Get Your Kicks

“I know a secret,” Darcy said, as she plopped down at the foot of my bed.

She was far too cheery for how early it was. She was lucky Taylor wasn’t in her bed, or she’d have tossed pillows at our blonde friend until she had no choice but to quiet down.

Wait, Taylor wasn’t in her bed?

Pushing myself up on my elbows, I looked over at Darcy, who was tugging at my sheets with a smile on her face. Darcy knew. She had to know.

“Well, go on then,” I said, nodding in her direction. “Tell me.”

Darcy shook her head quickly, giggling as she did so. “I can’t say.”

“Darcy.” I sat all the way up, crossing my legs in front of me. “You know you’re going to tell me, so just get on with it.”

“Well,” she said, teeth tugging at her bottom lip. “I’ll tell you one, but I can’t tell the other. I promised Elle.”

I nodded, knowing that as much of a gossip as Darcy was she would never betray Ellie’s confidence. They were too close for that.

A smile fell to her face the moment she realized I wouldn’t pester her about Ellie, and she scooted forward on the bed until she was right next to me.

“Taylor slept with Liam last night.”

“What?!”

I shouted, but I didn’t mean to. It was somewhere halfway between a squeal and a roar. Like if a pig and a lion had a baby with asthma.

Darcy chuckled, batting her eyelashes. She wasn’t going to give me anything more unless I asked.

“You mean slept or slept slept?”

Her eyes twisted, as her mouth dropped. “Well, Brenna, I never-“

My hand grazed her arm in a light punch, which she then rubbed gently.

“Tell me.”

“The normal kind, Brenna.” She stood up, making her way over to my dresser. Her hands were tossing between the various knick knacks, as her eyes flicked between them. “You really should close your mouth. This inn has bugs.”

I glared at her, before closing my lips like she said. I couldn’t hide my surprise, that was obvious. I wasn’t sure how Liam and Taylor's affection for one another had gone so unnoticed by me, but I could probably attribute it to the fact that I was too distracted by trying to keep Harry out of Darcy’s pants.

Now I had another friend to protect from the wandering hands of these overly aggressive pop sensations. Those hormonal boys were going to be the death of me. There wasn’t enough time in the day to protect my friends from all of them.

“Where are they?” I asked, standing up from the bed.

Darcy turned to me, with her lips pursed and head cocked to the side. “Brenna, don’t get your panties in a bunch. She’s fine.”

Her attention moved back to the knick knacks, flipping them around carelessly. It was obvious she was uninterested. She was just doing that thing she always did where she tried to distract me. She had this reoccurring thought that if she moved things around long enough, I’d forget what was really going on. It only worked about half the time.

“Darcy,” I said, taking a few slow steps towards her. “You and I both know that boy is going to take advantage of her.”

She turned around quickly, leaning against the dresser with her teeth tugging at her lip. “Brenna, you do know that all guys aren’t bad, right?”

My eyes tightened, as I pursed my lips. Did she always have to go on about that? Same spiel, different day.

“Yes, Darcy, I do know. But these ones are bad.”

“You say that every time,” Darcy said, her hands falling to her sides. “They’re not bad.”

I sighed. “Fine, they’re not bad. They’re just horny, but that’s bad. They’re going to charm you, screw you, and then leave in the dust, just like they always do. They only want you for your body, Darcy. Don’t you realize that?”

“When did we start talking about me? This is about Taylor, isn’t it? That’s what we were talking about. Not me.”

“Well, yes.” I paused, shifting my gaze around the room before landing back at her. “But you’ve got that thing with Harry, and don’t say that you don’t. He’s just using you, Darce. All we wants to do is get in your pants, then he’s going to leave you just like every other guy has.”

Darcy’s face went blank, before turning into a small scowl. She looked more hurt than angry, and I immediately wanted to take back what I had said.

“Is it really so impossible for you to believe that someone would actually like me?”

She was out of the room before I had a chance to respond.

I groaned, before collapsing back onto the bed.

Somewhere between trying to protect her and trying to warn her, I’d become so jaded that I couldn’t be what she really needed. She didn’t need a mother or someone to be her walking condom. She needed a friend, and I could feel the walls of our friendship crumbling down with every step she took.

Did Harry like her? Probably not, but it was possibility. A small one, but a possibility, nonetheless. The bottom line was it wasn’t my job to try to be her chastity belt. I didn’t need to follow her around at every turn to make sure she kept her pants on.

If she wanted to screw Harry, she was going to screw Harry. She was going to sneak out of her room at night and go into his. She was going to slip away every chance she could to be with the curly haired boy.

I just wished it wasn’t him.

Darcy could have anyone she wanted. Why did it have to be Harry?