Dulce

“Amen to that,” Sarah says when she pulls her face away from her boyfriend’s lips.

The two beepers on the table chime and flash red. I reach to grab mine, but Scott snags it first.

“I got it. I’ll be right back.”

“Thanks,” I tell his back, as he’s already moving away.

“Such a good boy.” Casey smirks. I don’t know him well enough to tell if it’s just friendly ribbing or more malicious, so I let it go.

“So, new girl. I heard you got into a fight with Cassandra,” he tells me, pointing one of his fries at me.

“I heard you gave Abe a blowie in the parking lot after making out with a smoking hot woman,” Sarah adds, smiling when Casey hands her a fry.

“I also got bent over the desk by the headmaster. I sure have been a busy girl.”

They both crack up, which is ironic since that’s the only true thing that happened. Well, apart from Sugar giving me some sugar.

“Nothing is secret in this place. Every man and his dog are gossip whores, so by the time it’s made its way around campus, it’s been so distorted it barely resembles the truth.”

“Well, I can say right off the bat that I have no clue who either Abe or Cassandra is. And as a general rule, I like a little more info on someone I’m fucking or fucking up.”

“I like you. Don’t hurt my boy,” Casey warns me, his face turning serious.

“I don’t even know your boy, Casey. I can tell you I have no intention of hurting anyone who doesn’t do anything to warrant it.”

“Warrant what?” Scott asks as he places a tray down in front of me before sitting with his own tray.

“We were just talking about gossip. God, this looks so good.” I grab a slice of pizza, take a huge bite, and moan over the oozy cheese goodness.

When I open my eyes, all three of them are staring at me.

“What?”

“I’m straight, and even I’m turned on right now,” Sarah admits, making me frown as I look at Scott for answers.

“You always make that noise when you eat?”

“What?” I look around at everyone.

“She doesn’t even know she’s doing it,” Casey whispers.

“Doing what?” I ask, exasperated.

“Nothing. Just know you are always welcome to eat with us,” Scott tells me.

I take another bite of my pizza and shake my head. “You guys are weird.”

Sarah opens her mouth to say something, then spots something over my shoulder. “Incoming,” she grumbles just as hot liquid is poured down my back.

I grit my teeth against the pain, thankful that my hair is pulled up and out of the way. I turn at the sound of laughter and see the queen of the bitches looking at me with a smug smile on her face and an empty bowl of what looks like it had been tomato soup.

“Oops.” She laughs.

I look at her face before taking in two of her lackeys behind her, who laugh uproariously. At the table behind them are the twins, a smirk on one of their faces, the other with a scowl. Each of them has a girl draped over them, neither of them being paid the slightest bit of attention.

I blow out a breath and remind myself that snapping her neck in front of this many people will be frowned upon, but I can’t let her walk out of here thinking she’s won. That will make me look weak.

So, if I can’t use violence, what can I do?

I smirk and stand up, turning to face her.

“Jesus, Cassandra. What the fuck is your problem?” Scott snarls from beside me.

“What? I tripped.”

“Perhaps”—I tell her as I tug my tie free and unbutton the front of my blouse—“you should stick to sneakers if you can’t walk in heels.”

The busy room is suddenly so quiet you could hear a pin drop as everyone watches with fascination. I pull the shirt free from my skirt, exposing my pink lacy bra, before pulling the shirt completely off.

I toss it at her along with the tie as she stands staring at me in shock.

Catching the small zipper on my skirt, I lower it and let the skirt drop to my feet. It pools at my ankles as I step out of it. I bend over and pick it up, hearing a collective groan echo around the room.

I toss the skirt at Cassandra too, leaving me in only my bra, lacy boy shorts, and black heels. I reach behind me and snag the last slice of pizza off my plate before winking at Scott.

“I accept your apology. It’s not your fault you’re clumsy. Have that back to me by tomorrow. Oh, and it’s dry clean only,” I tell her before taking a bite out of my pizza and strutting out of the hall with a sway in my hips.

You wanna play, little girl? Fine, we’ll play.

I’m halfway back to the house when I realize I’ve left my ID card behind, but I refuse to go back now. Hopefully, Scott will have picked it up and I can get it from him tomorrow.

The courtyard is pretty quiet, but not so quiet that there is nobody around to witness my near-naked stroll across campus. The thing is, I’m not embarrassed. I love the skin I’m in. I’m blessed that my metabolism likes me enough to work overtime to compensate for the crap I fuel it with. But even when I’m older and have to make better choices, I’ll still love my body. It’s who I am, and I’m confident enough to know I look good. It’s sort of a requirement for the job I do. Candy girls are made to tease and entice. People want a taste of something sweet, and that is what we promise, even if it is just an illusion.

So many people have seen my naked body that at this point, it doesn’t register with me. I’ve worn less to the beach and nobody batted an eye, so I’m not bothered. It could be worse. I could be wearing a thong.

I think the key is owning it. If I tried to cover myself and ran like I had something to be ashamed of, I’d have found myself mocked and jeered. But walking with my head held high and a grin on my face forces people to look at me differently. I know in an hour or so, the whole campus will have heard what happened, but it will be interesting to see what kind of spin is on the story. Either way, I took the shine off Cassandra’s moment of glory, and that’s enough for me.

“Nice ass.”

I look over my shoulder and see the asshole twins following me, their eyes on my butt. The girls they were with earlier have been dismissed.

“I know,” I reply and continue walking.