Boarding with the Bad Boy [COMPLETE + BONUS published edition]

THE BOARDERS: 08

Sam

I am raging when I force myself to move from Somers' bed and climb into mine. Brandon's right about one thing: this girl takes more than she's allowed. Where does she get off running her eyes over me in that innocent, sexy way and expecting I keep my hands off her?

I hate how irritated I am, how worked up. Ironic I accuse her of exactly the problem I'm facing right now. I'm only grateful she can't hide her emotions as well as I can. Because the sight of her taking in my face like that had my heart doing things it's not supposed to do with any chick, let alone Logan Somers. I need the blood to move out of my dick and back into my brain, stat. Where the fuck is my loyalty?

I grind my teeth together, reminding myself of Brandon's voice the afternoon he'd called to tell me that Somers had announced to half the school that her mom was sleeping with his dad. He'd sounded on the verge of cracking, laughing too harshly when he followed it up with the fact that she'd promptly taken off with the two of them—her mom and his dad. And the next day, after his mom had taken half a bottle of Vicodin, was vomiting all over herself when Brandon made it home from school just in time to call an ambulance? He'd been furious, on fire with rage. But the next weekend, he'd taken the train down to my Manhattan apartment and it was like none of it had happened. Brandon showed no emotion; he'd gone full-on flat affect. It had scared the shit out of me then, had felt like the start of something ugly.

I'd been right to worry. The funny, sharp kid I'd met my first year at summer camp has never been the same. For three years, he's grown colder and harder, always looking for the thrill that takes him closer to the brink. I've ridden that rollercoaster with him more times than I can count, and I can't say I've never felt the buzz at tempting fate that Ott so craves. A fifteen-year-old doesn't get a coke addiction because he likes peace and quiet. But as the years have passed without a word from Ott's dad, and as his mom continues to fall deeper into her already crippling depression, Ott reaches further—the jumps are higher, the stunts more reckless. One of these days, he's not going to land.

The girl in the bed beside me, the one whose breathing is slowing, becoming unlabored? She did this to him. At the very least, she kicked the snowball downhill or broke the camel's back or however the fuck the saying goes. Somers betrayed Ott by getting in that car three years ago, and she opened a wound that can never be healed. It's this I need to remember when I look at her, not the fiery sarcasm or the sexy way she bites her lip when I come too close.

Just about everyone Ott's ever cared about has broken his heart. His dad (by fucking Somers' mom), Somers (by bringing it to light and leaving him in its wreckage), his mom (by falling apart in the aftermath). Not me. I refuse. When I told Somers I wouldn't be adding my name to "that long list" I was telling the truth; I'm not going to be another person who abandons my best friend. And if I miss out on her because of that? Well, they're not called sacrifices for nothing. Sharing this shitty little dorm with her isn't going to make it easy, but I've gotten over worse things than a little crush. I can do this.