Tainted Souls

Chapter Seventeen

It had been a week since I had finally decided to talk to Keisha again. After we talked things out, we thought of some ground rules. We decided that lying and hiding relationships were a definite deal breaker when it came to establishing and maintaining a good alliance. Another rule was to treat the other's significant other well, but also to warn your best friend if there was something shady about them. I also did say something about limiting PDA to makeout sessions that didn't go beyond simple kisses in front of your best friend since some things were best left private.

Keisha was too eager to be on good terms with me again. She was chattering away more than ever. "You know, I think that a certain future man of yours wouldn't really like the PDA rule. I think he'd be the type to practically do it with you against the lockers in public and tell everyone to fuck off if they tried to comment about it. Or, if they try to take any weird videos and pictures."

"Shut up, Keisha. Now, you're just giving me false hope. And even if Maverick ended up actually dating me, there is no way I would allow that to happen. Not like it's something I even should think about. It's already been months since I've known Maverick, and there are no romantic signs from him. I've read all the articles and took five hundred and twenty-two quizzes online that are similar to titles like "Will my crush like me?" or "Does this guy in my college like me?""

"Taj has always been a direct and forward type of guy. Like I said in the past, you need to be patient about this Maverick situation," she explained.

"I tried. But whenever I try to be there for him—that is, even as an ally—he panics and shuts people out. He's lost complete trust in people. Even if we are allies again, Maverick is completely ignoring Taj. He hasn't spoken to Taj in one and a half weeks already," I sighed.

"Okay, I admit that is definitely a lot of time, considering how those two are usually always around each other and saving each other's asses. I have something else to share, though. If I'm being honest, Taj is the second official guy that I've actually had sex with after...Liam. I didn't go beyond kissing or flirting with other guys, even at the parties that I went to," Keisha admitted. "That's another thing I kept from you. I'm sorry."

"Wait...what? You're telling me that you, the femme fatale that always talks about seducing boys like an expert, hadn't slept with anyone after Liam until Taj? This entire time? Wow," I gaped at her.

"I feel terrible for not telling you the truth. I just wanted to seem like a cool best friend to you. You know, like the older sister you go to for advice about boys. You seemed so helpless about Maverick that I didn't want to discourage you even more. But yeah, I'm not very experienced either. Taj and I haven't hooked up with the same amount of people. I guess that's also why I was reluctant about him at first. I mean, he could be with an actual rich girl and hook up with them in private without anyone finding out. I'm sure people will be saying that he downgraded his status by being with me." Keisha's shoulders slumped.

"Hey, Keisha? I still think that you're badass and like the older sister I've never had. Just because you haven't hooked up with as many people as I assumed, it doesn't mean that you're any less cool. In fact, it shows that you really cared for Liam and Taj to the point where you were being indecisive about just letting loose and being carefree. If I had known how much you cared for Liam, I wouldn't have been mad when I first found out about you guys. It's almost similar to the Taj situation, except that I was even more angrier with you back then. I didn't speak to you for a whole month," I chuckled.

Keisha started to actually cry and hug me. She usually never cried. "I feel so bad for everything! I completely missed you! I'm serious."

I shook my head, suddenly feeling like the guilty one. "No, I feel bad for everything. I wasn't congratulating you for being with the guy that you love. All I did was talk about Maverick 23/6 during the times that I didn't talk about drama or bullying. I must be so tiresome and boring, like a chore."