Boy Trouble by Reshonda Tate Billingsley Read Free Book Online

up with Sheridan to get my chemistry paper so I was completely unprepared for my test today.
    My dad hadn’t been able to get in touch with Willie all evening. Finally, after my dad left a message, asking where he should send the money, Willie called back. Turned out, Aunt Bev was in pretty bad shape, but she wasn’t dying like Willie made it seem. Still, Travis had been so upset all evening. And today, he said he wasn’t even in the mood to come to school.
    As soon as I rounded the corner after my third-period class, I knew I should’ve stayed at home with my cousin. I wanted to turn and go the other way. Bali, Evian, and Shay, were standing there, huddled in a circle. And from the way they were side-eyeing me, they were no doubt talking about me. It’s like having my name in their mouth gave them life. The sad part was we all used to be cool, but that was back before all the drama. Back before Rumor Central. Evian needed to be thanking me, though, because after that fiasco a few weeks ago where she faked her own kidnapping trying to get some notoriety I could’ve seriously ruined her. We were all set to put her on blast on Rumor Central and I nixed it. I felt sorry for her, so I took up for her on the air, explaining why she’d done it, how desperation sometimes drove people too far. I made her sympathetic. Because I played it low, the story died down and the spotlight didn’t stay on her long.
    So, Evian needed to be kissing my pinky toe, not talking about me. I guess she knew it because as I approached them, she kind of slithered to the back like she wanted no part of what they were about to do.
    â€œExcuse me,” I said, trying to step around Bali, who had moved his flamin’ behind right in front of me to block my path. He swung his blond swoop (don’t even ask) to get it out of his face. His skinny jeans looked like they were cutting off his circulation and that top looked like it had come straight off the designer’s rack. Bali always did do it up big. His father was a Cuban bigwig so they had more than enough money to keep him looking fab. But, Bali had a temper that kept him in trouble.
    â€œHey, Diva,” Bali said with a snide grin.
    â€œWhat’s up, Bali?” I casually replied, trying not to act irritated. The bad part is Bali and I used to be the tightest of us all (next to me and Sheridan). Like the others, he had been upset when they’d fired the Miami Divas . Then, he’d gotten really mad because I’d done the story on the “Bling Ring” on my show. Bali had been among several people taking part in the Bling Ring, where some of his friends broke into celebrities’ homes and stole stuff. Bali didn’t steal anything, but he’s gone along for the thrill and so he could film it all. He’d given me one of the videos a long time ago, and well, my producers had been sweating me for some juicy gossip and it didn’t get any juicier than that video. After my story, Bali’s dad had been so mad that he’d sent Bali back to Cuba to live with relatives. But that hadn’t lasted long and Bali was back now, so why was he hating on me?
    â€œSo, I hear you and your girls like to let boys beat up on you,” Bali said. “Do you need my help?” He batted his mink eyelashes and tried to act like he was truly concerned.
    I rolled my eyes. If I ever did get into a fight, Bali would’ve been the one I’d have wanted on my side. A couple of the jocks had made the mistake of trying to punk him sophomore year because he was so flamboyant. Even though he barely weighed a hundred and fifteen pounds, he’d beat them down so bad, it had generated more than two million views on YouTube.
    Granted, Shay and I had a fight right after I got my own show, I wasn’t a fighter. I was a suer. I would sue anybody who touched me. Don’t get me wrong, I could fight. I just didn’t because I was way too classy