Eye Candy by Reshonda Tate Billingsley

laughed, then abruptly stopped. “But are you going, though?”
    I sighed. “You know I want to, but . . .”
    â€œBut . . . you have a boyfriend. I know.” She shook her head. “You’re surprising me, Maya. I would’ve never expected you to give up the diva life to be domestic.” She stopped and looked over her shoulder as someone yelled something I couldn’t make out. “Girl, that’s my mom yelling about something. I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later.”
    She disconnected the video call and left me sitting at my desk, stunned. Domestic? My BFF might as well have called me a scandalous trick. Because the day Maya Morgan ever became known as domestic was the day she needed to make some serious changes.

Chapter 11
    L ibraries just weren’t what they used to be. You used to be able to come here and study and read, but this place looked like party central. And the librarian was sitting at her desk, reading a magazine, acting like she didn’t see the commotion around her.
    For once, I wasn’t at the center of the chatter. I was trying desperately to get these makeup assignments done. I’d missed a few assignments that truly could keep me from graduating, and since I wasn’t trying to have that, at all, I needed to pull it together.
    â€œHey, Maya,” Nelly said, sliding in the seat across the table from me. This geek named Karrington White was attached to her hip. Karrington could best be described as a goth girl because that’s what she looked like with her long black hair and all black clothes. Or at least she used to be known as that. Since she’d started following Nelly around, she’d started dressing like her. Gone were the dark clothes. Now, she wore colorful leggings and some taffeta blouse. When she sat next to Nelly, who had on a chiffon-looking pink dress, they looked like some circus freaks.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” Nelly asked.
    I looked at Nelly, down at my book, then back up at her. “Painting my toenails,” I replied.
    She giggled. “Girl, you are silly.”
    â€œYeah, Nelly, is there something I can help you with?” I asked. I don’t know why she was all of a sudden trying to get buddy-buddy with me, but I wasn’t interested. Maybe she wanted me to ask her more questions about what she had been doing at the station. But I wasn’t trying to do that either.
    â€œWe just don’t know each other that well and I just thought we should get to know one another better,” she replied. And there went that stupid grin.
    â€œAnd why would we do that?” I said, not bothering to hide my exasperation.
    â€œYou never know,” she sang.
    â€œI saw you and J. Love on the Internet,” Karrington threw in. Did she just want to feel like part of the conversation? In all four years at Miami High, I’d never held a conversation with this girl. Why in the world did she think I wanted to start now?
    â€œGood for you,” I replied.
    â€œI thought you had a boyfriend,” Karrington said.
    â€œI do.”
    Nelly looked confused. “But the blogs said—”
    â€œAnd you can’t believe everything you read online,” I snapped. Okay, what was up with this chick? She didn’t know me like that. And I didn’t want to get to know her either.
    â€œWhere there’s smoke there’s fire,” Nelly said, wagging a finger.
    Karrington flashed her hands as if she were blowing something up. “Poof! And there are puffs of smoke all over you and J. Love.”
    I just stared at her. This chick had to be the corniest person I’d ever met.
    Nelly leaned into the table. “Aww, come on. You can tell me.”
    â€œI can’t tell you anything because there’s nothing to tell,” I snapped. “I have a boyfriend, but what’s it to you anyway? You and Nosey Nancy doing a story on me?”
    Nelly sat back in her seat. “Maya,