Page 16 of Don’t Love the Boy Next Door (Hotties Next Door #2)

Chapter Fourteen

Phoenix

“Why am I even going to this thing?” I complain to Katie as we get ready in her room. “He’s your bandmate. I don’t want anything to do with him.”

She holds a shirt over herself, frowns, and then tosses it to the discarded pile on her bed. “Because I don’t want to go alone.”

“You’re going with Eric and Cody,” I point out.

“It’s not the same as having my best friend at my side. Besides, don’t you want to live stream it?”

I twist my mouth. Sure, live streaming this epic football game would probably do wonders for my channel, but why does Jerkface have to be the star? I’ve managed to avoid him all day yesterday and today, and I’m so not looking forward to seeing him own the field tonight.

Mrs. Holden returned our report to us today and we got an A+. And she told us the last page added so much more depth to the report, turned it into a spectacular piece of work. Are you freakin’ kidding me?

“Don’t you think you and Ethan should try getting along by now?” Katie asks as she examines another shirt. She chucks that one, too, before grabbing another.

I couldn’t care less what I’m wearing. If it was up to me, I’d show up in a potato sack to that jerk’s precious game. The only reason I’m not is because of my fans. I need to at least look decent when I live stream.

“Nope,” I tell her. I’ll never forgive him for what he and his football buddies are doing to me online.

The past two days were more of the same thing, the jerks attacking me, and my fans—especially Liam—sticking up for me.

Liam and I talked a bit and played some games together the past two days. He’s so…mature. Like, clearly he’s older and doesn’t like dealing with petty juvenile stuff.

Gosh, I feel all hot and cold just thinking about him. And he makes me smile like an idiot, something that never happens to me.

My phone dings.

Katie lifts a brow. “Is that your boyfriend?” she teases.

I playfully roll my eyes. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Yet.”

Rolling my eyes again, I reach for my phone.

Yep. It’s Liam, asking me if I’m looking forward to gaming tonight.

I text back that I’m never not ready to game, but it’ll have to be much later because of the football game.

He tells me that he has a family thing tonight and might not be able to text much, but he promises to meet up with me later.

Awesome.

Katie stands beside me, peering over my shoulder as my thumbs work overtime texting this sweet, kind, perfect person.

Yes, perfect.

“Wow, you really have it bad,” she says.

I glance up. “No, I don’t. I told you we’re just friends.”

She hides a knowing smile. “Sure, whatever you say.”

“Katie, I told you I don’t know anything about him.”

She sits down on the bed, reaching for a pillow and crushing it in her arms. “But you’re slowly getting to know him. And I’m not blind. You’re really into him.”

“Nope.”

She shakes her head like she doesn’t believe me. Is she right? Am I into him? I mean, sure I love gaming with him and we were up last night texting about random things. But that doesn’t mean I like him, does it?

I shrug. “And you’re into Eric.”

Her mouth opens and closes so fast it looks like it’ll break. “I told you I’m not.”

“And I’m not into Liam!”

She holds up her hands. “Fine. Let’s drop it.” She stands and continues to dig through her closet.

“I find it interesting how you’re going crazy looking for something pretty to wear for someone you’re not into.”

She whirls around, placing her hands on her hips. “I just want to look good for the…for the stream, okay?”

“Sure, sure, whatever you say.”

It takes a little while, but she finally settles on a shirt and jeans and we take the city bus to the game.

I so don’t want to do this or think about that jerk or anything negative, so I read over Liam’s comments.

He totally was my knight in shining armor last night.

And he even went back to previous videos to defend me.

We reach school and I follow Katie to the football field, where we find Eric and Cody on the bleachers. Eric gives Katie such a sweet smile that definitely melts her into a puddle on the ground. Her face is a little red as she averts her gaze from him.

I spend my time texting Liam, but he doesn’t really answer back. Right, he has that family thing. I’d better not bother him. So I continue reading over my comments and talking to Katie, Eric, and Cody.

I hate being here, but the only thing making it bearable is Katie, and my looking forward to gaming with Liam later.

The football jerks spill onto the field and the crowd goes wild, especially when the captain comes in. I’m streaming live right now, hoping to catch it all for my fans.

I grit my teeth as I remember the smug smile he gave me when Mrs. Holden told us she really loved the last page. She said we ended it with a bang. Whatever . It’s not like I care about school, anyway.

She and the rest of the kids at school can continue feeding The Jerk’s ego that’s the size of the sun. I’ll have no part in it.

And I sure as heck am not going to cheer for them. Not even when they score their first touchdown. Last time, I was yelling over the rest of the crowd, but now I’m sitting in my seat wishing I were elsewhere. Like live streaming my games instead of this football game.

I scan the comments as I video. Some are from kids from school who aren’t at the game, but most are from people around the world. Many have heard about our awesome football team and want to support us virtually.

“Yep, we’re awesome,” I say to the camera with a wide, fake smile. Because there’s nothing awesome about these football bullies. “The Dragons lead one to zero. Go Dragons!” So much for not cheering for the team. Ugh. Sometimes I get so carried away in the stream.

The comments zoom like crazy and I can’t make sense of them. Except for…TheTman and his friends.

Wait a second. TheTman…Thad. How the heck are Thad and his friends trolling me when they’re kicking butt on the field?

They’re all there, each member of what I thought was the team. Was I wrong? Could it be it’s not them?

But how can it not be? I was so sure…

The crowd jumps to their feet when the Dragons score another touchdown. I just sit there, dumbfounded, as I try to figure out what the heck is going on.

“Phoenix, the stream,” Katie hisses.

I blink. Oh my gosh, I totally forgot I’m still live. I have no idea what I was pointing my camera at, probably the field.

Shoving all that aside, I smile at the camera. “Sorry, guys. You wanted footage of the game and that’s exactly what I’m giving you.”

Most viewers tell me it’s okay, some yell that they love me and are so glad to be here, and other positive things. But I’m focused on the haters. Those guys are still at it, each and every one of them.

Is it possible the football team asked others to troll for them on their accounts? But why would they do such a thing? It doesn’t make sense.

TheTman: This team is crap .

He and the others go on to say the entire school is crap and all the people in it.

No way in heck. The football team wouldn’t say that about themselves, would they? Of course not. That means…I was wrong all along. I treated Ethan like garbage because I thought he was one of the bullies. But he wasn’t. None of them were.

And now that I think about it, the trolling started before Thad even asked me to that party.

I can’t do this anymore—put on a brave face when my insides are in turmoil.

“Sorry, guys,” I say to the camera. “I have to cut the stream short. See you later.”

I bend forward, burying my head in my hands. I’m a terrible person. I jumped to conclusions without investigating and making sure my suspicions were correct.

When I think about it further, I realize Ethan was kind to me during our presentation. He saw I was nervous to start and took the reins. I shouldn’t have been so mean to him. I should have been grateful to him for saving me from embarrassment.

But…he’s still a jerk. I mean, I can’t forget all the rude things he’s said to me since I met him. And he still wears that “I am better than you expression” on his face.

But still, he didn’t deserve that from me.

“Phoenix, you okay?” Katie asks.

“Fine,” my muffled voice says. “Just have a headache.”

She places her hand on my back. “You sure? Maybe you should drink something.”

“Nope, I’m good.”

She doesn’t say anything, but I feel her worried eyes on me. No, she shouldn’t worry about me, because I suck as a human being. As much as I hate that jerk, I shouldn’t have treated him that way.

I sit up. “You know something? I think I’m going to head home,” I tell Katie.

She, Eric, and Cody lift confused eyebrows.

“Just not feeling so hot right now. Kates, can you record some footage for my channel?”

“Sure. But do you want me to go with you?”

“No, I’ll be fine.” I hand her the camera, wrap an arm around her, then make my way down the bleachers. Before I leave, though, I turn to watch the game. The guys are killing it out there and the audience is going wild.

Gosh, I really do suck.