How to Be a Bad Girl ✔

Chapter Eighteen - Down the Rabbit Hole

Taking a deep breath, I stand up and straighten myself. Pushing my chest forward, I start practicing 'the walk' towards Jake.

Confidence. Confidence is all I need.

Although I manage to turn some heads my way — ahem, two, which is a big achievement for me — apparently, my walk is not enough to gain his attention as he's still busy talking to his friends.

So, I resort to Plan B: my signature move.

I have a slightly different approach than Sophia. After what happened last time, I figure I should tweak it up a bit. My move requires the target to actually be half decent — after all, I don't want to attract total jerks. Plus, unlike Sophia's, this move doesn't cause any damage to the target at all; hence, it's less risky.

As I continue to walk closer to Jake, I slightly open my clutch while I prepare to make the big move. The distance between us becomes inches away and my heart begins to pound harder. Can I do this?

A quick, unintended look at Madison — who is prepared to approach Jake from the opposite direction — fuels my determination even further.

Let's see if this works.

Taking a deep breath, I lower my gaze and intentionally bump into him from behind. Right when my body crashes into his back, I subtly turn my clutch upside down and let my stuff drop to the ground.

The sudden impact causes him to turn around abruptly.

"Oh my God! I'm so, so sorry!" I say, faking the whole clumsy girl act before kneeling on the ground and start picking up my stuff. Of course, the first thing I pick up is my pepper spray. Wouldn't want to scare him off now, would I?

I lower my gaze and let my hair dangles around my face, using the dim lights to my advantage so he can't see my face clearly. If there's one thing I learn from Sophia is that boys love some mystery, and that's exactly what I'm giving him.

His gaze is then drawn to the scattered, small things on the floor.

"It's okay. Let me help you with that," he replies before dropping to his knees.

Bingo. Hiding my smile away, I continue to pick up my stuff. I actually got the idea when I re-read people's mean comments on Instagram. My research tells me that most boys actually love helpless girls. That's why I chose this simple trick as my move.

He starts to pick up my stuff — lipstick, mirror, my pack of tissue — and hand them over to me to put back in my purse.

At last, my phone is the only one left on the ground. Of course, I had the precaution of using a thick but soft bookcase for my iPhone tonight just in case something like this might happen — after all, I don't want my phone to be broken into pieces.

As his hand is about to move towards my phone, I slip my hand over the phone as fast as lightning. The move causes our hands to inadvertently touch. One of my best physical features is my smooth, flawless skin. In one of the magazines Sophia gave me, I read that boys dig that. That's why I'm using it to my advantage.

"Oh! Sorry!" I retract my hand in a haste move, pretending to be shy. As expected, he does the same too in reflex. Then, I wait for him to make the first move.

Within seconds, he does as I expected. He grabs my phone and hands it to me. "Here."

I take the phone from his hand, letting my skin grazes his ever so slightly. "Oh, thank you!"

That's when I tuck my hair behind my ears and raise my gaze to meet his, giving him my most charming yet seductive smile.

"M-M-Mac?" His eyes widen and his strong jaw drops. "Mackenzie Goode?"