Two

Freddy Ray's party was in full swing when Nelly and the girls stepped into the dimly lit house with enormous, luxurious chandeliers. The noise of the music and of people chattering, throwing themselves and kissing random people made Nelly dizzy. And not only was everyone there, but they were trying to make their presence known as loudly as possible.

Most people, Nelly thought, could probably be down at the beach. Since the weather had been hot lately, everyone would want to hang at the beach instead, and this time around, Nelly wasn't stupid enough to wear something she couldn't handle. A see-through black lacy dress that didn't quite reach her knees gave away the color of her bra, which was a shade of purple. She abandoned her heels and went with flats, opting for more comfortable shoes.

Even though her face was bare of makeup, one wouldn't look at Nelly and call her ugly. Often, people told her how lucky she was, that she had everything in the looks and body department. Eyes that were mesmerizing, the color of the ocean and sharp bone structure and perfectly straight nose with plump lips that were naturally dark red. It gave her a seductive look. Her hair, she had inherited from her mother, which was fiery red had always been long and curly. Lucy always told her her hair comes to life whenever she was angry, that she looked like the queen of hell with a hair that looked like it was on a flame.

Left alone while Lucy was dancing with Mia and Sara, Nelly roamed around the house, trying not to be noticed—and, in particular, not to be noticed by Freddy Ray. She always tried to avoid him like he was the plague, whether due to his slightly too audacious way of touching her or due to his cologne, which smelled really awful. She went to the kitchen and picked up a coke as she moved along his line of sight, hoping all the while that she could manage to avoid him until the end of the party. No such luck as everyone either waved or try to talk to her. She was not someone to miss. Everyone knew her.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw two guys heading towards her. It was probably a bad idea to hide in the kitchen since it was impossible to avoid it. She immediately began to think of a way to avoid them, but she was not quick enough.

"Nell." The tallest one, Max Quinn hopped on top of the island, filling his red cup with the punch that was set in front of him. "Where's your other half?"

"She's somewhere around."

"And what are you doing here?" The other guy, Nate threw the question, wiggling his brows knowingly. The two guys were one of the most popular guys in school and were also in the list of the fifty hottest guys. Nate had landed in the third with Max just right behind him. They were her school's most popular leeches. The guys who hit on anything with two legs and a vagina.

"What does it look like?" I threw the question at him.

"From where we stand, you look awfully lonely," Max answered, sipping on his punch. His knowing gaze was doing nothing, but upsetting her. She could be so easy to read sometimes and she didn't like it.

She rolled her eyes. "So, you came to offer your services? I haven't reached that low yet."

There was a spark of disappointment in Max's eyes. Nate's short of laugh was sexy to the ears, but it was his arrogance that usually put Nelly off. Not that she minded any arrogance, but he was on another different level. Nate believed himself to be God's gift to the world. The number of girls dropping their panties for him encouraged his ways and inflated his ego.

"Come on, Nell," he said in amusement. "You are the only girl we can't touch. I have to save my family's jewel." He touched his crouch in emphasis and her lips curved up into a smirk. "But seriously, what are you doing here? Not in the mood to party?"

"You know I can help with that," Max said, fishing something out of his pocket that suspiciously looked like drugs and grabbed her coke, his calloused hand brushing against hers before he poured the contents of the packet inside her drink. "Trust me, it will loosen you up." He winked.

"I don't do drugs, dumbass."

Nate approached her like a predator stalking its prey, not keeping his distance but filling her up with his body. She could smell his breath and his cologne, could see how bright his own blue eyes were. His brown hair was tousled and his features were sharp up close.

"Scared we might do something to you, Nell?" His voice was low and seductive, his lips set in a permanent smirk. His eyes roamed over her face before they set on her lips, watching his tongue swiped over his own lips.

Not fazed, she pushed him back and he stumbled with a chuckle. "Yeah, like you said if you want to keep your family jewel intact, keep your distance."

Mac barked out a laugh and suggested, "Ignore the idiot. He hasn't gotten laid yet, so he's acting like a bitch in heat."

Nelly couldn't help but laugh out loud, drawling, "What's wrong, Nate? Losing your touch?"

"Hey now, Nell, the raptor does not lose his touch. High school girls are starting to bore me. I want an older woman, like Becky's mum. I swear the woman swings her ass every time she sees me," he ended with a purr.

"Isn't Becky your latest conquest? And you're having the hots for her mum?" Max asked in disbelief.

I coughed, the drink going straight to the wrong pipe. "Becky Jackson? Isn't her mum dead?"

They whipped their heads around to stare at her in shock. It was Nate who decided to speak, "Then who the fuck did I see the other day?"

"Probably her step mum," she retorted. "Her dad remarried a year ago. Honestly, you guys are assholes but you're a bigger asshole, Nate. You should have known her mum was dead since you're fucking her. We have been going to school with the girl for years. We went to her mother's funeral."

"I was probably high that day," Max admitted, cheekily. "Explains why I couldn't remember her mother was dead." Or maybe the fact that they didn't care about anyone else except themselves.

"At least, she isn't her mother, but a stepmum. Now I can actually pursue her without it being awkward."

"I hope it hurts when you get dragged down to hell."

His answer came in the form of a wolfish grin, a sly one to be exact and his eyes glittered with a hard light. "I'm damn sure I would be welcomed with open arms. I've known for a while that I would have a permanent seat there."

Nelly rolled her eyes and flipped her hair. "Every day I thank god for giving me enough brains to not go out with anyone in your group."

"And every day we suffer for not banging the hottest chick in our town," Max replied as if he was physically in pain by the way his face had scrunched up. "It's absolute torture watching that body and not doing anything about it."

"Nelly probably doesn't know every guy in the football team jacks off with her image in their head. I'm one of those guilty ones," Nate remarked with a heartily laugh.

"Ew, fuck off." Her tone was unduly sharp, but then she had meant it to be. It was also, along with the look she turned on them, filled with disgust as if she couldn't stand hearing that.

Max placed a hand over his chest with a pout. "Ouch. The disgust is actually real. You wound me, Nell."

Nelly smiled the smile that released both dimples and gave her a different kind of beauty, a look that was open, devastating, and pleasant. "Maybe your company isn't so bad," she admitted.

"Do I get a hug?" Nate's offer wasn't as innocent as he made it to be.

"Maybe when everything you start to say sounds honest and G rated, then I will think about it."

Someone stumbled into the kitchen. "Nelly!" Carmen Su cried out of breath. Nelly's heart pang in her chest. "Lucy and Jenny are arguing on the beach. They look like they might have a fistfight."

Nelly cursed and pushed Nate out of the way, running out of the kitchen. She should never have left Lucy alone. Why would she even pick a fight with Jenny, for fucks sake? If anything, Jenny was the one feuding with Nelly, not her best friend.

She pushed out through the double doors and started to run around the hills, down to the beach. Nelly saw Lucy and Jenny near a bone fire, and she didn't waste enough time to reach them, or to push Lucy behind her and towered over Jenny.

"What the fuck is going on?" she breathed out angrily, staring up at Jenny, furious color bloomed along her cheekbones.

Jenny's mouth spread wide open at Nelly, and she wanted to slap her on the face but she had to keep her temper in check. She had anger issues, which was why she avoided dealing with people. Jenny Shane was the head cheerleader and the queen of the underworld. She ruled all her cheerleaders, the yearbook, the dance team, and all the skinny girls who aspired for popularity.

Jenny's enmity with Nelly was a seed that been planted for years, a seed that had grown and kept growing. It was because she wanted what Nelly had. Nelly was more desired than her. Everyone wanted to be her friend. All the popular guys loved her. The teachers adored her. The parents wanted their kids to be her friend. Jenny may have all the titles in school, but she didn't have what Nelly have and that made her angry. She wanted the guys to fight over her and treat her like she was the queen in their social group—the girl above everyone.

"Great, you're here," Jenny replied in a haughty tone. Her face was caked with makeup, but she didn't do a good job of hiding her hideous personality. "I was just telling your dear friend to stay away from Kyle."

Nelly's hands clenched beside her. She would not start to point finger at Lucy yet until she knew why Jenny was saying that. After all, Jenny liked pushing people's buttons and prey on their weaknesses.

"Kyle?" Nelly repeated with disgust. "Lucy has nothing to do with him, nor will she ever. And why the fuck do you suddenly care about Kyle?"

Jenny whipped her dark hair and inspected her manicured nails. "I guess the news didn't reach you, Nell, but Kyle and I have been dating for two weeks now."

A laugh that Nelly had no control over escaped her lips, even though it sounded harsh and cold to the ears. "You and Kyle?" she asked, but she didn't let Jenny respond yet. She had a lot more to add. "I would have said you hit pretty low, Jenny, but even the dumpster has more class than you and Kyle. So, stop boasting about dating someone who belongs to the streets."

"You fucking bitch! I wouldn't have warned your stupid friend if I hadn't caught her with him in a dark corner. Isn't it pathetic of her to do that when he used and dumped her, but she still comes back begging for more?"

Nelly's heart skipped a beat, and she could feel Lucy's hand wrapped around her forearm, confirming Jenny's words. Lucy did talk to Kyle. Was that why she ditched Nelly? To have a chance to talk to Kyle?

"I didn't talk to him!" Lucy screamed back with a glare. "Your boyfriend was the one who pulled me into a corner and tried to kiss me. Guess you aren't satisfying him if he has to come back to his ex."

Jenny hissed. "Don't fucking lie. Kyle would never touch you," she said in defense of her boyfriend, adding, "He had said quite a lot about you, Lucy. About how you were the worst lay and every time he touched you, he felt like he was touching a skeleton, about how you have no boobs and your ass is flat," she mused out loud, enjoying the pale look on Lucy's face, and the quiet snickers of her minions behind them. "You think he would still touch you after saying that in front of his friends while they laughed about it?"

"Shut up."

Jenny shifted closer to her. "Or what, Nell? You will scratch my face? Maybe you should use the energy to blow your little best friend here seeing as she's not much to look at. My poor Kyle had to endure that."

"Kyle." Nelly dragged out a hollow laugh. Her buttons had been pushed and she couldn't resist not firing her own bullets. "You stupid, stupid girl. Do you think he loves you? If you think for one second that he does, then you're insane. Kyle only loves Kyle. Do you know how I know? Because while he's busy fucking you, he's texting me, begging me to go out with him. He's been doing it way before you got together and I have the texts to prove it. So you're not so different from any other girls, Jenny."

Lucy whipped her head to look at Nelly, dumbfounded. "What? Nell?"

She froze. "You're lying," Jenny spat out in shock. Nelly had never seen her look so out of place, so loss for words, and she drank up on it.

"If I'm lying, how would I know the size of his dick? How would I know he has a mole in his butt if he didn't send me his pics?"

Jenny and Lucy took a sharp intake of breath.

"Get the fuck out of my face, Jenny, and if you ever bother Lucy again, I would personally see to it that everything you love and treasure gets taken away from you."

"Go to hell," Jenny replied icily with a reddening face as she turned around to walk away. Watching her go, Nelly sighed, and then, in fear turned back to her best friend, who looked flushed and frozen.

She grimaced.

"Lucy–"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Nelly shifted with sudden alarm. "Because I didn't want to hurt you. You were hurt for months over Kyle, and I didn't want to do that to you again. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, sorry isn't going to make me forgive you for keeping that from me. I thought we had no secrets, Nelly. Why would you hide the fact that Kyle wants you?"

One glance and a shocking realization clamored into her mind. "See, this is exactly why I didn't tell you. Right there...the hurt in your voice. It's not about me not telling you. It's about him still having your heart. After everything he did, you still can't let go?"

"It's complicated," she whispered in a small voice, keeping her head lowered, her eyes fastened to her feet.

"Complicated?" Nelly was taken aback by Lucy's direction of the mind, not as surprised as the word that came out of her mouth. "How the fuck is that complicated? The guy used you. Did you not hear what he said about you? All those things, Lucy, and you still love him. Damn, do I need to fucking slap you back to your senses?" She was fighting to control her anger, nearly shrieked and gasped in outrage.

A pained expression crossed Lucy's face. "Well, it's my fault that he cheated, isn't it? I'm not as pretty or smart as you. I'm not the most wanted girl at school," she commented, her meaning implied. "That's my fault, not his. God made me this way–"

"You need to stop talking because you're pissing me the fuck off." Somewhat confused, Nelly had never known this side of Lucy before, a side that never manifested when with her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, your highness." Lucy smiled cruelly. "We shouldn't upset daddy's little princess."

Nelly was unable to stand another word. The words jolted her, scaring her with an ominous portent of something horrible, too horrible to contemplate. Fear grew on fear; her heart started pounding, she felt cold and shaky all at once. She felt like her best friend was slipping from her, swayed by an asshole, no less.

"Fuck you, Lucy," she spat out, hiding the pain she was feeling. "Maybe when you take your time to think about this long and hard, then you can come to find me. But right now, fuck off and don't show me your face."

She swung around and started to head back to the house when she felt Lucy's hand on her arm, trying to halt her steps.

"Shit! Nell–"

Nelly nearly yelled, swinging abruptly around, unpleasant thoughts having raided her mind. "Back the fuck off," she threatened in a deadly tone, jerking her hand away before she turned back around, stomping over the house.