Angie slammed he locker shut, gritting her teeth. It shouldn't be a surprise. It wasn't. She suspected Collins would find ways to further ruin her life, to humiliate her. And he'd done it. A surprise test, and a series of questions directed at her that she couldn't have answered that fast even if she'd studied that chapter properly.

But with the dance competition and the knowledge that the next test was far away, she hadn't bothered. So he'd managed to get the whole class to witness that her latest F was well deserved. Since the last test was multiple choice again, she was sure another F was heading her way. And she would officially flunk biology.

She'd thought about it long and hard. She had two years left until graduation, and if she won the trial against Collins, all the Fs wouldn't matter. She could start clean and retake the class and everything would be alright.

Plus, she had other reasons to be happy.

"Angie, I lo--"

If only she hadn't screamed like an idiot and let him finish. But it had taken her a few seconds to register what he'd said, excited as she was by the results of the competition. And by the time it came through, it was too late.

I love you.

Was Tom really about to tell her that he loved her? Could she be that lucky? He'd said she already knew, and in the heat of the moment, she really thought she did. But now, in the cold corridor of the school with the clouds still looming above like the harbingers of the apocalypse, she realized she needed the whole phrase to cling to.

Doesn't matter. He'd say it tonight. He'd kiss her tonight. They'd go on a real date with flowers and dinner and walks in the park. And it was the only thing keeping her sane now. That and the five hundred dollars hidden in her room.

Yup, things could be worse. And still she couldn't help shaking with anger at what had just happened.

"Hey, Angel, you okay?"

Angie jumped and turned to Lily who stood behind her with a pile of books in her arms. She seemed oddly worried and Angie wondered how pissed she actually looked.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Collins just really pissed me off."

Lily's posture relaxed and she somehow managed to balance her books in one arm so she could place her other hand on her jutted hip. "Well, apparently Collins has been pissing off a lot of people lately."

"Tell me about it," Angie mumbled. "Vengeful asshole."

Lily giggled, but suddenly spluttered. "Vengeful? Angel, do you know something about why Collins has a broken nose?"

Angie stared for a moment as she realized that she hadn't told anyone about it except Tom and Kay. Because of what Tom did, people were so enthralled with the actual punching that they never put two and two together. No one in school knew it was her Collins was harassing. By the time they'd started to wonder who Tom was talking about, she'd been able to slip under the radar.

It hadn't been intentional, but she was grateful that no one was pointing and asking questions. But Lily was her friend.

"I..." She hesitated a second. "I'm sort of the reason he has a broken nose."

"Ohmigod!" Lily dropped her books and hugged Angie tightly. "I'm so sorry! Why didn't you tell me?"

Angie fought the impulse to push her away, but the hug felt very awkward, especially with Lily's massive chest pushing against her stomach. "I just didn't want to make things awkward. And it's a very uncomfortable subject." Kinda like this hug.

Fortunately, Lily pulled back. "You poor thing. It must've been awful. Wait, it's not like it's not awful now when--" Her eyes suddenly widened and her mouth fell open. When she looked back to Angie, she looked scared out of her mind.

Angie took one step back, wondering what the hell was going on. Lily was overdramatic in general, but this was a bit extreme even for her.

"Tom," she finally whispered.

Angie frowned. "What about him?"

"That guy you were telling me about. The one you like. Is it Tom?"

"Um, yes. Do you know him?"

Lily opened her mouth to answer, but was cut short by another girl striding towards them. She wore skinny jeans, high heel boots and an off the shoulder top, had platinum blond hair with pink highlights and looked ready to tear Angie to pieces with her teeth.

"So you're the one responsible for putting Tom in jail," she spat out the moment she reached them.

"Back off, Gina. You know it's not her fault," Lily snapped.

Angie just stared as the Gina girl glared from her to Lily. "This is getting out of hand. I can't let this go on."

"Then go away," someone said from behind and Angie felt an arm around her neck.

Ross had come to the rescue. Angie pulled away from him, but gave him a grateful smile.

"Really, Gina, stop being so impulsive," Ross said, bored. "You're going to ruin everything."

Gina glared at Ross, too, then at Lily again. When her hazel eyes rested on Angie, she got the sudden desire to flip her off.

Finally, Gina flipped her hair over her shoulder and huffed. "Fine. See if I care." And she strutted off the same way she'd come over.

"Sorry about that," Lily muttered.

"Who was that and what's going on?" Angie asked, confused.

"It's just Gina. We hang out sometimes," Ross said with a wave of his hand.

"Ross, Angie is going out with Tom," Lily whispered.

Ross froze, gawked at Angie, then at Lily, then knocked his head back and laughed. "So what?"

"Do you know him?" Angie asked again. This was getting very confusing.

"Yeah. We're friends," Ross answered with a grin.

It was Angie's turn to stare blankly. Tom had never mentioned Ross and she hadn't actually seen them together. Ross hadn't mentioned him either. "You're friends."

"Yeah. We run track together. He's really fun."

Um, okay.

"Fun for you." Lily scoffed and took Angie's hand. "You have to stay away from him."

"Lily, don't be overdramatic," Ross said. "Maybe Angie is down for it."

"Down for what?" Angie asked, confused.

"No, she's not," Lily snapped, but turned back to Angie worried. "Are you?"

"Will someone start making sense already?" Angie snapped, her fists clenched.

Lily sighed. "We know Tom. He's a cool guy, fun and stuff. But he's a player. Best of the best, actually."

"A player? Of what?" Angie knew what Lily meant, she could see it on her friend's face, but it couldn't be true. She knew Tom. He was sweet and attentive and put her needs before his own. He was the one who stopped them from getting out of control. If he were a player, he would've pushed her.

"He has a list," Lily said carefully. "Of girls he's been with. And he's really meticulous about it."

Ross huffed. "Big deal. So he likes his fun? So what? Most of the girls know what they're getting into."

Lily gave him a deadpan look. "No, they don't."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same person?" Angie asked.

Lily turned to her. "Please tell me you're not on that list."

"No, of course not..." Angie swallowed heavily. "Are you?"

Lily looked away, gnawing on her lower lip. What the actual hell? This couldn't be right.

"Look, I'm sure it's not like that. I mean we've been skirting around for months and nothing happened. What player would waste that much time on one girl?" There was a note of despair in Angie's voice that she prayed the others couldn't hear.

"He courted me for two months before I even said yes to a date," Lily said curtly. "Then after the first date, it seemed only natural to... you know. He was gone the morning after. Left a thank you note, though. So chevalier of him."

Angie's brain froze over. This was wrong. It couldn't be the same person. But why would Lily lie to her?

Ross laughed. "You're a helpless romantic, Lil. You did get a pretty big score, though."

"He keeps scores?" Angie asked, shocked.

"Yup. But it's all in good fun."

"Ross, you're such a pig!" Lily snapped. "It's good fun for you losers who laugh about it afterwards."

Angie kept watching as Lily and Ross bickered over Tom's right to have a list and scores and how girls shouldn't expect the love of their lives in high school, but she couldn't focus anymore. Her heart beat erratically and her numbed brain tried making some sense of all this.

"Look, if you want to have some fun, go ahead," Lily finally said to her. "But just keep in mind that your first date is going to be your last. Do what you want with the information."

"This just seems so unlikely. I know him," Angie whispered.

Lily smiled bitterly. "I thought I did to, but he's smart. He gets enough info about his target, prays on their weakness, and then leaves them hanging. He did that to me and several of my friends."

Angie fought the impulse to ask how many was several, because it wasn't important. The list was. The scores were. The fact that it was Tom. Her Tom. A small part of her still hoped they were talking about a different person. Because if they weren't...

Her mind drifted to how dejected Tom had been during their last practice, how he tried so hard to make it perfect for her, how he claimed that she deserved better. Would he actually use that as an excuse after he was done with her? That he'd warned her but she'd refused to listen?

No, stop being stupid. She didn't believe Tom was capable of any of that. It must be someone else.

"You don't believe me," Lily said bluntly. She sighed and started searching her backpack. "I hoped I wouldn't have to resort to this, but you're my friend and whatever you decide, I want it to be an informed decision." She pulled out her cell phone and started searching through it.

Angie swallowed heavily as a weight dove into her stomach. Did Lily have pictures of Tom with other girls? Did she even want to see something like that?

Lily turned out to have something much worse. She pressed a button and Tom's voice filled the empty corridor.

"That's my MO after all. Fuck them for food and money. Like I did with you, Bella, Mizrelle and any other chick who would look my way. It's so much fun."

Lily closed her phone and put it away, a disgusted look on her face. Angie's heart beat so loud, it seemed to drown out all other sounds. Her vision turned hazy and everything around her seemed black and white. That was Tom's voice. Her Tom's voice.

"One of my friends recorder him," Lily said. "So we'd have proof when we warned other girls about him. He's a great actor, I'll give him that."

"But I know him..." Angie whispered. This couldn't be happening.

"Do you? Did he tell you everything about him? Like that he works two jobs and is an orphan?"

The piece of information snapped Angie back to her senses. "An orphan? But isn't Jimmy his brother?"

"Yeah," Ross answered. "But they were both abandoned. Tom still lives in a home like thing. Do they even call them orphanages anymore? Anyway, why does it matter?"

It mattered because he'd lied to her. He'd implied that he had parents and a family. He let her believe that he was normal. All that coffee must've-- Wait one freaking minute.

"His second job is at Cafe Hoff?"

Ross and Lily nodded. Angie's blood started to boil and she couldn't really tell why. What had pushed her over the edge? The recording? The hidden information? How could he not tell her that he was an orphan? Didn't he trust her?

Did it matter if he trusted her or not when all he wanted was to use her?

"I found out after, too," Lily mumbled. "Apparently he thinks it's a huge turn off to appear weak."

It wasn't. The fact that Angie actually started to believe Lily was.

⏳⏳⏳

Angie stepped into the house on shaky feet. She couldn't remember the way from school. The entire journey, all she could do was replay everything Ross and Lily had said and turn it over obsessively. It made sense. It unfortunately made sense and explained everything.

She walked into the kitchen where Kay was throwing pots and pans around with way too much force. Her parents seemed to be out again.

"Want something to eat or will you eat out on your date?" Kay growled, tossing a pot into the sink.

The date. She hadn't canceled because she had no idea how to get a hold of Tom. Not that she would've faced him even if she did.

"I'm not hungry."

Kay growled some more in response. Which was a real bummer because Angie had wanted to confide in her and ask for her opinion. "What's up with you?"

"I'm sick of it." Kay threw a other pan in an open drawer. "I'm sick of hurting, sick of the dreams, of the nightmares. Love's a total sham. Nothing is worth this!" She turned to Angie, holding a butcher knife in one hand. "Love sucks! It only hurts you in the end. If I knew then what I know now... Run. Just run and don't get your heart broken."

Angie nodded absentmindedly. Kay had a point. A very good point. She'd given Tom her heart and look what happened. He broke it. He wanted to use her.

No. You didn't give him your heart. It was close but you stopped in time. You found out in time. You don't love him. You don't love him.

Tears poured down her cheeks as she watched Kay, thinking that she wanted nothing more than to join her friend and throw stuff around. Because love sucked and she wanted none of it.

🔱🔱🔱

What a lovely date! Will Angie actually go? Will they kiss and make up? Do you think Tom is actually using her and she found out on time? What do you think about Angie's reactions?

Don't hold it in. I want to know what you're thinking by this point in the story. Is there still time for a happy ending? We have three chapters left to go!

Thanks so much for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to leave a vote and comment.