"Yo! Mikki!" my best friend Lea called from down the hall. I saw the top of her black hair bobbing up as she waved at me from behind a group of five jocks while I was closing my locker.
I waited for her to arrive, then gave her a hug.
"Hey Lea-Lea," I greeted her as we split apart. "Que pasa?"
"Not much, you know. Kevin tried getting me to go to a party with him last night at Jaret's house, but I just wanted a quiet night in. I'm super far behind on Orange is the New Black, after all. How about you?"
I shrugged.
"Same. Studied for the math test tomorrow. Did some homework. Watched a bit of TV. The end."
I wasn't exactly the party type. In fact, I was the opposite.
Straight As, argyle sweaters from The Gap, the kind of kid that didn't need a curfew. That was me. Little miss nerdy. Little miss perfect.
I mean, there was nothing wrong with being a bit of a nerd. It sure beat being one of those girls who went out and partied so hard they had to wear sunglasses in class the next day, if they even showed up at all.
"Ugh, I forgot about that test. Why? I mean, school ends in like three weeks. Prom is on Friday. It's totally pointless."
"Hey, you're not going to see me defending it. I might ace the test, but it still doesn't mean I want to do it."
"Right. That's the difference. The rest of us hate it because we're not going to study. But you'll be fine. You'll ace it. Hey, I'm still coming over so we can try on our prom dresses and make sure they look awesome, right?"
"Yeah. For sure."
Just then, I felt a presence behind me. I turned to find myself looking at the hands down hottest guy in school.
Jaret Black was well over six feet tall, and looked like he just stepped out of a Calvin Klein underwear ad.
His black hair was ragged, a little dischevelled, giving him that just-got-out-of-bed sexy look that was so distracting that at one point when we were in grade 10 some of the teachers tried changing the dress code to make it mandatory for boys to gel their hair, until a few parents put up enough of a stink that the idea got canned. If Jaret hadn't been considered sexy before then, he was basically a Sex God after among the girls at Wildwood Academy.
It wasn't just the hair though. His cheekbones were more chiseled than a Greek statue, and his black eyes were like deep pools into the soul of one of the biggest bad boys in the school.
I'd seen him without his shirt on before, and his muscular chest - covered in tattoos even though he'd just turned eighteen in January, three months before me, - was nothing compared to the fact that he had rock-hard, six pack abs.
If I'd said I'd never thought about it, I'd be lying. Every single girl at Wildwood had thought about Jaret Black that way. Even me.
The difference was, I had never acted on it. And I was pretty sure I was the only one.
"Hey there, kitten," he drawled as he leaned against my locker. Lea was glued to the floor, her eyes wide as she stared at Jaret. She had slept with him once, I knew that. So had Carrie, Jen and Jackie, the other three girls I generally hung out with.
At one point, the fact that they had all slept with the same guy had almost ruined our friendships.
But that's also how I knew he was just as good as his reputation made him out to be.
Which is what made it so hard to ignore the little fantasies I had about him and me.
But then, the guy opened his mouth, and it ruined the illusion.
"Hey Jaret, what do you want?" I asked.
"Aw, honey, can't a guy just come over and say hi?" he asked, pretending to be hurt.
"Not when that guy's the campus slut," I replied, and he pretended I'd just slammed a dagger into his heart.
"You think so little of me! I was just going to invite you to a party at my place tonight," he continued, shooting me that cocky little grin that made the panties just melt off most girls.
Sure, they made mine melt off too. But only in private. I knew better than to get involved with Jaret Black.
"Didn't you just have a party at your place last night?" I asked.
"Every night's a party when you're Jaret Black," he answered, then moved in closer to me. "Besides, it's ok. I just haven't invited anyone else to this one."
I rolled my eyes and stepped away.
"Thanks for the invite Jaret, but I'll pass this time. I think I'll stay home and watch Jeopardy, it sounds more fun."
"Ouch! Scorching burn from kitten," he laughed, pretending I'd singed his hand. I hated when he called me that. "Well, you know where to find me if you change your mind," he continued, his voice low and husky. I could feel that tingle in my panties that I only felt around Jaret as he walked off, and I turned back towards Lea, who was staring at me with her mouth wide open.
"Seriously, Mikki? Did that seriously just happen?"
"Yeah."
"I can't believe you just turned down Jaret Black."
"Why not? I've been turning him down all semester. It's like the guy's decided he wants to check every girl in school off his list, and I'm the last one."
"So? Why wouldn't you let him? I mean the guy's an asshole, yeah, but he's so good in bed."
"Seriously, Lea? You cried on my bed for like six hours because the day after he fucked you he pretended not to know you in the hallway and refused to talk to you."
"I know. But I was... naive. I didn't realize... what he was like. But now I do. And I would do it again, going in knowing that he was a hit-it-and-quit-it guy."
I knew that Lea had known he was the hit-it-and-quit-it type long before she had slept with Jaret. But she thought she could change him. She thought she was different, that after he slept with her he'd be so smitten he'd change, he'd get in a relationship with her, and they'd get married and have the world's most beautiful babies.
That last part would have been true, anyway. Combine Jaret's good looks with Lea's pure beauty and those kids would have been amazing. She had long, straight black hair and almond shaped eyes from her Italian heritage, along with perfect olive-coloured skin and pouty red lips that didn't need lipstick to look amazing.
I was so jealous.
I mean, it wasn't that I was bad looking. Not at all. With wavy, chestnut brown hair and blue eyes and a medium complexion, I was definitely alright looking. Some might even say pretty. But Lea was hot. If anyone could have changed Jaret, it was her.
"K, well, this conversation is over, anyway. I'm not having sex with Jaret. Not tonight, not ever."
"Fine," Lea replied. "Walk with me to chem."
Little did I know just how wrong I was.