The Badboy Smokes

Chapter Eleven

I go to the mall with Jenna on Saturday morning so we can talk about Jayce and the ditch and how he drove me home the next day, avoiding the part about McDonald's and rape.

"Why don't you just date him?" Is the first thing Jenna asks, narrowing her eyes at me.
"Because I don't want to date," I answer slowly, "We've been over this."
"You'll change your mind," She replies, "Also, did he say anything about a brother?"
"No, but he said that his dad impregnated someone when he was, like, an infant, I think."
"So that could be his brother," Jenna says looking to the floor for a second, "Wait, did he say who his step family is?"
I shake my head, no, and she nods.
"Well, kudos to him, I guess," She says with a smile, "He's good at hiding things."
"Yeah," I answer with a small laugh, "Definitely."

We walk over to the food court and order small blizzards from Dairy Queen before sitting at the edge of the restaurant to eat them. Jenna gets on her  Instagram and I suddenly remember remember what happened at McDonald's regarding Sydney and her instagram page.
"Hey," I say, a little too loudly, "You know what would be fun? If we went and saw a movie."
"We're broke," Jenna answers like it's obvious.
"Oh yeah," I answer, "Then we should go look at, uh, Tj Maxx."
Lib shrugs, "My legs hurt."

She scrolls through her Instagram and I watch as her face contorts to one of confusion. She shows me her phone and my heart jumps into my throat.
"Who's that?" She asks, referring to me, but my face is hidden.
The picture shows Jayce watching someone in a gray, oversized hoodie, holding a shake. Jayce's face looks slightly confused but also a little mad.
"Wow," I breathe, "I don't know."
The caption reads, "Jason Peters and a mystery girlfriend?"

Jenna looks back at her phone and scrolls a little to the date--two days ago.
"It was posted the day that you drove Jason Peters to get a tow," She comments and looks at me with slightly furrowed eyebrows.
"Maybe he was leaving there when he went into the ditch," I suggest, "Or that's where he went after he got out of the ditch."
"You said it happened as you were driving home from getting your car?" Jenna asks, looking back at me.
I nod slowly and she continues, "It was posted at 7:57. That's enough time for you to drive to McDonald's and get a meal."
"Maybe it's an old picture," I say quietly, staring down at my hands on the table.
"I'd believe that," She says, "If you weren't wearing the same damn hoodie."

Jenna stands up and grabs my arm, leading me through the mall to the back door, while I try to come up with excuses and justify myself. She pulls me out back to where the boxes and garbage is stacked and dumped.
"Are you kidding me?" She asks, "You do know that we're best friends, right? And that you can tell me anything?" I nod and she continues, "Cause you don't fucking act like it. You, literally, hide everything from me. What the hell do you think I'm gonna do? Use it against you? I'm not like fucking Lydia, Lee. I'm not gonna use you to get guys, and I'm not gonna use everything against you, and I'm not gonna fucking lie to you and make you feel like shit."
"It's not what it looks like," I answer in a small voice, staring at the ground.
"What the hell is it then?" Jenna asks, "What am I saying. Of course you went out with Jason Peters. That's what'll give you the most attention."

Something in me snaps at this, "Are you fucking kidding me? If you were my best friend you wouldn't fucking use that against me. It's not my fucking fault. And I would've told you, but you still would've reacted like this--because for some reason everything I do is your business. It's fucking not, okay? Oh, and by the way, it's Jayce. Not Jason Peters."
"Oh my god, we're best friend's that's what makes it my business," Lib snaps, "I'm supposed to look out for you. I'm supposed to review all your boyfriends and make sure they're right for you."
"Jayce isn't my fucking boyfriend," I snap, a little too loud.
"You're always together," She retorts, "You and Jayce are, like, doing everything together. Are you--"

I cut her off after looking behind her and seeing Jayce and his friend walking up.
"Hi, Jayce," I interrupt and Jenna turns around with a pissed off expression.
"Is this a bad time?" Jayce asks slowly.
Jenna folds her arms and walks away, back into the mall and I can only assume that she's leaving. And of course she is, because I don't have a ride and she always does this.
I call her to tell her this, but when I tell her she says, "Go home with Jayce and fuck him," in a loud tone.
Loud enough that him and his friend--who's name I've forgotten--heard and have already passed smirks to each other.

I look back at them awkardly and grip my arms over my stomach to keep warm.
"Did you hear any of that?" I ask, looking to the ground, which has recently been shoveled.
"Yeah," Jayce answers and I can feel him looking at me, "Mostly all of it."
"Your friend is hot when she's mad," Danny--whose name I've remembered--comments.
I shoot him a look, "Can you just shut up for one second?"
"That's not very nice," Jayce comments.
"You're the one to talk," I retort, and hug myself tighter.
Danny grins and smacks Jayce on the arm with the back of his hand.

Jayce taps the ash off the end of the cigarette that I hadn't noticed he was holding and proceeds to take a long drag while staring at me. A few seconds pass before he exhales the smoke at me, and, despite my throat clogging with cancer, I maintain my composure and continue to glare at him.
"Make out already," Danny remarks, and I shoot him a glare.
"Do you ever shut up?" I ask and he raises his eyebrows with an ammused expression.
"Look no further, sweetheart, I have an on-and-off switch," Danny says, and points to his dick.
I grit my teeth and breathe to calm down, but he winks and I pull my fist back to punch him. Before my fist reaches his face, Jayce has already grabbed me and Danny caught my hand.

Adrenaline is pulsing through my body and I continue to make heated eye contact with Danny, who's now frowning.
"Woah, woah," Jayce has been saying as he pulls me back.
He'd wrapped his arms around my upper torso  when I was trying to punch Danny, using his height on me to his advantage.
"Fuck off," I snap and send an elbow back into his stomach, but Jayce doesn't react.
"Okay," He says and I can feel his neck on my head as he leans down, "Just don't do anything stupid."
"You're in no place to tell me that," I answer, glaring at the ground.
"No, I'm not," Jayce answers, "But I can."

I exhale, calmer than I was before, and shut my eyes to clear my mind.
"Okay?" He asks and I exhale again.
"Yeah," I answer and I pull away right when I can.
I begin to walk away but pause, "What time is that party tonight? I want to get wasted."
"Be there by midnight," Jayce answers.
I nod and proceed to walk away when Danny calls, "Nice ass, sunshine," so I flick him off.
"Man, you're such an asshole," I hear Jayce mutter before I enter the building and call Danny (my friend).

"Hey, honey," My dad says, not looking to me.
"Hey," I answer, "I gotta go, bye."
"Bye, honey," He says, not looking to me.
That's the conversation before I leave the house at 11:45 to get to Markus's house by 12:15.

I haven't talked to Jenna since the mall today and this is definitely pissing me the hell off. She's a bitch. I mean who the hell does she think she is? She has no right to know everything about me and my life. She can't just treat me like shit and act so entitled.

11:50

I'm such an asshole. She's my best friend and I treated her like utter shit. She does deserve to know everything, she's just trying to look out for me. And I yelled at her and hid the truth. How could I be such a horrible friend to such an amazing person?

11:55

Y'know what? I'm better without her anyway. I don't have the added stress of her finding out about anything. In fact, I am happier without her. If she was here I'd just be annoyed. So this is good. This is great.