The QB Bad Boy and Me (Sidelined) - Wattpad Books Edition

Chapter 6

On Monday morning, I stood beside my car in the school lot waiting for Gabby. I was nervous about seeing Drayton. Would he turn into an A1 asshole again? Would he tease me about what a mess I had been? Would he tell his buddies that I'd spent the night in his bed wearing nothing but his T-shirt and my underwear?

It was pointless to worry. He was who he was; as long as he didn't spread rumors, we'd be good.

Exactly four minutes later, Gabby pulled into the space beside me. She was trying to be late as little as possible this year. Last year, she'd had a terrible track record for missing first period because she'd be finishing chapters in her car before she'd even left the house.

"Your eye looks good," I said.

"I have, like, seventy-two thousand layers of concealer on."

"Why seventy-two?" I asked. "Why not seventy or seventy-five? Seriously, though, what'd your mom say?"

"I told her that you smacked me in the face coming out of a pirouette."

Soon we were giggling loudly and uncontrollably as people crossing the parking lot looked at us funny. The funniest part was imagining that happening for real. The dance that I did was contemporary with a strong influence of hip-hop. It was often fast paced and strong, but I did incorporate ballet steps. More so for softer, more emotional routines.

Gabby stopped laughing as she noticed something behind us. That Jeep. The one with dark windows and big rims. The driver's door opened and out slid Drayton.

"That Jeep," she squeaked, pointing at it with so little subtlety that she might as well have announced herself with a megaphone. "That's the Jeep that dropped you home on Sunday! Drayton? Did you spend the night with him?"

"Gabby." I turned around. "Shhh. He's coming. I'll tell you about it later."

She made a zipping motion across her lips. I was impressed with how well she pulled herself together—she folded her arms and her expression was neutral as Drayton stopped beside us and smiled down at me.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"Not bad," I replied.

He looked at Gabby for a brief moment and then moved his curious expression to me. "What happened to your friend?"

"Do you mean Gabby?" I asked, inclining my head in her direction.

"So you're the famous Gabby." Drayton stretched out his hand, and I could tell that she was trying not to burst at the seams with excitement. "What happened?"

The words tumbled out before I even had a chance to consider them. "She got into a fight. With this guy . . . at a bar! He told her to shake what her momma gave her . . . so she told him . . . she told him he was an inbred hick and then he slapped her. After he slapped her, Gabby beat the life out of him . . . with a barstool! It was bad . . . he's in the hospital. Don't mess with Gabby."

Drayton looked suspicious but he didn't call us out on the blatant lie. Could I not have come up with a more legitimate story? Even the one that Gabby had told her mom would have made more sense.

"Yeah, don't—don't mess with me," she laughed. "I have to go."

She turned around and almost bumped into a couple of junior girls as she dashed across the parking lot.

"That's not what really happened, is it?" he asked, walking alongside me. I couldn't help but notice the stares coming from the self-righteous shitheads Emily surrounded herself with. I couldn't help but not care either.

"Nope," I confessed. "But let her have this. The real story is . . . a little embarrassing."

"What, did she walk into a door or something?" he said pointedly. "She's not getting abused by a boyfriend or anything, is she?"