At school, I wasn't exactly giving Ryan the silent treatment, but I did try to avoid seeing him as much as I could. Although it was definitely harder at lunch, I wasn't doing too poorly. I was still in love with him, and it hurt so much not to see him. One Wednesday afternoon, I was sitting next to Alex and Payton and a few other kids from our group at a lunch table and I saw a girl known as the School Slut (the girl I used to be), Taryn, walk up to Ryan. I could tell she was flirting with him the second she strutted over. Of course I saw Ryan immediately check her out, not because he thought it was okay to do so, but because everything she had to offer was out in the open. Taryn wore an extremely short skirt that could have also been used as a belt, a tank top that was way too tight, and a very generous push up bra that was definitely doing its job and more. I have never owned a push up, seeing as how I haven't needed one. I'm not bragging about the size of my breasts, because it's pretty well known that they are bigger than average. And on my small body, which I prefer to call petite, they're kind of overwhelming.
It's not like I couldn't see my old self in that outfit, but at that moment I was simply angry at myself for being that desperate, that low. Taryn was still in front of Ryan, and now she had placed her hand on his forearm. She was smiling a devilish, seductive smile that I also had learned to perfect; you had to if you wanted to be successful in your conquests. Ryan was also smiling and nodding along with everything she said. That smile made guys so gullible and weak.
"Caroline, are you alright?" Payton asked me, shaking my arm.
I stopped staring. "Yeah, I'm fine." Lie.
"God, I said your name like twenty times." She rolled her heavily lined eyes, then followed mine and finally found what I was staring at. "Oh, no…"
"It's fine," I said again. Another lie.
Alex put his arm around me. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I am. Really." Yet another lie.
"Okay," he said, unsure, as he took his arm back and started eating his tator tots again. I lost my appetite after seeing Taryn in her stupid denim belt/skirt and Wonder Bra boobs. What was she doing stealing my boyfriend? Well, sort-of boyfriend. On-a-break boyfriend. Boy who was a boyfriend but is now on hold. Shit.