Confessions of a Queen B*

Untitled Part 34

The sharp jangle of the bell on the door pulled me from my thoughts, and my heart hardened with hatred when I saw Summer Hoyt coming in.

Nope, I wasn't going completely soft.

She stopped just inside the door and stared at me through heavy lidded eyes as though she was deciding if she wanted to patronize the same place I'd desecrated.

I met her gaze, daring her to come closer.

Several seconds stretched by, each one reminding me of how good it felt to be a Queen B, of how much I enjoyed the power I wielded against the superficial and obscene in our high school like Summer. I forgot all about Brett Pederson and my doubts. Right now, I had no desire to get over myself. I was relishing my crown instead.

One corner of Summer's mouth rose into a smirk, and she pulled out her phone. A moment later, she said in her sugary-sweet slut voice, "Brett, honey, I'm at the fro-yo shop, and I was wondering if you wanted me to get anything for you?"

My throat started to close in a moment of what I could only assume was jealousy. I took a deep breath, swallowed past it, and continued to stare her down.

Her smirk widened into a "screw you" grin. "Of course. How about I bring it by your place so we can enjoy it together?"

"So that's how she convinces guys to spend time with her," I said to Morgan and Richard. "Bribery."

"Gee, and I always thought it was because she put out," Morgan replied.

Summer's lips fell, and it was my turn to give the "up yours" grin as I overheard her say, "But we never spend time at your—"

"I told you so," Morgan whispered.

"Fine, I'll meet you at the park." When Summer caught the three of us hanging on every word of her conversation, she straightened her shoulders and added in a voice reserved for D-grade porn, "Maybe we can take a little walk and get lost for a while. I know a very private place we can go to for a little fun."

She hung up a second later, but the damage had been done. For the first time, I was beginning to believe that maybe there wasn't anything going on between Brett and Summer. And even if there was, she was obviously desperate for more.

Morgan silently dared me to mention breakfast at Brett's house so Summer could overhear, but I remained silent. Until I was certain of his motives, I was going to keep what happened yesterday morning to my tiny circle of friends.

However, my best friend wasn't content to keep that information to herself. Morgan's jaw hardened, and she looked at me as though I'd lost my mind. "So Brett makes really good blueberry pancakes, huh?" she asked loud enough for Summer to hear.

The head cheerleader froze, her spoonful of gummy bears hovering over her mountain of vanilla frozen yogurt.

I kicked Morgan under the table.

She yelped and reached down to rub her shins, but it was too late. She'd let my secret out, and by tomorrow, the whole school would know I had breakfast with Brett.

Correction—that Brett had made me breakfast.

All I could do now was go with it and take advantage of the situation. "Yep. He even flips them in air as he cooks them."

Summer tossed the spoon on the counter, completely missing the container of gummy bears, and stomped off to the register to pay for her yogurt. She was breathing hard like she'd just completed a series of high kicks, a flush of color in her cheeks. Then she stormed out of the fro-yo place and tore out of the parking lot with such urgency, her BMW left skid marks on the pavement.

Morgan collapsed into laughter, banging her fist on the table. "That was awesome!"

"Why did you do that?" I asked, gripping the table to keep from smacking her on the back of the head.

She wiped the corners of her eyes. "Why didn't you?"

"Because maybe I wanted to keep that information private."

"And miss out on a chance to throw it in Summer's face?" She pointed to the still-warm tread marks outside. "Did you see her face when she put it all together and realized you'd done something with Brett that she hadn't?"

I blew a breath and released the table. "Okay, fine, yes, it was pretty damn funny to see her lose her shit."

"It was like the best moment of our senior year so far."

"Want to know what I found funny about all that?" Richard point to the abandoned cup of mocha flavored frozen yogurt on the counter. "It seems Miss Thang was in such a hurry to leave, she forgot Brett's fro-yo."

"How do you know it wasn't hers?" I asked, refusing to believe Brett liked the same flavor I did.

"Because while you were getting all Clint Eastwood on Summer, I was actually listening to the other end of the conversation." He flicked his ears. "These babies heard every word Brett said."

Part of me wanted to know, but I was too busy riding the high I got from winning this showdown with my arch nemesis to ask right now.

Morgan pulled out her phone and began typing. "I have the perfect meme for this. I'll post it to Tumblr when I get home." She slid out from her seat and headed for the door, not looking up from her phone. "Just keep doing what you're doing, and don't let me down, Alexis. And we're still on for Tuesday at The Purple Dog, right?"

She was gone before I could tell her I wasn't finished yet, but I already knew what she'd say. Forget about Brett. He's not worth worrying over. He won't even bother speaking to you once the project is over. That's just how people like him are. High school sucks, but it will be over soon. Focus on college guys.

Except as I glanced across the table at Richard, I saw I wasn't the only one left with more questions than answers.