Roughing

“Beat it, Harper,” Jessica snaps before I have the chance to say something to her. “You just can’t deal with the fact that Bash is with Tori, and that he doesn’t want your skank ass.”

“Tori is nothing more than another one of Bash’s charity cases. He’s with her because he feels sorry for her. She is just an obligation he is fulfilling.”

“Seriously, Harper,” I interject, holding my hand out in front of me to shut her up, “just shut the fuck up already. I am so sick of your lies and games. You may have found ways to manipulate Bash in the past, but you cannot hurt me. Call me trailer park trash or whatever the hell you want because I don’t give a shit what you think about me.”

Harper shoves her hands onto her narrow waist, shifting her weight to her other foot and drawing attention to the short cheerleading skirt that shows off her long, toned legs. Looks wise, Harper is the kind of girl Bash would date. Hell, she’s the type of girl a guy like him would marry. She will make the perfect trophy wife one day. But she is not getting her slutty hands on Bash ever again.

“If you only knew,” Harper says with venom in her voice. “You think Bash is so perfect and honest with you. I bet he won’t tell you his dirty little secret.”

“Everyone knows he’s had sex with you, Harper. You might be dirty, but it’s not a secret.”

She flicks her hair over her shoulder and smirks. “You think you’re funny, don’t you? Well, you won’t be laughing when you find out how you managed to stay at Strick U.”

I glance at Jessica who stills in her seat, her body turning to stone as if she’s in on the secret everyone seems to know.

“What are you not telling me?” I say to Jessica.

She turns her head, biting at the corner of her lip.

I clamp my hand around her tiny biceps and give her arm a jerk to get her attention. “Jess, C'mon. Spill it. What the hell is she talking about?”

Jessica gives me a deflated look. “You should ask Bash. It’s not my place to tell you.”

“No, I want to hear it from you.”

“Go on,” Harper says with a victorious expression on her face. This is what she had wanted, and I fed right into her nonsense. “I can’t wait to hear you tell the story, Jess.”

“I can’t,” Jessica mutters, her eyes moving toward the field and locking onto Bash. “You should hear it from Bash. It’s not my story to tell.”

“Oh, well, if you’re going to be such a buzz kill, Jess, then maybe I should tell you dear old friend,” Harper says. “After all, you have been keeping this from her for almost as long as Bash.”

“Just say it already,” I say to Harper through clenched teeth. “I’m sick of the games.”

“Fine, but you will not like what you hear.”

I hold my hand out. “Go on.”

She bends down, her breasts spilling out from the tight navy uniform. “Have you ever wondered how you were the only student to be awarded the Strickland University Scholarship for Academic Excellence?”

I narrow my eyes at her, confused and wondering where she is going with this. “Not really. I got a scholarship from the school because of my grades.”

“Wrong,” Harper says with laughter in her voice. “There is no such thing as the Strickland University Scholarship for Academic Excellence.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Harper. I have the papers and the money to prove it,” I spit back, defensive.

“If you don’t believe me, go ask anyone in the bursar’s office tomorrow morning. They will tell you the truth. Your scholarship is not real. It does not exist.”

“What is she talking about?” I ask Jessica, beyond frustrated by this conversation.

“You should talk to Bash about this. I don’t want to get the middle.”

The first quarter ends, and the crowd erupts into cheers. One of the cheerleaders calls over to Harper, flagging her down by waving her hand in the air at her with an impatient look on her face.

“Soon, you will find out just how much you do not belong in our world,” Harper says to me.

She walks away before I can come up with something to retort, leaving me with a lot to consider.

“I’m so sorry, Tori. You weren’t supposed to find out like this,” Jessica says with sadness in her voice. “That bitch wants to chase you away so she can have Bash all to herself. Don’t let her get under your skin.”