Jealousy Best Served Devious (Clash Of Cliches Book 1)

Chapter 32- Mr. Dead Wrong

A/N: Sorry for the wait- the end of the semester is brutal!

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Chapter Thirty-Two- Mr. Dead Wrong.

I was nervous as hell as I waited for Ryder by my locker after class the next day. Normally, I would have been ecstatic about getting to have some alone time with Ryder- it would have been like a dream come true for the old Kaylee. But the new, improved Kaylee- she was nervous, because something just didn't feel right.

But what?

I didn't know why I was so antsy, or why I was so reluctant to have Ryder come to my house.

Aunt Vivienne, Marc, and Arielle. Obviously, Kaylee.

Okay, so they were definite reasons why I didn't want Ryder to come to my house, as well as the strange, lingering feeling that the study date wasn't a good idea. It stemmed from a mixture of things- my sudden realization that Ryder and I had never had an actual, interesting conversation (I don't even want to think about the time I was chewing gum and it flew out of my mouth and almost landed on his shoes), how Ryder had shown himself to be a sore loser when he didn't get to be captain of the All-Star team, and a myriad of other things that had me questioning my sanity, because my infatuation with Ryder had definitely cooled off.

I guess you have Tyler to thank for that.

As I rested my back against the cold metal of my locker, feeling glum even though I wasn't sure why, a familiar, fresh scent caught my attention. Sniffing at the air like a police dog, I idly wondered why the smell made me feel more cheerful than I had in days. Glancing up, I found myself locking eyes with Tyler, who looked even moodier than he had when he'd broken up with Celeste. My mind flashed back to what Jermaine had told me as we walked to Health class together- "He's been looking like he's always pissed off for no reason. Like he'll wake up in the morning with a frown on his face and cuss out his alarm clock."

Because of me?

I didn't have the chance to think about that, because Tyler was in front of me, his eyes sad. "Hey."

"Hi," I managed to splutter, looking up at him. Making eye contact with him was hard, because all I wanted to do was throw myself into his arms and bleat 'I'm sorry', over and over again. But this whole situation, which was all my doing, was too far gone for that.

You better enjoy lying in that bed you made, Kaylee.

Clearing his throat, Tyler jammed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I- um- I left some of my shit in your locker." He worried his bottom lip with his teeth nervously. "Is it cool if I pick it up?"

"Oh. Right. Sure," was all I could say. For some otherworldly reason, I had clung to the hope that since Tyler hadn't retrieved his AP English book and his Calculus notebook from my locker, maybe he was still willing to have that serious conversation he had alluded to when he came to my house. And now, him actively coming to me to pick up his stuff meant that he was officially shutting the door that might have led to a reconciliation.

He doesn't want you, Kaylee, he wants Celeste!

Yup, they had still been spending tons of time together. In fact, I was surprised she wasn't breathing down his neck, all dragon like, right now.

I turned to open my locker, feeling Tyler's gaze on my back as I rummaged through the mess that was my locker. My fingers brushed against the humiliatingly embarrassing bag I had stored the condoms in, many moons ago, and a wave of regret washed over me. Why couldn't things go back to the way they were that day? Before I had gotten gripped in all consuming jealousy thanks to Celeste, before I had ruined my foolproof plan to get Ryder to notice me, before I realized that I didn't want Ryder to notice me. Back when I was still (semi) sane, and a whole lot happier.