Tryst Six Venom by Penelope Douglas

Liv walks to the stationary bike, and I notice the clothes I gave her to
wear. I turn to Krisjen.
“But it can’t be,” she says as she runs. “There’s no way she has twohundred
dollars for yoga pants, right?”
And then she winks at me, just like Liv just did, with a smile.
Fuck!
• • •
My knee bobs as I wait for the bell to ring, my fingers hovering over the keys
of my laptop.
Krisjen doesn’t know anything, right? And even if she did, she’s not a
gossiper.
Well, she joins in when we gossip, but she doesn’t perpetuate it. She
wouldn’t say anything she wasn’t sure about, right?
The bell goes off, and I glance over at Krisjen as she gathers up her
materials and packs up her bag. I couldn’t get her alone at lunch, and Spanish
is the only class we have together, so I stuff my things into my satchel and
push through the others to join her at her side.
“Look, don’t tell Amy that Jaeger and I are kind of friends,” I tell her as
everyone filters out of the classroom. “I’m trying to grow up a little. She was
late this morning. Forgot her gear. I let her borrow some clothes from my
locker.”
Krisjen doesn’t look at me.
Sweat dampens my back. “Maybe I’m hoping she invites me over to
where her hot brothers live,” I tease.
But Krisjen continues to exit the classroom and then stops outside the
door, stepping right to let the other students out.
“Clay…” She holds a book to her chest and gives me a placating smile. “I
may have let my piece-of-shit ex-boyfriend get away with so much, because I
lack self-confidence and sometimes it was either him or home, and I didn’t
want to go home,” she explains. “But it’s not because I’m a moron, so please,
I’d rather you not explain at all than insult me with a lie.”
My face falls.
She pats my arm. “I’m here when you’re ready. See you in the gym.”
She walks off, her brown ponytail swaying as she disappears into the
crowd.