Free Better Than Revenge (Sweet Secrets #1) by Taylor Henderson

for an hour. I get tired from just walking up the four steps on my front porch!
    From the corner of my eye, I watched as Brianna strutted toward me with an evil grin on her face. “I wanted to work with Violet anyway.” When she was standing next to me, Brianna slung her arm casually over my shoulders as if we were the best of friends.
    The perfume cloud that surrounded Brianna threatened to suffocate me. In one quick motion, I shrugged out from under her arm and took two steps away from her body. Noticing my discomfort, a sickeningly sweet smile covered her face. “Are you all right, Violet?”
    “Just dandy.”
    “That's good to hear. Your hair looks,” she grappled for a compliment, “nice today.”
    My hand reached up toward my hair that I knew looked terrible. I hadn't even had time to comb through the tangled locks with my fingers; let alone an actual comb.
    “Your hair looks very…blonde today.” Who knew it could be so hard to compliment someone? Why were we complimenting each other anyway?
    “So, I've been thinking that the two of us should hang out more. After all, we are neighbors. We should at least get to know each other better.” The smile that stretched across her face was starting to give me the creeps. Why would she want to hang out with me?
    “What the hell is wrong with you? Why are being so nice to me of all people? Did you bump your head on someone's bed post last night?” I chuckled a little as I added, “You’re taking the meaning of banging to a whole new level.” Harsh, I know. I can't help it though. I tend to say what's on my mind. Sue me, why don't ya?
    Brianna's smile became a glare for a moment before she quickly rearranged her features. “Silly Violet. I'm trying to be nice to you since we'll be hanging out more.” The knowing look on her face made me feel as if there was something that she wasn't telling me.
    “What in the world makes you think that we'll be “hanging out more”?” I crossed my arms over my chest, scowling in annoyance.
    “I know for a fact that we'll be hanging out more from now on.” There was an evil glint in her eye that made me want to tackle her to the ground and force her to tell me what she was talking about. At least if I did so, I would be putting good use to this football lesson. In front of me, Brianna took a few steps backwards. “You better watch out, Violet,” she spoke.
    That sounds more like the Brianna I'm used to. “Are you threatening me, Bri-Bi?” A scowl formed on my face as I stepped closer to her.
    “No,” she smirked at me, “I meant it as a warning. Watch out .”
    “Isn't that basically the same th—ow!” I clenched my jaw at the pain that was forming on the back of my head and immediately brought my hand up to rub it.
    Brianna walked behind me only to return a moment later with a football in her hand. “I told you to watch out.” A small smirk formed on her lips.
    “Ms. Forrester! That is not the proper way to catch a football,” a raspy voice yelled from behind me.
    The urge to flick off Ms. Botch suddenly overcame me, but I brushed it away and focused on passing the football back and forth with Brianna. The rest of the class period was uneventful with an exception to Brianna's subtle hints of us hanging out in the future. It was surprisingly annoying how nice she was being to me, despite my rude comments toward her.
    Blake's words from yesterday resounded in my ears.
    “I know she's done a lot to you in the past, but maybe she had a good reason for it? What if she wanted to try and reconcile with you?”
    As much as Blake may want to believe that Brianna has every intention of being nice to me, the unmistakably evil glint in her eyes made it perfectly clear that she had ulterior motives.
     
    ***
     
    The bus came to a screeching stop in front of my house. Blake, Lena, and I were pleased to finally be rid of the stuffy bus air as we strode up my driveway. We were chatting amiably about Lena's old school as we