Bad Boys & True Love

I walked down the hallway with Mike, ignoring the looks. Honestly, I was so over being embarrassed over my stupid hair color. Sean himself said looked good on me so I couldn’t give two shits what anyone else thought.

“So I was wondering if I could borrow Christina today,” Mike said to me.

I looked at him and smiled coyly. “May I asked what your plans will be?”

Mike shrugged shyly. “It’s a surprise, and—no offense, Stella—you’re terrible with secrets.”

I gaped at him. “Am not! I know a shitload of secrets!”

“Like what?” Mike prompted.

I glared at him. “I can’t tell you, stupid, or else it wouldn’t be a secret!” I switched tactics when I saw that yelling wasn’t going to wear him down. “Please tell me,” I begged. “I can make your life hell if you get on my bad side—you know I can.”

Mike gave me a look that quite plainly said “you wouldn’t dare.” I nodded back.

“Fine,” he mumbled grudgingly, “but you have to swear you won’t tell Chrissy.”

I snorted. “No way. I tell her everything.” Mike rolled his eyes. “Kidding! Now spill.”

“Okay, okay.” He looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, like Christina had been stalking us the whole time. “Well, I’m going to take her to my house—wait. You have to promise you won’t laugh too.”

I giggled at that. Mike looked at me imploringly. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. No laughing. No telling. Got it.”

“Alright. So, I’m going to take her to my house and make her dinner. And I made her this CD with a bunch of different bands that I think she’ll like, and then I was going to tell her that I love her.”

Mike stopped and watched me carefully, gauging my reaction. I beamed at him. “You love my best friend!”

His eyes widened and he hurriedly clamped his hand over my mouth. It was all sweaty—ew. “Shhh! She has like three hundred friends, you know. Any one of them could be listening.”

I gingerly removed his hand and laughed. “And so you tell the best friend. That’s funny.”

“But you’re not going to tell her,” he said unsurely.

“I’m not,” I confirmed. “God, you’re so paranoid.”

“Stella,” he groaned. “What do you think?”

“To be honest I’ll think she’ll just melt into a puddle. I mean, if you do that then she might even like you more than she likes me,” I said approvingly. “It’s really sweet, Mike. Really.”

He grinned back, looking much more reassured. “Thanks.”

“So what’re you making?” I asked curiously.

“I don’t know. Would grilled cheese be unromantic?” he tried.

I accidently laughed and Mike chewed on his bottom lip nervously. “Please do! I think Christina will probably think you’re the cutest thing ever and spend the afternoon cuddling the shit out of you.”

“Why am I going to be cuddling the crap out of Mike? And ew, Stella, please don’t ever use that expression again,” Christina said, appearing out of nowhere. I guess Mike paranoia was warranted.

I smiled and threw an arm around Mike; however, since they both towered over me, I sort of just put it around his midsection awkwardly instead of his shoulders. “Hey there darling. We were just talking about you.”

“About what?” she said suspiciously.

I saw Mike stare down at me from the corner of my eye. “Just your hatred for feet and whatnot. The usual.”

She rolled her eyes. “You should come with a mute button.”

“And your bitchiness should come with an off button,” I retorted and grinned.

Christina fought back a smile. “God, I hate you. I just wanted to ask if you were busy—but no, I have to get my head ripped off.”

“Actually, I am busy. But I know for a fact that Mike here isn’t. You see, your boyfriend has no friends. Take pity on him.” I smiled at Mike and patted his arm. He looked down at me unamused.

Christina moved between Mike and me. “Shut up. My boyfriend is perfect.” They both grinned at one another and then started making out.

I stared at them with a gross expression. “This is kind of revolting.”

Christina flicked me off, the little multitasker. They eventually stopped but not without some reluctance. Christina encircled Mike’s waist, laying her head on his chest, and looked towards me. “Shouldn’t you be talking to Drew? Or Sean…? I forget.”

I glared. “Jokes are supposed to be funny, Christina.”

Her face fell. “I didn’t mean it. You know I’m just joking.”

I shrugged. “Whatever. I’m meeting up with…a friend. So. I’m just going to go.”

I turned around and made my way towards the exit. Behind me, I heard Christina yell, “Aw, c’mon, Stella! Don’t be like that! You don’t have to make up some friend just you get away from me, you know!”

“Bitch,” I muttered.

*

“Oh hey Stells. I was wondering when you’d show up,” Sean said, getting out of his car and rubbing his hands together. I loved that he looked nervous.

I smiled at Sean. “What? You thought I’d ditch you for some other schmuck?”

He grinned. “I do have competition, don’t I?”

I rolled my eyes. Sean walked over to my side of the car and opened the door for me. I beamed back at him and slid into his Mustang. No one had ever done that for me before. It was kind of very nice. “Nope.”

“No?” he repeated questionably. But he didn’t mention Drew.

“So what’s the plan, Stan?” I asked as he started his car and headed out of the parking lot.

“Um…” He scrunched up his face adorably. “I didn’t really… I don’t have any ideas.”

I laughed. “Okay. Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

“I swear you eat more than me,” he joked. “I remember you practically ate half of the pizza at Tony’s.”

I blushed. “I like pizza. And food.”

He laughed. “And I’ve got no problem with that whatsoever. I like a girl who’s not afraid to eat. To be honest, I think you’re the only girl I’ve hung out with who wasn’t.”

“That’s…good,” I said awkwardly and laughed. “So then food time! Where to?”

“How about Tony’s again?” he offered. “Good memories.”

“Sweet Jesus, I think I love you,” I said. I meant for it to be a joke—but I think we both knew that it wasn’t.