"Jessy!!! Privacy, please! Jesus Christ—get out now!"
"Woo! It's not like there's anything left to hide, baby Lucy," he cackled as he walked out.
Jessy is always such a pain in the ass.
"F*ck you, Jessy!" I yelled behind him. Thank God I was holding my towel tightly—covering at least half of me.
Oh, and yes, I definitely made sure my boobs were covered. Jessy's a jerk.
"Lucy baby, no daughter of mine is allowed to use such words," Mom said from the hallway.
"Yes, Miss Anita. Lucy needs discipline," Jenny added jokingly.
"Yoo, Jenny! I can hear you from here!"
"Sorry, b*tch," she shouted back, still teasing.
Yeah, people always misunderstood the "baby Lucy" Jessy calls me—it sounds like a pet name, but no, he's just mocking the nickname Mom gave me. He twisted "Lucy baby" into "baby Lucy," and trust me, it's not sweet.
It started in 9th grade. I was sick—like, dead sick—and couldn't go to school for days. Jenny came to visit, and Jessy tagged along. That was his first time visiting our house.
I was so weak Mom had to feed me herself. She tried to encourage me to eat by softly saying, "Lucy baby."
Big mistake. Since that day, Jessy hasn't stopped using it to tease me.
Anyway, Jessy isn't my problem today—I need to get dressed.
I stood in front of the mirror, tugging the hem of my plaid miniskirt into place, then threw on my oversized denim jacket. The soft cotton of my fitted tank top clung to my skin, and the skirt hugged my hips just right.
I swiped lip gloss across my bottom lip, smacked them once, and leaned in to fix a loose curl. My jacket slipped off one shoulder—on purpose.
With one last wink at the mirror, I grabbed my phone and muttered, "Looking beautiful, Lucy."
I headed to the dining table near the sitting room. The first person to notice my doll-up was Jenny.
"Yoo, b*tch! You look so stunning. You're a badass," she grinned.
"Thanks, J. That's the goal," I said, reaching for a slice of toasted bread.
Jessy was already sitting there, swallowing toast like someone who hadn't eaten in a week.
"Jenny, I don't think it's cool to lie to baby Lucy just to make her feel good. You're giving her false hope," he said with a smirk.
I rolled my eyes and locked eyes with him, silently mouthing dumbass as I raised my middle finger.
"Jessy, that's not cool. Lucy looks beautiful as always," Mom said, glaring at him.
"Anita, we all know Jessy doesn't have eyes for anything good. He's too dumb to know beauty when he sees it," Jenny laughed.
"Sorry, Anita! I was just teasing Lucy," Jessy said, making that dumb cute face of his.
Ugh. Why did he have to be cute and annoying?
"Snap out of it, Lucy. He's still Jessy the jerk," I muttered to myself, turning to Jenny.
"J, let's go. Mom, we're leaving. Love you!"
"Love you too, dear. Jessy, take care of the girls."
"Yes, Anita. As always," he said, giving her a playful salute. "See you later!"
"Bye, dear," Mom said with a sweet smile.
"Bye, Anita!"
"Take care, girls! Have fun!" she called out, waving as we drove off.
I took the front seat while Jenny slid into the back.
"Wow, Jenny. This car is amazing! When did your dad get it?"
"Actually… it's mine, and it was Mom who got it—not Dad," Jessy said from the driver's seat, throwing me a flirty look.
"Hey! Eyes on the road. You're not killing me on the first day of school," I snapped, rolling my eyes.
"Ugh. You're so lame, Jessy," Jenny chimed in. "Mom got him this car after he promised to do something with his life this junior year."
"Ohh, but I doubt Jessy's attitude is fixable," I smirked.
"Lucy… have some faith in me," he said, glancing at me with those puppy-dog eyes that weirdly made my chest tighten.
Was I too harsh?
"Yoo, Lucy. That was brutal," Jenny said. "But he did rejoin the basketball team—the one he quit in freshman year."
"Yeah, I remember. Jessy was kinda… off back then. What happened?" I started to ask, but he cut me off.
"Jenny, must you always bring this up?" Jessy snapped. "You did this yesterday in front of Dad, and now again in front of Lucy?"
"Jessy, calm down! I was just—"
"Cut the crap. You've always been like this, and you'll never change."
"Okay, guys, that's enough," I said, reaching for the volume knob and turning up the music.
Honestly, it was the first time I'd seen Jessy that angry.
The rest of the ride was dead silent.
When we arrived, he parked the car, slammed the door shut, and stormed off to join his friends.
"Wow… that was intense," I said.
"J, what really happened in freshman year? Why did he suddenly quit basketball?"
"Lucy… I don't think I'm the one who should tell you that."
"Yeah. Seeing how mad he got, it's probably better if I hear it from him."
"Exactly. Now let's go, b*tch! First day of school—time for new faces, new changes, and of course… hot guyssss!" Jenny cheered.
We both giggled as we walked away from the car.
That's when I spotted Jessy standing with a group of four guys—all of them looking too good.
There's this weird rule where hot people hang out in packs. I already knew all of Jessy's friends—they were all jerks like him.
But wait… who's that?
One of them wore a long blue jacket, a white vest underneath, white pants, and a pair of clean white sneakers.
OMG. His fashion sense was giving. And his face? Even better. I mean—handsome handsome. Totally my type.
"Hey, what are you staring at? Is it Jessy?" Jenny asked.
"No. The guy in the blue jacket. Do you know him?"
"Oh yeah! That's Max—our childhood friend. He just got back last week after being out of the country."
"Wow, J… he is giving," I whispered as we walked past.
I kept staring. And then—he winked at me.
"JEEZ!" I shrieked.
"Lucy, what happened?!"
"Max just winked at me!" I whispered, totally shocked.
"Wait—what?!"