashed me a sly and self-satisfied smile.

"I just wanted to make sure I didn't come off as the bad guy to your boyfriend, brother, roommate, or whoever he may be."

"We were classmates," I admitted as I started eating my bagel. I didn't know why, but the fact that he had bought it for me made it taste more delicious. It's been a while since someone surprised me with breakfast. It was a small yet delightful gesture that warmed my heart.

"Oh, so everyone from the gang is here?" he asked.

"Yes, it's us—the girls, Seeley, and two of his close friends," I explained. "We always seemed to get into trouble together, which made us bond quickly."

"The six troublemakers or the teachers' worst nightmares?" he asked with a careful smile.

I laughed and wiped my mouth as the bagel crumbled all over me.

"The teachers never really liked us for some reason," I bit into my lower lip. "Maybe it was because Seeley once accidentally set the curtain on fire and other things like that."

Perkyn's eyes grew wide, and a surprised, amused grin formed on his bow-shaped lips.

"What?" he asked. "You're joking."

"I wish I were," I said, shaking my head and laughing.

Perkyn shrugged.

"Well, he's a boy; what did you expect?" he asked. "Getting into trouble and burning things down is in our nature."

"The truth is, I never expect anything because of that, and the boys just keep surprising me."

Perkyn slowly tilted his head to the side.

"Like last night?"

I chewed the next bite of my bagel while feeling Perkyn's gaze roaming over my face. Seeley's uneasy demeanor must have made Perkyn's night if he was so eager to bring it up. I couldn't blame him for feeling that way. Seeley acted like a know-it-all smartass when he had no right to do so.

"He was just having a rough day, and we were being loud, so we sort of provoked it," I tried to justify him. While I shared my dislike for how Seeley had interrupted us last night, I also didn't want to speak poorly of him in front of Perkyn.

How can I explain that Seeley has grown overly sensitive to others and his surroundings since getting involved in a relationship with his current girlfriend? In less than fifteen seconds, he has lost his patience and composure and been manipulated into things he would have never done.