Toxic Bad Boy by April Brookshire Page B

it rubs off on
me.”
    I also wouldn’t say aloud
that nothing was more pathetic than turning tricks. “Sure
thing.”
    After I got rid of Hailey,
I’d drive to Dante’s. If Cece was acting strange, it might have
something to do with Gianna.
     
    GIANNA
     
    I knocked on my bathroom
door from the outside. “You almost done?”
    “ Almost!” Cece called from
inside.
    Gathering the empty
bottles of Gatorade from my dresser, I tossed them into the
trashcan by my desk. One hand shook as I ran it through my hair. I
tried to appear calm as the bathroom door opened, but my mind was
freaking out for my best friend.
    “ Well?” I
prompted.
    Cece looked ready to burst
into tears. Rushing to her, I drew her into my arms. Her shorter
frame trembled against me. “It’s positive!”
    “ Do you want me to go buy
another one?” I asked, knowing it was no use.
    She sniffled. “No. I’m two
weeks late, Gianna. I don’t need another test to tell me I’m
pregnant.”
    “ What do you want to
do?”
    She shrugged, moving to
sit on my bed. “I don’t know. This is such a mess. I accepted the
invitation from the academy yesterday and now I’m knocked up. My
career will be over before it’s begun.”
    “ So you’re going to have
the baby?” I asked, silently relieved she wasn’t thinking of an
abortion.
    Her head dropped into her
hands. “I don’t know! I’m not ready to be a mom!”
    “ Maybe you should talk to
Dante.”
    Her head snapped up. “Not
yet! I have to decide what I want first.”
    As much as I wanted my
friend to have her shot at becoming a professional ballerina, I
didn’t like the idea of her getting rid of the baby. She and Dante
would have the most adorable baby.
    Sitting on the bed next to
her, I put an arm around her shoulders. Her glassy brown eyes
pleaded with me for advice. As if I were in any position to give
it. My own life was a different brand of disaster.
    “ How about you take a few
days to think about it? Do some research about your options. I’ll
even go with you to Planned Parenthood, if you want.”
    “ Am I a bad person if I
get an abortion? We’re Catholic. My parents would kill me.” Tears
streamed down her face, making her mascara run.
    I brushed her unruly hair
away from her face. “You don’t have to tell your parents, Cece. But
Dante has a right to know, no matter what you choose.”
    “ I suppose, but I’m afraid
to tell him, Gianna. We’ve been together for almost a year, but
we’ve never talked about this type of stuff.”
    “ He loves you,” I assured her.
“He’ll do the right thing.”

CHAPTER NINE
     
    “ Don’t change on me. Don’t
extort me unless you intend to do it forever.”
    -Tupac Shakur
    CALEB
    The football player stood
menacingly over the cheerleader in her matching blue and gold
uniform. Her eyes were closed, her face covered in blood. She
resembled a broken doll, sprawled out on the hard floor. The
football player’s eyes were wild, his face twisted in
uncontrollable anger, his fists clenched as if to inflict more
pain.
    I squeezed my eyes shut
against the image. I hadn’t been there at that exact moment, when
Josh had hurt the girl I loved, but it was etched in my mind
nonetheless.
    Setting down my
paintbrush, I stepped away from the painting.
    I hated it.
    I hadn’t realized how much
I’d despise it until it was finished. Jim was expecting me to
deliver it to him next week. After working on it furiously over the
past two days, I’d completed it sooner than he’d
anticipated.
    I had to get out of here
before I burned the thing.
    Grabbing my keys and
tugging a t-shirt over my head as I pushed my feet into a pair of
unlaced Converse, I locked the apartment door behind me. It was
Tuesday evening and the summer sun was just beginning to lower in
the sky.
    I slipped on the
sunglasses I kept in my car as I pulled out of the parking garage.
I needed food. My mom had been at work all day and I hadn’t eaten
since lunch when I had a sandwich and