Free The Way to Game the Walk of Shame by Jenn P. Nguyen Page A

other hand to wave. A couple of them gave me a half smile before turning to Taylor. Their smiles widened, but this time they were obviously fake.
    “Do you think you’ll be able to make the Honor Society meeting this weekend, Taylor?” a petite Asian girl asked, blinking innocently. “I know how busy you are these days, and I’d be glad to monitor the meeting for you instead.”
    Taylor swallowed and straightened her shoulders. Her chin rose so it seemed like she was looking down at the other girls, even though most of them were her height. “I’ll be there, but thanks for asking, Lin. Maybe if you paid more attention to your classes instead of my social life, then you could have been the president of the club instead of just a secretary.” Tossing her hair over her shoulder, Taylor turned away like she was dismissing them.
    Lin gaped at her back for a few seconds before stomping away with her friends.
    With an admiring grin, I gave Taylor a slow round of applause. “Nicely done.”
    She let out an unsteady sigh and shrugged. “I can handle a couple of girls. So don’t worry. I have to get to class.”
    “Taylor—” I let out a loud sigh and banged my forehead against my locker after she left. Well, she just took the fun out of messing with her. Where was the sarcastic spitfire who was here seconds ago? I definitely would have preferred her pissed and hissing at me over sad and defeated any day.
    A hand slammed against the locker next to me, making me jump back. “Dude, what’d you do to your new girlfriend? Don’t tell me you kicked her to the curb already?”
    I pulled on my ears to make them stop ringing. “No, we’d have to be something first in order for me to kick her to the curb.”
    Aaron winced. “Ouch. So you’re just going to pretend nothing happened? Damn, that’s harsh, dude. Even for you. No wonder the Ice Queen looked like she was bawling when I passed her.”
    “Her name’s—” I turned to stare at him. “Wait, was she really crying?”
    He rubbed his chin. “I don’t know. I mean, her head was down, so maybe? I do feel bad for her, though. A bunch of people are hating on her a bit,” he said with a shrug.
    “Really?” I hadn’t heard anything. But then I never paid attention to what other people said. I thought back to the past couple of days. Those jerks in the cafeteria and the snotty girls just now. Maybe that was the real reason Taylor wanted to pretend to be dating. And why she was nagging me so much about it. I didn’t actually understand what she meant when she said she wanted to save her “reputation,” but maybe I should have asked instead of just laughing at her.
    “Yeah, but you know how girls can get sometimes. All emotional and bitchy. Especially with each other. It’s probably a good thing that you’re blowing her off then, right? Just in case she goes crazy on you.” His booming laughter echoed through the hall. “Dodged a bullet there. Believe me, having a real girlfriend is hard.”
    I couldn’t laugh with Aaron. Hell, I could barely focus on him at all. All I saw was Taylor’s disappointed face in my mind. Wide, sad brown eyes that glittered like the sea at night and defeated shoulders that made her look small and helpless. “Did you hear anything else?”
    Aaron shrugged and looked uncertain. “There was also some talk in the locker room earlier about who could get her into bed next, but you know how those douche bags can be. That’s why I don’t want to officially be on the team. Spending too much time with them will kill my love for football. And life.”
    My hands curled into fists at my side at the thought of those punks laughing at Taylor. “We have to go.”
    “Where are we going?”
    I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and started dragging him down the hall. “To the locker room to have a talk with some idiots and kick their asses. You’re going to tell me exactly who said what.”
    *   *   *
    “All right, you crazy girl,