45 Days to Save the Bad Boy

Nineteen

“Georgie, the boys are here!” my mom called up the stairs the next morning.

“Muh huh mooh!” I called back, my mouth full of toothpaste.  Hastily, I spat and rinsed, gurgling with mouthwash for a second before rushing down the stairs.  “Thank you Mom,” I repeated, clearly this time.

“You’re welcome Georgie,” she replied, holding out my backpack and a piece of cinnamon raisin toast.

“Love ya!” I told her, kissing her cheek before running out the door to Breton’s car.

“Hey Breton, hey Peter, hi Dallas,” I greeted the boys as I climbed in the backseat.  “What’s new?”

“Not much,” Peter replied from the passenger seat.  “We were all just talking about you.”

“All good things I hope,” I told him fluttering my eyelashes in the most ridiculous way possible before buckling my seatbelt.

“Ready?” Breton asked, checking in the rearview mirror to see if I was buckled.

“Affirmative captain!” I called, saluting him in the mirror.

“Did you know Georgie,” began Dallas, “that you take so long to wake up and get ready that Breton has enough time to get me and follow Peter to his house before coming back here to pick you up?  It’s kind of a waste of gas.”

“What a very observant and environmentally friendly thing to say Dallas,” was my response.  “I would reply with ‘I’m a girl, we take that long to get ready’ but not only is that a sexist remark, it’s also untrue.  I just don’t like getting up in the morning.”

He shrugged, and we made comfortable conversation all the way to the school.

“Hey Georgie, can I talk to you about something when we get to school?” Dallas asked me suddenly.

“Sure,” I said. “Why not?”

Two minutes later Breton pulled into a spot in the parking lot, and we all clambered out of the car.  I could tell by all the looks that people were even wondering what I was doing with this group of guys.  

I mean, even though I totally thought he was a softy, Breton had a rep at the school for being a bad boy.  Obviously, people didn’t really have very high expectations from bad boys, because Breton was just a little stand-offish.  That and his glare was terrifying.  

Peter, everyone knew, had bullied me for two and a half years, and now we were all buddy-buddy, which might be a little confusing for some of the school’s other attendants.  

As for Dallas, well I leaked his biggest secret that only a few judgmental people in our small school actually cared about, and then we had a falling out and suddenly we were friends again.  

Honestly, ever since I got friends my life has been so dramatic.

“Georgie?” Peter said as I was walking with Dallas towards the building.  “Can we talk?”

Awkwardly, I glanced between Dallas and Peter.  “Um, Dallas needs me for a thing right now, but after school would work.  Or even at lunch, I can do lunch!”

“Sure,” Peter nodded.  “Lunch works.”

“Right, my table then.  Yours is kind of crowded.”  After a brief awkward pause, I nodded to him and silently half-turned pointing to Dallas.  “Um, I have to… yeah.”

“Yeah,” he echoed.

Feeling so overwhelmed with awkwardness, I started walking towards Dallas.