Bad Influence [BxB] (English Version)

4| The Image-Problem

Ezra

„Fuck, you look like shit.", was the first thing I heard as I settled into my seat in the classroom. "Shut up, Tyler. Haven't you seen the headlines? He's had a rough night." Lily giggled and I let my head fall onto my arms in exhaustion. I already wanted to end this shit day.

And it was only the second period. I felt like today the whispers were louder than usual and the looks more intrusive. Like it was practicality scratching on my skin. Maybe it was just the hangover. Someone tapped me on my shoulder and I looked up, my head heavy as a brick.
Tyler grinned at me with his signature quarterback smile that would get every cheerleader down on their knees.

I just wanted to punch him in the face.

"I have to say, I'm disappointed in you." I just silently raised an eyebrow, not expecting a poetic revelation following. I also didn't really have the energy to respond with a sarcastic comment. "It seems you've had the time of your life and you didn't even took your best bro with you?" With a groan of annoyance, I buried my head back in my arms. Sadly, Tyler was, in fact, the closest thing i had to a best friend. He was the son of a wealthy businessman and my dad's colleague. So we practically grew up together, and he was one of the few people I knew, who wouldn't just talk to me because of my money.

"Want something, to wake you up?" he asked me, rustling a thin plastic bag. "Dude, are you out of your mind?" Lily squeaked, slapping his shoulder. "It's not even 10 o'clock yet."
"So what!", he laughed while her eyes widened. " So what? This is a damn school! What if Mrs. Miller catches you?"

Tyler grunted in amusement, "She wouldn't even notice, if you were running around the classroom naked " He was not wrong about that. In fact, we've been talking loudly in the back row for a few minutes now and nobody gave us a second glance. Ms Millers still talked unbothered and appeared to be teaching only the front row of the class. I sighed. I loved that about the last row but i will probably be failing biology.

"I'd like to see that," Lily murmured before giggling shrilly. My head was pounding. I tried to ignore the two of them's conversations, which turned out to be not so easy, since I was sitting right between them, and their very loud and extremely painful voices. Goddamn !

"Where did you get that anyway?"
"Got it from Moe."
"Is his stuff good?"
Tyler laughed, "His prices are outrageous, but the stuff is definitely worth it."

__________________________

"You're going to regret this eventually, you know that, right?" Tyler said, stuffing another fry in his mouth. I just waved him off. "I don't have the time to regret anything." I bent over the salad, ignoring his doubting gaze, while Lily sat down next to me. "I hate that damned Mr. Winston."

Tyler raised his eyebrow incredulously. "Just because he won't take your father's money as a bribe, doesn't mean he's a bad teacher." A bag of ketchup flew his way, but Tyler managed to dodge it in time. "Oh shut it. My mom will kill me if I fail English." I shook my head in amusement as I let my head wander around the dining room. It was lunchtime and the room was packed.

"Hey, what's up today?" I asked, trying to steer the topic back to something more interesting. Lily frowned in concern, "You're not planning to go all out again today, are you? You haven't even recovered from yesterday, yet."

Tyler wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into a sweaty headlock, "Gosh, he's not a weakling. You're completely alright, aren't you?" He slapped me on the back with a goofy laugh and I almost choked on a lettuce leaf. Lily fought her way out of his grip, a disgusted look on her face.

I looked up at him, coughing. She grabbed my hand and my eyes wandered to hers. "I'd still prefer it, if you took a break. You look like you're about to collapse." Her pleading voice was filled with worry and my conscience was tearing inside my lungs. But still, Tyler was right and i decided to fulfill my roll as a douchbag. I rolled my eyes and pulled my hand away. My Friend grinsend, knowing i wouldn't back down tonight.

"Are you kidding? He looks like he came straight out of a Vogue shoot," he said.
"Bootlicker." I coughed and Tyler sighed in surrender. "We're at Jackson's later. Pool party ."

Lily squeaked in horror, "Did you actually hear me? I don't want him to go partying again!"
Tyler leaned towards her, "You're not his mother." Her face took on the color of her red locks.

"Fine," I said, ignoring her glare.
"Count me in." Lily hissed in pure annoyance, "You know, you're going to kill yourself with this eventually. And I don't want to stand by and watch anymore."
"And yet you're always glued to our asses."
"Fuck you, Ty." She stood up in anger and took her tray. „ Fuck. You. "

My headache got worse, as we watched her stalk over to the cheerleaders' table. "Do you always have to be so rude to her?" I asked him, although I also wasn't exactly being nice .

"Oh, she will be fine by fourth period." I poked around listlessly in my salad. It just tastes like cardboard. The school cost a fortune and yet the food tasted like damn garbage.

"But she's right, I need other ways to get at my dad. It's getting boring." I said. Tyler propped himself up on his palm. "Hard drugs "
"Nah, that hurts me more than it does him. Then he can just dump me in a clinic."
"Wreck one of his cars.", he suggested. I gave him a meaningful look. "Then he just buys a new one. I need something that affects him directly. Right in the Pride. That he can't ignore." Tyler seemd to genuinely think about it, bevor he grinned right at me.

"Don't overdo it, or he'll find you a rich chick to marry you off to and sends you straight to Ibiza. Not that that's the worst-"
"That's it!" I cut him off. Putting my fork aside."What's my dad's most sacred thing?", i asked while i couldn't contain my pure joy. Oh, that was a brilliantly dumb idea.

Tyler's brows drew together. "His reputation?"
"Exactly!" I laughed, patting his shoulder. "He keeps threatening to marry me off. To some good match, from a wealthy household. What if I beat him to it?" Tyler's expression grew increasingly confused. "You want to marry ?"

God, no! I shook my head. Just thinking about it made me sick. "No, not quite so drastic. I just need... a little bad influence. He must think I'm falling in love. In the probably most inappropriate people there is on earth. It'll drive him crazy, if I date someone who didn't fits his standards." Some one, who he couldn't profit off. Someone who didn't have a powerful name. Someone ordinary .

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. "I want to see his face, when you show up at the next dinner party with that bitch! Brilliant!" he shouted and started to grin until it crumbled again after 2 seconds.

"But where do you find someone who would date you and fits the criteria? I don't think you'll find anyone like that at the Harrington?" Shit, he was right about that. But I wasn't really worried about that.

"Don't worry, Ty." I picked up my fork again, smiling broadly in anticipation of an utterly diabolical plan.

" Everybody loves me."