Prank Wars Page 21

  The girls cheered. The jerk smirked back at me. I wouldn’t leave until he cried. “So, Mr. God’s gift to women, what makes you think you’ve got anything to offer the ladies, huh, besides that amazing skull cap you’ve got to hold your big head in? So far, you’ve mentioned your bags of seemingly endless gold? Even if you have money, which I seriously doubt, it would never make up for being stuck with you. So, what else do you have to offer the girls besides your dark and hollow soul?” I lifted my brow at the guy.

  “Why don’t you ask the girls who won’t leave me alone?” he answered smoothly.

  “That’s called Stockholm Syndrome. They need their heads examined so that they’ll know they don’t need you. Anything you do, we can do much much better. Face it, little boy. Girls can make their own money. We can make our own fun. We can do more with our life than get tied up with some nut job like you. The only thing that can entice us is love. Oh, so maybe that’s why you’re so mad? You’re not that loveable, are you?” I made a little moue with my lips. “Did some girl dump you on your head like you deserved?”

  The guy didn’t seem at all upset. Of course not, he still had poor misled girls wrapped around all his fingers. And besides that—I was so gullible—this guy had to be a set-up to get the crowd riled up. Not even Cameron was as bad as this. From the corner of my eye, I saw Thanh disappear into the exit at the far side of the ballroom. I might never find out if her backpack had been returned to her. I stuck the microphone back in its stand. The girls shouted for me to continue, but I couldn’t. “Do yourself a favor, girls,” I said as a parting shot. The guy with the skull cap would never be moved, but at least I could help them out. “Don’t go for a guy like this. Go for a nerd. I’ve heard tale that he’ll love you, never take you for granted, and treat you really well.”

  “Are you sure about that?” I swiveled at that familiar voice. It was Byron. Another jerk had taken skull cap’s place. Byron still wore his bass strapped over his shoulder and looked calm like he was ready to do battle. “Or will he just play video games all day and ignore you?”

  “Even better,” I retorted. “Then he won’t be around. Sounds like the perfect man to me.” I was losing Thanh. I backed away.

  “At least go for the jerk,” Byron said. “Then you’ll know what you’re getting into. That’s what we all are to you in the end, right? Jerks?” I rolled my eyes, turning away. “This world will never make you happy, will it, Mad Dog?”

  That stopped me short. “Not while you’re in it, Byron,” I retorted. The crowd made a mock noise of shock. The microphone was somehow back in my hand. “In case you haven’t realized, players are a dime a dozen these days. I’m tired of players. I’m ready for a change.”

  The girls cheered.

  “And what exactly is a player?” Byron asked, stopping my grand exit yet again. Was he kidding? He might as well ask a missionary what our church was about. He knew he’d get a soliloquy from me with that.

  “Ooooh!” That was Cameron making catcalls in the front. Great. Now my honor was at stake.

  The microphone tightened in my hand. Byron asked for it. “Definition one: a guy who doesn’t think that the girl he’s dating is human. He lies, uses, and throws the baggage away. Sound familiar?”

  “Girls do that too.”

  “I have never treated anyone the way guys have treated me.”

  “Neither have I.” He said it with that stupid accent that I was starting to like. “Here’s my piece of advice for you, Mad. Get over it. And one other thing; if you think I’m such a jerk then leave me alone.”

  I stared at him. What? The girls watched breathlessly below us like this was their favorite soap opera. The guys grinned uneasily. I tried to register what Byron was saying with all those eyes on me. Did I even think he was a jerk anymore? Right now I kind of did, but lately? I wasn’t sure. Could I like a guy without him turning on me in the end? Tons of songs on the radio talked about love—a whole enterprise dedicated to it and I never really felt what they were talking about. And if I had, it never turned out to be real. Did that mean something was wrong with me? Or was this love thing just a trick and there was something wrong with all of us? “You’re right,” I told Byron. “I should never open my heart. Happy?”

  I tried to retreat, but he wouldn’t let me. “Who says? You?” I stiffened. With all those eyes on me, I wasn’t about to admit that my only experience with love was to be used and thrown away. “What happened to love suffereth long, is kind, is not puffed up, Madeleine? If you can’t open your heart...you’re broken.”

  He just called me broken. I could add that to his long list of insults against me. And in front of the majority of the school? I took a deep breath. “You are wrong. I am so happy.” To my horror, my voice broke. It was a terrible way to prove my point.

  “You don’t sound like it.”

  My eyes narrowed. Byron was crazy…and I would prove it, gladly, except…my eyes went to the exit where Thanh had disappeared.

  “Relationships are messy.” I heard Byron say. “None of us are going to get it right.”

  “No, we’re not,” I agreed, sliding the microphone back into its holder. “Especially you…and me. You want me to leave you alone? I’ll leave you alone,”—with a vengeance. I took the stage steps two at a time away from Byron, so he could see for himself how serious I was—I never wanted to see him again! I plunged headlong into the crowd. They made an amused path for me. I felt a few pats on my back and shoulders. Some guys just grinned at me, but no one got in my way. I felt my face flush beat red. I had lost...badly. I wasn’t sure where my usual focus in the heat of battle had gone. The next band came on stage and the MC introduced them with a relieved voice.

  I took a deep breath, not believing that I had just told Byron off. It felt good and very wrong at the same time, and I tried to push it back to the part of me that couldn’t hurt. Tears glistened in my eyes when I remembered Byron’s face when I had called him a player. He did not look happy. What had possessed him to come to the aid of men everywhere anyway? I was tired of being on opposing sides. I didn’t want to fight him anymore.

  I broke out of the ballroom, my footsteps echoing across the empty hall. My conscience wouldn’t leave me alone—it lectured me like it was Lizzie, and I tried to wrestle it down, so I could focus on Thanh. It was useless. I couldn’t bring myself to care if she got her stuff back or what she might mean to Byron. What did I think I could do for her anyway? I couldn’t control everything, or how Byron felt about her...or me—well, I could make him hate me. I could call him a jerk in front of the entire school. I groaned. Was it too late to apologize? Sort of. There was no way I wanted to face those people in the ballroom again. Or Byron. I leaned against the wall to the atrium, finding the darkest corner with the bushiest leaves I could find, Byron’s words stinging me all over. Obsessed. Unhappy. Broken. I didn’t want him to be right, but was he?

  I took a deep breath, listening to the music from the ballroom. It sounded distant. Behind the sound, I caught the faint snatches of whispers that formed into words. I wasn’t alone in the atrium. I listened to the hushed voices. “…not here.” I glanced around the corner into the atrium and stiffened when I saw one of the voices belonged to Thanh. I half-expected to find a glass slipper in her place, not the actual girl. Her small frame blended into the shadows.

  “Where are they? Do you have them?” someone asked her. The lights were dim, and I couldn’t get an ID on whoever talked to her. Whoever it was had a stiff set to her shoulders and long hair. I couldn’t make out the exact color in the darkness. Thanh’s eyes swept carefully around, and I pulled back into the shadows. The last thing I wanted to be caught doing was eavesdropping. “You can give them to me now,” the silhouette whispered harshly to Thanh. “I’ll make sure they get into the right hands.”

  Thanh shook her head. “I don’t know who to trust.” This was a weird conversation. The rest of their words were lost in a murmur. I tried to get closer without being seen. A
branch smacked me in the face.

  “You’ll be hurt. Come back. We’ll take care of you.”

  “I need to talk to him.” Thanh said in a louder voice.

  “Did you make contact with him? Does he have them?”

  “I tried to…Tuesday night, but there were some students, and then—please, where is he?”

  The girl talking to Thanh shifted. I still couldn’t see her face. She seemed a part of the shadows. “Stay here. We’ll protect you...he’s coming.”

  “Who?” There was real fear in Thanh’s voice.

  Too late I heard the footsteps come up behind me, and I reacted to that fear. My heart closing in on my chest. I had nowhere to hide…except the coat closet across the way. Being June, there weren’t that many coats in there. A few slickers. I scurried across the hallway and ducked inside just as I saw the legs stalk past. The owner of them hesitated when he passed the closet and turned...to look straight at me. My stomach sank. Of course it was Eric. He had found me in another compromising position. The way things were going, he’d find me in an asylum next. “What are you doing?” he asked.

  Thanh’s whisper died and I heard a scuttle of feet like mice running away with cheese from a trap. I managed to give Eric a weak shrug. He leaned against the closet, watching me with heavy-lidded eyes. He extended his hand, and I stared at it. “You hiding from your roommate again?” he asked. Compassion laced his voice. “I thought I saw you coming this way.”

  It was a pretty good excuse and I nodded. “Tory’s been really, um…” I crawled out of the closet, dusting off my black dress while I was at it, “I’m trying to figure out, um…” I really had no idea what I had overheard to be honest and I couldn’t concentrate on what I was saying.

  “I know. I saw.” Eric pointed the general direction of the ballroom. He had witnessed my little Battle of the Sexes for himself. “Are you okay?”

  I heard more footsteps, and knew they belonged to the one Thanh had been frightened would come. I scuttled back into the closet, but not before I grabbed Eric’s arm and dragged him down with me. He was stronger than I thought, but he grinned and let me muscle him in. “What are you doing?” his voice was muffled in the closet. He readjusted himself and pushed closer to me. I got a good view of his hazel eyes; they watched me with more emotion than I could read. The band playing in the ballroom had shifted into a slower song—if we weren’t stuck in a closet, I’d get lost in it. “Well, it’s not every day I’m alone with the hottest girl I’ve ever seen,” Eric said softly. My mouth opened, but nothing came out. “Your name tag,” he reminded me.

  I looked down at it. “Oh yeah, Kali gave—” The running feet got louder and I stopped talking just as Byron flew past. I felt like an idiot. I stood up and rammed my head against the hangers. “Ow.” They swung loudly above me.

  Byron hesitated at the threshold of the atrium and turned. “Madeleine?”

  Eric laced his fingers through mine in response. I stiffened in surprise. My other hand went to my aching head. It found a lot of blonde hair instead. I couldn’t think straight. Byron retraced his steps, coming back for me. “Byron,” I managed to get out, “you’re not...a jerk.”

  “Yes, I am.” Byron stopped when he saw Eric. His gaze trailed to our hands. “Am I interrupting something?”

  Immediately, I felt guilty and didn’t know why. I was embarrassed about raging at him so publicly on stage—maybe that was it. Had Thanh been waiting for him this whole time? After seeing Byron, I knew she had been talking about how they mixed up their backpacks, not something more sinister. If that was the case, that made me the villain of this story. Byron still stared at me and I tried not to squirm. Eric’s touch burned into mine. It wasn’t just the familiar feeling of a male hand over mine; it was having Byron as my audience. Still. He, of all people, should know to leave us alone. I nodded quickly at Byron to send him on his way.

  Byron leaned next to the coat closet, not taking the hint. “It’s quite a view over here, isn’t it?”

  Was he kidding? There was only the atrium—if we could call it that—with only some sparse trees. Again I nodded. “It’s really…really…uh…”

  “Romantic,” Eric finished for me. His eyes crinkled into almonds—very attractive ones. He thought this was hilarious.

  “Look.” Byron took a deep breath like he was thinking hard. “I’m sorry. I got carried away. I do that sometimes. It’s just that…what were you telling those girls? You really think you’re better off without us?”

  Eric moved closer to me and smiled sardonically at him. “What do you think?” He gave my hand a significant squeeze and lifted it needlessly for Byron’s inspection. Byron stiffened angrily.

  It was all I could do not to pull away, but I didn’t want to fight anymore. “You’re right, Byron,” I attempted my apology. “I should try—”

  “What did you do to your hair?” Byron asked unexpectedly.

  I stiffened. He didn’t like my hair? What was his problem anyway? Anyone with any sense of decency would go away. Obviously Eric and I were in the middle of declaring our love. Well, we weren’t, but we all knew what it looked like. I stepped angrily forward. “Blondes have more fun and I’m having more fun!”

  “What’s on your name tag?” Byron’s eyes hadn’t left mine, which meant he had taken me all in the moment he saw me. “The hottest girl I’ve ever seen?”

  “You’d better say it like you believe it, Byron.”

  He allowed himself a smile. “Well, you’re a blonde now, so maybe...”

  What? My hand left Eric’s and I shoved Byron back hard, my blonde hair swinging around my face. “Hey, not so fast,” he complained. “I’m not ready for a relationship yet.” I hit him angrily. “Okay.” He gave me a devilish grin. “I give under torture! You’re hotter as a brunette, okay?”

  “That’s not what I wanted you to say.”

  “Yeah? But I’m a jerk, remember?”

  “I said you weren’t! Weren’t you listening to me? I’m trying to apologize!” My hands were all over Byron and I froze at his satisfied look. This was what he wanted. For some reason when he saw me with Eric, it made him want to antagonize me. If I had something going on with Eric, which I didn’t, Byron would try to ruin it. But now I didn’t know what to do. Every instinct told me to beat Byron and every instinct cried out against taking Eric’s hand. Not that I didn’t like the feel of Eric’s hand over mine. I did, but I just wasn’t sure about my feelings for him. It was like anger was all I had to give anymore. It was too sobering.

  By now the band was done playing and the MC called more names from the drawing. At least he wasn’t calling for Cameron anymore. I put my recently freed hand to my aching head and turned to Eric, having no idea how to explain myself. Maybe Byron was right. I was broken and I needed to fix myself. I just didn’t know how.

  Eric was already grinning. He laid a comfortable arm around my shoulders and I tried not to fight him in front of Byron. Maybe it was good to let go of my inhibitions; I had too many. “C’mon, let’s get out of here,” Eric whispered into my ear. “I want to show you my lab. I would love to know what’s going on in that head of yours.”

  Byron’s quick eyes shot to him.

  “You could even make yourself a cool ten bucks,” Eric told me.

  Students were often given incentives for letting grad students experiment on them. It was actually tempting. “Really?”

  “What do you do at your lab?” Byron asked him with a probing look.

  “Oh, just experiment on poor unsuspecting females. Nothing big.”

  Byron didn’t seem amused at all. He’d normally enjoy the joke, but the two faced each other warily, making me feel like the third wheel. There was something more than me going on. To my relief, the MC called Eric’s name for the drawing. It was perfect timing. “They’ve got your name,” I told Eric, cracking a smile for his benefit. “They’re onto you.”

  “I believe congratulations are in order,” Byron told him with an equ
ally straight face. “You can finally get your nails done…Eric.”

  Eric suddenly looked dangerous.

  “Why, Madeleine?” Sandra came up behind us. I didn’t even hear the click clack of her high heels. As always she looked like a model in her slate gray twisty dress and leather leggings. She smiled in her fakest way and I squirmed, trying not to imagine what she saw. “I see you’re hanging out with our best friend.”

  Eric or Byron? I knew what it looked like. I was poaching her men again. All of them. Byron nodded at Sandra in greeting. Eric squeezed my arm and stepped away, no longer looking like was going to punch Byron. Now that Sandra was here to protect me from the big bad wolf, he seemed okay with going back to easygoing. “I’ll pass you off to better hands then.” He gave me a tight hug, pressing me to his chest. “Visit me tomorrow if you can. The offer still stands.” He tilted his chin to whisper in my ear, “Maybe then you’ll tell me what this is all about?”

  I smiled faintly in response; though I had nothing newsworthy for him. After a moment, Eric released me, not going back to the ballroom to collect his fifty-dollar nail coupon. The prize would probably fall to Cameron then.

  Sandra licked her lips like a cat. “Looks like love,” she said in an insinuating voice.

  Byron made a sound of exasperation. “She doesn’t need your stamp of approval.”

  “What’s the matter, Byron?” Sandra said. “You wanna hug Madeleine too?”

  “Of course...just not goodbye.”

  I didn’t have time to reassure Sandra that Byron was messing with her at my expense because she simply glared at him and gave her glamorous heels leave to storm away. Byron refused to watch her go. Instead he patted a bench for me to sit. “It isn’t as cozy as a coat closet, but I need to say something. Please?” He caught my elbows and gently tugged me down beside him on the bench. At his pleading look, I stayed put, uneasily adjusting my skirt around my knees. “I meant what I said, Madeleine. I’m really sorry.”