by Amy Sumida
Jaidon lowered into the seat next to me to check my progress. “You’re doing pretty good, you’re just not changing the sign when you bring it over, see?” He pointed out my mistake, and I hit my palm to my forehead.
“I can’t believe I did that. I know better.” I sounded petulant, even to myself.
“No worries, Joey, you’ve been staring at the numbers for a long time, maybe you just need a break.” He smiled at me.
I tilted my head to the side and gazed at him for a few seconds. How was it possible for him to be so patient and awesome? I reached my hand behind his head and leaned in to kiss him. He jolted as my lips touched his. I went to pull back, thinking he was pulling away, but his hands held my face in place as he kissed me back.
It was a sweet kiss, but even so, it made my toes curl inside my socks. He pulled back from me, just enough to view my face clearly. “You kissed me,” he whispered.
“Yeah, I did.” I realized it was the first time I ever initiated a kiss, and I blushed.
“No one’s ever kissed me before,” he said quietly, then he seemed shocked he had revealed that. “Don’t tell the guys.”
“I would never.” I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ve never initiated a kiss before.”
He smiled again and pressed his forehead against mine. We were still sitting there when Alex walked in.
“Hey, Joey, what do you want on your pizza?” Alex asked.
“We’re getting pizza?” I peeked up at Alex as he walked over to me and pressed a kiss to my cheek.
He took the seat on my other side. “Yeah, it’s the dads’ date night, so we’re on our own for dinner. Hence, pizza.”
“I like supreme if that’s okay?” It came out like a question, even though I didn’t mean for it to.
Jaidon grabbed my hand. “A girl after our own heart, huh, Alex?
“Yeah, but I don’t think she’ll have to work too hard to get it.” Alex leaned in and gave me another kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to go order the pizza, you finish up your studying.”
Still in the daze from the attention from Jaidon and Alex, my eyes lingered on Alex’s retreating form as he left us. He really was smooth. I shook myself out of it and turned to Jaidon. He watched me with an expression I couldn’t place. “This may take some getting used to,” he said.
I panicked. “Did I…Should I have…I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It wasn’t that I was jealous; it was more that I was confused because I wasn’t jealous. Another guy kissed you in front of me, and it didn’t bother me.”
“Isn’t that a good thing, though?” I wrinkled my nose in confusion.
“I guess. But, if it had been anyone but one of my brothers, I might have had to open up a can of whoop ass.”
I laughed. Then, appraising him with a critical eye, I noticed he did have enough muscles to hold his own in a fight. “You really could beat up someone, couldn’t you?”
He pretended to be offended. “I grew up with four brothers and Daniel. What do you think?”
Monday morning came pretty quickly, and I was determined to not be late. Getting up with the sun, I showered, dressed, applied my make-up, and was ready to roll by the time Bishop chugged his second cup of coffee. For some reason, my stomach fluttered with nervous butterflies at the idea of going to school. Maybe it was because I would be going with the guys. Matt refused to let me drive my car until he fixed it. According to him, it wasn’t safe. So, I would be riding to school with Alex this morning and riding back with Jaidon, who was willing to wait until my Garden Club meeting ended.
I fidgeted my way through breakfast, nibbling on some toast while the others chowed down. When I noticed them giving me odd glances, I figured I needed to do something with myself, so I got up and started making lunches for everyone. Ham and cheese sandwiches, plastic baggies full of chips, an apple, and a bottle of water for everyone. Bishop and Matt each got an extra sandwich and another apple. When they weren’t paying attention, I slipped a sticky note with a smiley face on it into each of the brown bags.
By the time I finished, the guys were ready to go. They each grabbed a lunch and gave me a kiss on the cheek or a hug as a thank you. We headed to the garage through the mudroom and I stalled, struck again by the beauty of the cars. I slid into Alex’s red Audi. Matt slid into the seat behind me. Jaidon, Bishop, and Stetson drove to school in Jaidon’s white Mazda.
I took a deep breath and held it. When my lungs started to burn, I released it slowly.
“What’s wrong?” Alex reached over and took my hand.
“I don’t know.” I squeezed his hand. “I feel nervous for some reason.”
Matt leaned up and rubbed my shoulders. “I know it’s gonna be a big thing, everyone knowing about your dad, we can keep our relationship on the down low, if you want us to.” I told them this morning that I was on board with officially dating all of them.
“No,” I said sternly. “I’m not ashamed of you guys, so I’m not going to hide anything. I just don’t want people to feel sorry for me because of my dad. And I…I don’t want anyone to say anything bad about you.”
“Don’t worry about that.” Alex rubbed his thumb over my hand. “We can take care of ourselves.”
When we pulled into the school, the other guys waited for us by Jaidon’s car. Alex parked next to them and cut the engine. Before I could form a thought, Stetson opened my door and helped me out of my seat. Bishop grabbed my bag and slung it over his shoulder. Stetson wrapped his arm around my waist as we walked into the school. Matt reached down and grabbed my good hand. “Locker?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got to switch some books out.” I squeezed his hand and leaned my head on Stetson’s shoulder. All the attention from them did a pretty good job of calming the butterflies freaking out in my stomach. The rest of the guys fanned out around us as we walked down the hall.
It took about two minutes before people noticed me. At least, most of them tried to study us surreptitiously. Some didn’t though. They pointed and whispered loudly to their friends. A few brave souls tried to approach me to talk, but a quick glare from one of the guys caused them to back off.
Making it to my locker without too much trouble, I grabbed my books for my first couple of classes, and Jaidon stepped up to take my hand. Bishop stepped to my other side and put his arm around me, then they started to guide me toward the office. This was one of the few things we argued about yesterday. The guys wanted me to hang out with them in the morning before the bell, but I made a commitment to answer phones before school. I wasn’t going to back out on my commitment.
I was shocked when I got to the office and noticed the principal and secretary already there, answering phones. Mrs. Lane, the secretary, smiled at me. “Good morning, Joey. We’ve got the phones covered for the next few days. Why don’t you study before class?”
The guys tightened their circle around me when I stiffened. “Why?”
“Well, dear, reporters have been calling all morning, asking for information about you.” She hurried on at my gasp, “We won’t tell them anything, of course, but you shouldn’t have to deal with this.”
I nodded and backed out of the office. I walked to the library in a daze and headed to the same round table the guys and I used before. I sat down and put my head on the table. Reporters called the school about me. Everyone would know. I’d never live this down.
“I didn’t think it would be that bad,” Jaidon said as he sat next to me. Bishop took the seat to my left and rubbed my back.
“It’ll be okay Joey,” Stetson said from across the table. “Don’t worry. This will blow over, eventually.”
I brought my head up to see the guys all around me with concerned faces. “Thanks.” I leaned my head against Bishop. I scraped together something I hoped would pass as a smile. “This would be so much worse if I didn’t have you guys to lean on.”
“Let’s just try to get through the day,” Alex sa
id, catching my eye. I nodded at him.
Let’s do this.
Over the next few days, we developed a routine. The guys never left me alone in the hallways or at lunch. Even when I went to the bathroom, one of the guys kept watch outside the door. They really seemed to be circling the wagons. Maybe a bit too much.
Things finally started to cool off about my dad. Reporters stopped calling the school, and my teachers resorted back to the treatment of me prior to the incident. But the guys didn’t back off. One of them was always holding my hand or kissing my forehead, offering me support.
I finally relaxed, assuming things would be fine. Then, David happened.
While waiting for Stetson outside of my chemistry class, David sauntered up to me. He stopped in front of me and pushed his glasses farther up his nose. “So, is it true?”
I rolled my eyes. “Is what true, David?”
“Are you really a big enough slut that you’re dating five guys?”
I froze. “What did you call me?”
“So, it’s true.” He flicked his chin at me and smirked.
“You’ve got ten seconds to back off me, or I will hurt you.” I refused to take this crap from him.
“Five guys? Really? So, what, do they gang bang you? Or do they take turns?”
I was going to leap on him and scratch out his eyeballs, but before I could, David got jerked backward and thrown up against the lockers.
“What did we tell you about talking to Joey, douchebag?” Stetson growled.
David didn’t answer.
“We told you to stay away from her, didn’t we?” Stetson pulled back his fist, but I grabbed his arm.
“He’s not worth it, just walk me to my locker.”
Stetson stood there for a full minute, glowering at David. “Come near her again, and she won’t be able to stop me.” He turned to me and put his hand on my back to guide me down the hallway.
As we headed toward my locker, I peered up at him. “When did you tell him to stay away from me?”
“Monday, when he started spouting shit about you dating all of us.”
Their circling the wagons made a little more sense now. “Were you going to tell me about the crap he was saying?”
He grunted. “You’ve got enough going on right now. We didn’t want you to deal with this to.”
As we approached my locker, an old-fashioned style flyer with the tear off tabs at the bottom was taped to the door. A picture of me took up most of the page with the words, For a good time call,” and, “Group discounts available,” listed under it. My class schedule was written on the tear off parts at the bottom. My stomach sank in horror when I noticed some strips missing from where people tore them off.
Stetson ripped it off my locker and balled it up in his fist. He put his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. “It’ll be okay. Don’t let this get to you.”
I shook my head. “Stetson, I knew this would happen. I just don’t want it to affect you. After what I’ve been through, this crap can’t hurt me.”
He pulled back, his face filled with skepticism.
“Okay, so it can hurt me a little, but not as much as losing the support you guys give me would hurt.”
Stetson went to say something, but I went up on my toes and put my hand over his mouth. “Not now, not here. I’ll break down when we get home, but I refuse to do it in the hallway, okay?”
He kissed my fingers in reply and walked me to art class.
Halfway through art class, the principal’s voice came on over the intercom. “Excuse the interruption teachers, but I need the following students in the office: Matt Browen, Stetson Tucker, Jaidon Wilder, Bishop Sawyer and Alex Morales. Thank you.”
Stetson glanced at me and told me to wait here for him if he wasn’t back by the end of class.
I went back to shading the sketch of his tattoo from last week.
The bell rang, and Stetson still wasn’t back. He showed up five minutes later angry enough to spit nails. “Can you skip your Garden Club meeting?”
I didn’t even need to think about it before I nodded. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall to his dad’s class.
The other guys waited in the hall for us, radiating rage. “What happened?” None of them answered me.
Joshua opened the door, and the principal walked out of the room. Mr. Keeler gestured for us to come into his room while he grabbed his stuff. “We’ll talk at home. I’m heading there now. Fill Joey in as much as you can on the way.”
“I’m sorry if I’m causing you problems.” I managed to get out over the knot in my throat.
I got to see first-hand what Matt said about Mr. Keeler swallowing his anger. “Joey, you have done nothing wrong.” He scanned the guys. “None of you have.” He gave me a hug, nodded at the guys, and we all headed to our cars.
Somehow, we managed to fit five people in Jaidon’s Mazda. Alex drove his car back alone, which I thought was unfair. I squeezed into the back of Jaidon’s car between Matt and Bishop, while Jaidon and Stetson sat in the front.
I took a deep breath. “Okay, what happened?”
Stetson turned to me. “We had a forty minute discussion with the principal and the guidance counselor about how wrong it is to take advantage of girls who are vulnerable. And about how we should be ashamed of ourselves, and if you wanted to, you could probably press charges for coercion because you were staying with us when you had nowhere else to go.”
I sat, stunned silent for a few minutes. “Can they even do that?”
“Babe,” Matt said, “This town is tiny, the school feels that its job is to dictate the proper morality for its students. And, honestly, most of the town is okay with that.”
“But, isn’t that illegal?” My mouth dropped open in shock.
“Not around here.” Jaidon snorted.
“That doesn’t seem fair.” My heart started pounding, and I tried my best to fight off the panic. “What do we do?”
“Nothing,” Jaidon said quietly into the silence of the car. “We only have two options. Do nothing or bow down to their demands and stop dating each other.”
“So basically,” Bishop scoffed, “our only option is to do nothing?”
“No,” Stetson said quietly, “we don’t do nothing. We keep going the way we were. We’ve done nothing wrong, and if we skulk around with our heads lowered, it’ll look like we think we’re doing something bad. We’re not. So, we just keep moving forward.”
I reflected on the situation in silence for a while. “I don’t want to give the impression I think we’re doing something wrong, but I don’t want to cause you or your dad trouble.”
“You wouldn’t be causing anything.” Matt rubbed my leg. “They are by trying to make what we’re beginning to feel for each other dirty.”
“You’re right.” I took a deep breath. “We’re in this together, right?”
Bishop rubbed the back of his neck. “Is this where we all put a hand in and chant ‘all for one, one for all?’”
I stuck my tongue out at him as Jaidon pulled into the driveway.
Alex slid out of his car as we pulled up. He walked over to me and kissed my forehead as he helped me out of the car. “Hey, Joey. Crappy day, huh?”
I smiled up at him. “Yeah, so far.”
He winked at me. “We’ll have to do our best to turn that around.”
We all walked into the house as a group, only to be confronted with cursing. Loud cursing.
“Who the hell do they think they are, Daniel? Who do they think they’re dealing with? That fucker. I wanted to slug him.” The pitch of Joshua’s voice rose with each word until he was screaming.
We huddled in the mudroom, so we could overhear without interrupting. I backed quietly into Stetson. He wrapped his arms around me, giving me a gentle squeeze.
Through the open door, we saw Joshua pacing in the kitchen, and I couldn’t believe how angry he looked with a pulsing vein in his forehead and his hands clenching and unclen
ching.
“They took our boys into the office, Danny! They accused them of forcing Joey into something…something…aargh!” He growled. “I can’t even! How dare they?”
Daniel walked over to Joshua and took his hand. “They had no right to do that, Joshua. We know it. The boys know it.” He pulled Joshua’s head into his chest. “We knew when we noticed what was happening between them this would be something they would need to deal with. We raised them right. Joey’s the bravest girl I’ve ever known. They’ll be fine.”
Joshua smiled up at him and gave him a light kiss. “What would I do without you?”
“Throw dishes.”
They both chuckled, and we walked into the kitchen.
Joshua and Daniel turned to us as we moved into the room. Daniel pulled Joshua to his side and gave us all a sad smile. “What’s up?” He motioned for us all to sit at the table. “Never mind. This discussion definitely calls for emergency Oreos.” He walked over to the cabinet and pulled out the family size pack of Oreos we bought the other day.
Jaidon grabbed glasses, and Bishop retrieved a gallon of milk from the fridge. Daniel sat at the head of the table, ripped open the package, and started passing out Oreos like poker chips.
“Okay,” Joshua took a deep breath and swallowed his cookie, “Who wants to go first?”
Jaidon peered at Joshua. “The guys and I were kind of expecting something like this to happen. I mean, not from the faculty, but the students, so we were sort of prepared for it, but why was the principal in your room after school?”
Joshua shook his head. “Two reasons. First, he needed to inform me as your parent of the conversation he had with all of you. Second, he wanted me to talk to you about the error of your ways.”
“You gonna do that?” Stetson asked quietly. He sat stiffly in his chair, expecting trouble.
“No.” Joshua sighed. “I’ll admit, when I first noticed the direction this was heading between you all, I had my reservations.” He glanced at all of us, then brought his eyes back to Stetson. “But, then I stopped to actually pay attention to the way you are together. You don’t choose who you’re attracted to. You don’t choose who you want to be with. You’re all consenting adults. And more, this seems to make you happy. I’m not—” He grabbed Daniel’s hand. “We’re not going to stand in the way of that.”