DECEPTION; Bradley Simpson

10.

I walk towards the parking lot as my last class is over. I stop at my car and drop my bag into the back of my vehicle. Before I sit in, I notice Brad and a girl talking in the parking lot. That girl isn't Ashley this time, but they seem all flirty. I can't help the jealousy that's taking over me for an unknown reason as I watch them. The girl stands on her tip toes and pecks Brad's lips. My breathing stops as I see Brad's smug expression. The girl walks away and a pair of chocolate brown eyes meet with mine. The curly haired boy's eyes quickly widen, but he composes himself and smiles at me. I try to force a smile before I sit in my car and drive back to the dorms as fast as I can.

I don't know what's happening to me. This couldn't mean that I'm falling for Brad, could it? No, that is impossible.

As I reach the dorms' parking lot, I hurry inside my room. Maggie is sitting on her bed, as usual and her eyes shoot up at me when I abruptly enter the room and slam the door behind me.

"Whoa, someone's pissed," she follows me with her eyes as I make my way to my bed and drop my bag on it, sitting down.

"No," I say, laying on my back and staring up at the ceiling.

"What's up with you, Eve? You were in such a good mood when I last talked to you," I can tell Maggie is examining me, I don't even have to look at her.

"Some things can change in a second, you know," I glare at her.

"Okay, okay, sorry," the dark haired girl puts her hands up in the air.

I'm glad when she goes back to whatever she was doing before I came into the room. I just stare up at the ceiling and think about what the hell is wrong with me. Why am I so pissed at Brad for kissing another girl? It's not like we're dating or something. He can do whatever he wants, I can do whatever I want.

"Are you still up for the dinner?" Maggie breaks the silence between us.

"Yeah," I sigh, sitting up and taking out my notes to study something before we go out. I stop arranging the papers as I see the work I did in psychology class. I read it over and over, feeling the tears welling up in my eyes as I think back to my "best friends", who lied to me all along.

"You okay?" my roommate asks, concern laced in her voice.

"Yes, I'm fine," I sniff, wiping off the tears.

"What is it that you're crying about?" she sits down on my bed next to me and starts reading what I wrote. After a few minutes, she looks up at me.

"I'm so sorry all this shit happened to you," she pulls me in for a tight hug, which I reciprocate. I cry into her shoulder as a knock is heard on the door. We pull away so Maggie can open the door.

"Oh, Brad," she says and my eyes widen. I try to wipe my tears and act like I didn't just cry over some stupid fake friends.

"Hey," I hear the familiar voice, before Maggie steps away from the doorway and lets the boy in. Our eyes meet.

"Hi," I greet him. My attempt at acting like I didn't cry fails as my voice betrays me.

"Have you been crying?" he asks with concerned eyes and voice.

"No," I lie.

"Yes, you did. I can tell," Brad sits down on my bed and looks down at the paper in my hands. "Oh."

"Yeah..." I sigh.

"Why did you come?" Maggie tries to change the topic, sitting down on her own bed.

"Dinner is starting soon and I thought I could pick you two up," the curly haired boy just shrugs and sits closer to me. I feel his arm wrap around my shoulders, but I don't look up.

"Cool. I'll be ready in 20 minutes and we can go," Maggie shrugs and walks into the bathroom.

Silence falls on the room and my mind goes back to what I saw in the parking lot. I move away from Brad, shrugging his arm off. I look up and see his confused expression.

"Did I do something?" he asks, and for a moment I swear I saw horror flashing through his eyes.

"No. I just don't want your girlfriend to think anything wrong," I shrug like it's nothing.

"Girlfriend?" Brad raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah. I saw you and that girl kissing in the parking lot," I say, looking down at my hands while playing with the sleeve of my shirt.

"Oh, that. Are you jealous?" he smirks at me and I instantly blush.

"No, of course not," I shake my head, trying to sound as confident as I can, but fail.

"You are!" he elbows me. I shoot him a glare, but he just smirks. "We're just hooking up, nothing more. We're not dating."

"I don't care," I say.

"Sure you don't," Brad continues teasing, but I ignore him and check my messages and calls. I have none, which is good because I don't want to talk to anyone right now.

After Maggie finally finishes getting ready, we walk outside to Brad's car. He lets me sit in the passanger seat, while Maggie occupies the backseat. The drive towards the diner, which we grew very fond of, is spent in silence. My mind is all over the place. Am i really jealous of Brad and another girl? He didn't calm me down when he said they're just hooking up. Hell, it made me even more jealous, I don't know why.

The curly haired boy finally parks his car and we climb out, walking into the small diner. The others are already waiting on us at a table. My eyes meet with Ashley's. She forces a smile onto her face, and I do the same. I sit down next to Tristan and roll my eyes when Brad sits next to me. Ashley glares at him, then me, before turning her attention to Maggie.

"Have you ordered yet?" Brad asks.

"Nope, we were waiting on you three," Tristan answers from besides me. A waitress walks up to our table and takes our orders. Soon enough, I have my coke placed in front of me. As I take a sip, I feel Brad's hands on my thighs. I nearly choke, but try my best to compose myself. I push his hand off and pretend like nothing happened, but that's impossible with that boy. He places his hand back and smirks at me, before turning to Lucy and listening to what she's saying.