Matthew sat in the sex-ed, across from Cyrus, who pointedly ignored him and acted like a sulky spoiled brat.

Sitting there with his arms crossed, he stared at his best friend, thinking about how much of an idiot he was. Cyrus finally knew the truth, and he still chose to date Tiffany. Matthew was sure he was just doing it now to spite Lucita.

The bell rang, and Mathew jumped up after it, shoving his notebook into his bag and chasing Cyrus down. Their schedule was the same, which meant band practice next. That also meant that try as he might, Cyrus couldn’t run from him.

“Cyrus!”

“Fuck off.”

Matthew fell into step with him, his bag slung over his shoulder. “Come on, dude, how long are you going to be mad at me. We’re best friends—”

Cyrus spun and faced him. “You got me kicked out of school!”

“You’re right. I did, but I did it because I thought it was the best thing to do. You wanna look at my texts? You wanna see everything Tiffany said?”

“Tiffany explained herself,” huffed Cyrus, turning back down the hall.

“Seriously? So Luci tells you the truth, and you scream at her, but this girl spins whatever story she does, and you just believe you like that?”

“Since when are you on Luci’s side?”

Since I slept with her, he thought, swallowing back down the thought. “Since that girl started texting me to break up your friendship with Luci. Come on, man, does that say good person to you? Just think about it.”

“Whatever.”

“No,” said Matthew, grabbing Cyrus’s arm and jerking him back to face him. “Necesitas escucharme. You are so scared about being alone, but come on, man, if that were all this was about, you would be with Luci. She loves you, and you…you told me you feel something for her. You sat in my room and told me you had feelings for her. Whatever you feel—”

“Shut up, Matthew.” Matthew flinched at his tone, letting go of him. “You don’t know anything. All I wanted from her was to fuck her. That’s all she is to me.”

“You don’t mean that.” Matthew knew he didn’t mean that, not about her, not about Luci. Matthew saw the way he looked at Luci, the way he talked about her. Whatever this was, he didn’t like it.

“Yeah, I do. I can’t stand her, and I don’t know why you suddenly do. And you know what, right now, I can barely stand to look at you, let alone associate with you. You don’t think people talk?”

This time, it was Matthew’s turn to grow cold. “Talk about what?”

“You.” The bell rang, leaving them standing there together, alone.

“What are you talking about, Cy.”

“Do you really think Luci was the only topic of discussion back in middle school? They talked about you and your oh-so-obvious crush on me. They talked about how you hated Luci because I once said she was cute. But, you know what, it was whatever to me. Until now.

“Now everyone is whispering about how you got me kicked out of school because you couldn’t stand to be without me. And you know what, I think they’re right. I don’t think protecting me had anything to do with it. You’re just like Luci and couldn’t stand to see me happy with someone else, so you did what you do best. You sabotaged me.”

Each word was like a slap to him. Right now, he knew what he could do to hurt Cyrus. He could tell him everything. Instead, he shoved past him, knocking his shoulder into Cyrus’s.

“Fuck you, Cyrus. If that’s what you believe, fuck you. You deserve everything that girl has planned for you.”

The rest of the day was more or less the same. Matt spent his time avoiding Cyrus as much as he was avoiding him. Of course, he knew. He remembered what his so-called friends had said about him when they thought he wasn’t listening. Matt just hadn’t thought it had got back to Cyrus. Cyrus never treated him any differently. Still waited for him in the morning, still waited for him at lunch, and still shared his lunch with him. Nothing about their friendship had changed.

Until now.

He wished he could go back to hating Lucita, then he could just blame her for everything. But it was Tiffany. It was everything. Any other girl, Cyrus could have dated anyone else, and he would have been fine; he would have never even thought about befriending Luci. But no, he had to go and date the one girl who chose him simply to hurt Luci.

As if on cue, his phone vibrated. Peeking at it, he didn’t recognize the number.

Matt, it’s Luci.

I need you to come by my house after school

Bitch has crossed the line.

Looked up at the back of Cyrus’s head because, of course, they had chosen to sit one in front of the other. Yeah, she really had crossed the line.

I’ll be there.

Also, you need to get your own phone.

Working on it, dude.

Matthew let the rest of the day go by. He wanted nothing more than to be as far away from Cyrus. This was easier said than done, considering they a: had to ride the bus together and b: lived right next door. Matthew wished he didn’t just have a permit but a full license. Not that he was going to let that stop him.

Once home, he ran to his room, dropping off his bag and grabbing his car keys. Maria, his housekeeper, yelled at him, forcing him to stop in the kitchen and kiss her on the cheek before lying to her about his plans. Well, it wasn’t a complete lie. He was going to see friends; they just lived about thirty minutes away.

Learning to drive on a racetrack had done him so many favors. He could speed on over there and out of traffic with finesse.

Lucita opened the door instantly, yanking him inside.

“About damn time.”

“You realize I live like thirty minutes away, right. Hey, Silvia.”

“I still don’t like you.”

“Still don’t care.” He looked over his shoulder. “You’re Blake, right?”

“Also, not a big fan.”

“Enough! Okay, look, this is Jason, and this is Olivia. Everyone, this is Matt. He was my middle school bully and is responsible for getting Cyrus kicked out of school. We good? Good, awesome. Look, Olivia has a ton to say, so sit, be polite, and listen.”

He smiled at her, really smiled, all his hatred really gone. Shoving his hands into his pocket. She smiled back at him, a genuine one that made his stomach tighten. He shook it away, taking in the group.

“All right, I’ll behave.” Clapping his hands together, he took a seat on the soda. “So, what plan are we hatching now?”

Olivia looked around the room from where she was on the floor. “Okay, well, Tiffany’s roommate messaged me the other day. Well, I reached out to her first.”

“How did you get that info?” asked Matt, confused.

“Oh, right. I used to be Tiffany’s friend. I’m partially to blame for some of the trouble Luci’s about to get into.”

“Trouble?” He looked up at Luci, arms crossed, who looked away ashamed.

“We’ll get into that later. Just let Olive talk.”

Olivia – Olive – swallowed. “Okay, well anyway, I’ve been talking to Caroline, Tiffany’s roommate, and well, shit is hitting the fan. She’s not a fan of Tiffany’s behavior right now. Although, I think she’s more upset that Tiffany is dating her ex-boyfriend and doesn’t know it. It’s just…Caroline doesn’t like her, let’s leave it at that. Anyway, she has agreed to help us.”

“Help us do what?”

“Destroy Tiffany,” exclaimed Lucita. Matthew looked at her and could see her fuming beneath her calm exterior. Arms crossed, fingers digging into her arm, she continued. “We are going to expose her new relationship to Cyrus in a way he can’t ignore and then just ruin her. That’s it. I’ve had enough of her.”

“I’m sure. You really hate her, don’t you?”

Lucita glared at him. “She…she’s done more than just ruin my friendship with Cyrus. There’s…she played me, she used Olivia here and her bitchy friend Evie to play me. They…they have fake photos of me with my ex. My ex who is currently dating Liz. My ex, who, yeah, I kissed him more than I should have, and I hate myself for it. But I don’t want him. I told him that. I pushed him away every time and every time, he forced himself on me, and I let him. I let him because I was too sad and pathetic to say no. And now, I won’t get back together with him, so he, at Tiffany’s behest, will spread these fake photos that Olivia took all over school.”

She shot a quick glare at Olivia before looking at Matthew, her eyes brimming with tears. Matthew stood up, taking a step closer to her.

“Lu—”

“She went too far, and I will not let her win.”

Matthew nodded, pulling her into his arms. He was used to this now, pulling her close to him to let her cry. He was aware of everyone looking at them, seeing the shift in their relationship, but he didn’t care. Tiffany had crossed the line.

“Alright, so what do you all need me to do?”

“You have to make sure your pal Cyrus actually listens this time,” said Blake, leaning against the wall. Matt glared at him and the way he spoke to him. “We’ll set them up, Caroline plans to record them. But you have to get Cyrus to see it as something real, not something Luci set up.”

Luci. He looked down at the girl he was still holding, letting her go to wipe away her tears. She took a step away from him, swallowing back her rage.

“That’s easier said than done. He’s currently not speaking to me.” Matt tried not to think about Cyrus and how every word he had said had felt like a slap to his face.

This time, it was Luci who scoffed, giving him a side-eye glance. “You’re sneaky, Matt; you’ll figure it out. Don’t you have a key to his house?”

Matthew rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “Well, yeah—”

“Great, you might need it.”

“I don’t feel comfortable going into his house uninvited.” Not that that had ever stopped him, but this was different. They weren’t talking right now.

“I don’t care right now!” she almost screamed. He forgot how feral she looked when she was in a rage and panicked. “Matt, please tell me you’ll just figure something out.”

Letting out a deep breath, he nodded. “Yeah, okay.” He looked down at Olivia, this red-headed girl sitting cross-legged on the floor between Silvia and Blake. “You’re not setting her up, are you? This isn’t part of some other elaborate plan of Tiffany’s, is it?”

“Dude, don’t talk to her that way,” Blake said, standing off against the wall, one step before Olivia.

“What? It’s a valid question. She was part of this mess.”

“Blake, it’s okay.” Blake looked down at Silvia, who was holding Olivia’s hand. “He’s right. It is a valid question.” Matthew saw the two exchange glances before Blake slumped back against the wall.

“I’m not,” said Olivia, looking around the room before settling on Matthew. “I feel terrible, and I tried. I tried to talk to Francis to get him not to listen to Evie, but he’s obsessed with Luci. And Evie…she makes it very hard to say no to her.” Olivia looked away, ashamed, but that was good enough for Matt. He didn’t know how to do it, but he’d figure it out.

“All right then,” he started, meeting Lucita’s gaze evenly, “let’s get started.”