My Bad Boy's Diary

~Thirty-Eight~ bad friend

The next day, I was more confused than ever.

I flip-flopped between extreme bouts of giddiness over all the good things that Dalton had said to me lately and equally extreme bouts of depression, anxiety, and rage over the not so good.

My face sort of contorted between a big goofy grin and a look of painful consternation as I trudged through the school parking lot. I had just gotten out of a mind-numbing detention session, the first of my life, and I was brought out of my mental anguish by the sight of a friendly face.

"Matheson!" I cried in genuine happiness at seeing him. I quickened my step towards him, smiling even though I could tell he wasn't nearly as happy to see me.

He didn't walk off, at least, he had slowed down and was waiting for me to approach him. That was a start.

"Hey." I said, stopping a few feet away from him. "It's good to see you."

He had his hands in his jacket pockets and he wasn't looking at me directly. "Hey. I heard you punched Patricelli in the face."

"Yeah. Got detention now and I'm super grounded." I smiled and nodded and he nodded as well, pleased by my punishment.

He probably thought it was about what I deserved and he was probably right.

"So...are we, like, cool now?" I pushed, filled with giddy, awkward hope.

He shrugged, but he was starting to smile, too. "Yeah, sure, I guess. As long as you've seen the light and decided to stop hanging out with douchebags like Dalton Patricelli."

My happiness dimmed. Of course the truce would come with stipulations and I had known that this would be the case; it was no secret how Matheson felt on the subject, but the truth was, I wasn't even close to being done with Dalton and I hoped to hell he wasn't done with me yet, either.

I opened my mouth, trying to find the right words that wouldn't get me in trouble.

Matheson waited expectantly for me to be a good friend and assure him that I had kicked Dalton to the curb.

Before I could find the right words, however, Dalton had to come along and take my choices away from me. It was something that just came natural to him.

He appeared at my side and my heart exploded into my throat.

"Dalton!" I choked on his name.

Matheson bristled up right on cue. "Get away from her, Patricelli! Haven't you done enough?!"

Dalton ran an amused eye over Matheson, who had his fists out now and everything. "Nahh, I'm just gettin' started, actually." He turned to me and handed me something. A small, black something.

I took it, too surprised not to accept the impromptu gift.

"It's-!" My eyes widened.

"I figured since you got your phone taken away, that you could use a backup. It's just a burner phone, nothin' fancy, but now we can text." He grinned down at my slack-jawed expression. "You can thank me later. See you tonight, sugar." And he leaned down and kissed my cheek.

"See ya, Matthew." He said, then he loped lazily away.

I turned back to Matheson, feeling sick inside as I held my new phone in my hands.

"Mathie..." I tried, but I knew by the look on his face that there was nothing I could do or say now to make this right.

"Do me a favor, Brooklyn." He said, and he suddenly met my eyes. There was such pain and rage in those blue eyes, I took a step back from him. "Don't talk to me anymore."