by Cleo Fox
Putting one arm around my back and the other under my legs, he stood from the bench and turned toward the parking lot. As seniors, we could leave campus as long as we returned before the end of lunch bell at 11:45 AM.
I squealed, drawing the stare of the different cliques hanging around with their lunches. I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Jason, put me down! This isn't funny."
But I forced a giggle, pressing my head to his shoulder. Happiness, so easy to fake to the rest of the world. I couldn’t even remember the last time it was real. I hadn‘t been happy since my dad passed away, leaving me with my bitch, gold-digging mother.
One day, I could get away from it all. Go to a college, if I could get in in the first place, far away from this state, where my mother had no pull. Start a new life with a different name. If that couldn’t happen... Well, then I would jump from the clock tower so I could feel like I was flying before sweet relief came.
Only the end of the year could tell me which path I would take.
I rested my back against the old oak tree we'd taken over as our spot. It was still on the school grounds, but far enough away from the courtyard that we didn’t have to deal with any kind of popular people bullshit. It was closer to the parking lot than anywhere else.
Rhett, Bon-Hwa—Bon—and Zeke sat with me.
Our paper plates of tacos from Vinny's Tacos truck sat with us. Vinny had the best steak and carnitas tacos around. Not to mention the green and red sauces that came with them. I would miss his truck when the year came to an end in nine months, and we graduated with destinations for the different colleges we picked.
"Dude. Sailor Moon is okay, but honestly, Sailor Jupiter is the best, or maybe Chibiusa. Sailor Moon is just too annoying at the start to ever like her, even if she does mature somewhat, and that is a very small some I'm stating here." Bon looked to Zeke and took a bite of his taco.
Zeke pushed his thick black frames up his nose with his middle finger. "But Sailor Moon has the most power if you think about it, and I mean actually think about it. She has the most moves and the biggest heart of all of them. I mean, look at what she did as Queen Serenity."
I just stayed quiet, listening to their debate over the anime. It wasn't really my kind of show, I watched it if they were watching it and I was around, but I didn't seek it out in my downtime. Not with my homework load and my parents pushing me to prepare for pre-med with night classes that would help push my college career forward.
Taking a bite of my carne asada taco with added guac, I mentally groaned. Vinny's just hit a place in my soul I didn't know existed until I found his food truck.
Rhett sighed as he put his plate on the ground next to him, his brown hair falling into his face. His blue eyes peeked out, but he didn't bother to move the strands. My father would yell at me if I ever let my hair grow past three inches.
Rhett leaned back on his arms, legs crossed in front of him. "Can we not listen to you two debate who the better Sailor Scout is, again? Any of you get a chance to watch the new Cloak and Dagger? Besides, Sailor Mars is clearly the best one out of all of them."
I smirked. The conversation wasn't going to die anytime soon.
Zeke opened his mouth to retort when a car engine revved. A Porsche sped into the parking lot and into a space near the front. Sleek and sexy, with a red to black color changing wrap that, when looked at from one angle, appeared cherry red, but at a slightly different angle black. It was one of the best cars I'd ever seen. My fingers itched to take it for a joy ride, hit the streets at night, and modify it for racing.
I liked my Honda CRX, it did its job, but no matter how sexy I tried to make it look, it fell short in my opinion. My parents would never spring for something like a Porsche or the car I really wanted, a Firebird. They had no idea I was using the car they got me for my sixteenth birthday for street racing. My mother would have a stroke while my father went red in the face with a heart attack.
The doors opened a second later and none other than Jason Brooks and Chanel Bishop came out. She held a frap in her hand, as she moved her gold-rimmed sunglasses down her nose to take a selfie; the straw posed suggestively in her mouth.
Her red hair with natural dark-blond highlights reminded me of the color changing wrap I wanted on my Firebird when I got it one day. I wanted it to look like a phoenix in the sunlight.
She was fucking gorgeous, but a major cunt.
I gulped and smoothed down my hair. It wasn't long by any stretch of the sense, but I didn't want a hair out of place. I held the letter in my hands. My family and I had only moved to America from London a few months prior.
It was my Freshman year, and I was excited to experience the American high school life I'd seen in movies and shows. It felt similar to what the UK had to offer, but also so different and wild.
The school year had only started a week before, but I already had my eyes on the prettiest girl there. I'd never seen anyone more stunning than her, and I desperately wanted her to be on my arm and to see if her lips tasted as sweet as they looked.
She stood next to her locker, laughing with the girl who seemed to be her best friend.
Steeling myself, I took a deep breath and let it out to try and calm my racing heart. It would only happen if I faced my nerves. She wouldn't know I liked her if I didn't tell her.
I stepped up to them, and their laughter died as they looked at me.
The one with her dark hair in braids blinked at me. "Can. We. Help. You? Are. You. Lost?" She spoke each word as if I didn't speak English.
I frowned at her. Ignorant bitch. My gaze turned to the girl who had captured my heart. Her green eyes stared at me with confusion.
I bowed my head to her. "Hello. " I lifted my head to meet her gaze again. "I'm Sai Arya. You’re beautiful, and I would be honored if you would date me."
I held the envelope out to her.
She looked down at it, fingers slowly taking it. Her pink lips parted, but before she could answer a thick arm slid behind her lower back.
"Sorry, Apu. She's taken. You have to find someone else." The guy leaned in close to her ear.
Her grip tightened on my letter, her thick eyelashes fluttering as a quick micro frown pulled at her lips.
Her gaze met mine and her frown turned into a sneer. She held the letter back out to me. "Sorry. Even if I wasn't dating Jason, I don't date dirty foreigners."
My heart sank. Of course, someone like her had to be a racist. I stared at the letter, her knuckles white from holding it so tight her hand almost shook.
I held up my own and bowed my head to her again. "Keep it. I don't need it. Thank you for your time. I'll no longer bother you." I turned my back on them.
Embarrassment flooded me, but at least I did it.
"Let's see what that fool wrote." The guy's voice carried to me.
I kept walking, spine stiff. The letter was only meant for her eyes.
Laughter broke out. "Your hair, more beautiful than the sunrise, sets my heart aflame. What the fuck is this shit?"
Laughter came from them and anger rose in my chest. I didn't have the heart to look back.
How dare they laugh. I poured my heart into that letter, and she was laughing at it.
They would need to walk up the path next to us to get back into the school. I just hoped they’d leave us alone. I didn't want to deal with them. They hadn't seen us yet.
Jason came around the front of the car and looked at her. "You need to learn not to use your teeth. It goddamn hurts."
Chanel snorted. "You're the one that wanted it." She stepped up onto the sidewalk and held the frap out to him.
He took it and stared at it. "What do you want me to do with this? I don't drink shit like this."
"You're the one who made me ask for it. You know I can't drink it. It'll send my blood sugar through the roof and my mother checks it. It's too late before the end of school. I'll still be in the high numbers by two-thirty."
Did she have diabetes or something? Why would
her mother care if her blood sugar was high? She was young, her body could handle it.
I frowned, and glanced at the others. They were watching them, too. They also didn't care for the couple, since Jason made a point to make their lives hell, especially Rhett's. The guy had it out for him, I swear. He was a dick to anyone he didn't see worthy of his company. We all got shit from him, but he was the meanest to Rhett.
I felt bad for the guy.
"Don't blame me for your mother being a psycho."
Wasn't her mother some important official or something? I frowned. I'd only ever heard good things about her mother, Patricia Bishop. She ran a lot of charity events and did some kind of important city work.
They moved a bit, and I had to lean over to peer around the tree to see them. Something seemed off, they weren't the loving couple who stood in the halls, glued at the hips.
Chanel stomped her foot, her heel thudded against the ground. "Even when it's early enough for me to get away with food not on her fucking schedule, you report me to her. I know you do. How else does she know when I've eaten something not on her damn plan?"
Jason raised his hand before he looked around and lowered it. "What have I told you about cursing at me? I don't fucking say shit. But even if I did, it would be for your benefit. Can't have you turning into a hippo. And we both know you would become one."
As she turned her face to the side, her jaw clenched, our gazes met.
Her back stiffened.
Jason lifted his hand and nudged her chin back to look at him. "Hey. It's okay. You know you'll be taken care of for the rest of your life. Have anything you could ever want. This deal is good for us and my dad. All you have to do is be perfect, okay? It's not difficult. Remain beautiful and you can stay by my side. Your mother is helping you learn how to do that. It's the tradition."
What the fuck was he talking about?
His large hand pinched her jaw, indenting her skin, and he leaned down to kiss her. She flinched as his lips met hers. She kissed him back, but her hands formed fists at her sides.
When Jason pulled back and let her go, red marks marred the cheek I could see. "Don't forget, you're mine, Chanel. Say it."
She bit at her lip.
"Say it!"
She flinched. "I'm yours, Jason."
He reached for her arm and pulled her toward him. "C'mon, let's see what the others are up to before the bell rings.”
He tossed the frap to the ground. Its top busted off and it ran onto the concrete in a swirl of brown and white.
A frown pulled at her lips, and she moved to pick it up.
Jason wrenched her arm, making her stumble. "Leave it. It's not your job to pick up trash."
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and steered her toward the path that passed by us. They were far enough away that I doubt they would've heard us if we’d been talking.
I looked at the others. "The Cloak and Dagger episode last night was epic. You're right about that. They're action scenes keep getting better and better."
Rhett nodded, catching on to what I was trying to do. "Right? That scene where he ate the light for her was so powerful and so similar to the comic book. I wasn't sure if they were even going to add that in or not."
I went back to eating my tacos as the conversation turned to Cloak and Dagger. I preferred anime over live action any day.
They were rather interested in what we just saw happen between Chanel and her boyfriend. He acted like a douche bag, so I don't know why they seemed surprised he’d treat his girlfriend the same way.
Everyone had secrets behind closed doors.
"Well, what do we have here? A couple of losers having a picnic? How cute!" Jason's voice traveled from the path, and I looked up from my food as he sauntered toward us.
I mentally sighed before finishing off the last bite of my second taco. I didn't want to deal with him. I just wanted to digest the world's best carnitas tacos in peace before a rather boring Spanish III class.
Like a typical macho male personality, most likely lacking in the dick department, Jason liked to pick on anyone he considered less than him. And all of us fit that bill in some way or another.
As Jason's wide-shouldered body towered over us, Rhett turned his eyes to the ground and the rest of us tried to ignore Jason’s existence. He moved around the group until he got to the other side where me and Rhett sat.
What was it with him and Rhett? It was as if the guy gave off a scent the Neanderthal couldn't resist.
Though that was an insult to Neanderthals. Evidence showed they were more intelligent than we gave them credit for.
Rhett stiffened but kept his head bent, a curtain of brown hair hiding his face from view. He held his hands together to hide their shaking.
Jason snorted. "Having tacos for lunch today, baby dick? It's the only taco you'll ever get." He laughed. "Right, babe?"
Our gazes turned to Chanel, who stood on the sidewalk, phone out, thumbs typing something into it. She hummed. "What?"
She looked up, her sunglasses hiding her eyes, as if she couldn't be more disinterested in everything.
Jason nudged Rhett with his foot. "Would you let baby dick eat your taco?"
Her gaze went back to the phone screen. "I'm bored with this. Stop playing around with these losers and let's find Lyric and Brian."
Jason's jaw clenched. "Answer the question, Chanel." The tone of his voice came across cold.
She shoved her phone into her designer purse and huffed. "What was the question?"
Jason's hands clenched. "Would you let baby dick, here, eat you out?"
Her head turned slightly as she looked to Rhett who refused to lift his head at all before she focused back on Jason. "No. But I don't even let you do that."
I lifted an eyebrow.
She stormed off down the sidewalk, heels clacking on the concrete.
Jason stared after her, whispering under his breath. "Fucking bitch." He looked down at the taco that still sat on the plate next to Rhett; flipping it over with his foot, he stomped on top of it. "Enjoy your taco, baby dick. It's the only kind you’ll ever get!"
With that, Jason jogged after Chanel, who had already made it back to the courtyard area where most of the school liked to hang out.
I glanced down at my final taco, still wanting it, but Rhett had only eaten one of his before Jason destroyed them. I held my plate out to him. "Here."
He looked up at me, then the plate before he took it. "Thanks, man."
I sighed. "No problem. Those two are real pieces of work, aren't they?"
Rhett lifted the taco to his mouth and made a sound of agreement. He chewed and swallowed. "I wish karma would teach them a lesson. That they can't just walk all over anyone they want."
Zeke leaned back on his hands, gaze focused on the courtyard where the two alphas of the school had already disappeared within the crowd. "I doubt people like them would learn from any kind of karmic lesson. They have rich parents to make everything okay. They'll continue to walk through life without being touched by anything bad. I doubt they even know what bad truly is. They probably think it's not getting some designer thing they special ordered.
Sai laughed. "Probably."
I also leaned back. "Maybe we could do something. Embarrass them in front of the whole school or something. Make them feel how they make us feel. Probably wouldn't change their personalities, but it would be funny."
Zeke looked at me, his blue eyes curious. "Got any dirt on them?"
I made it back to the courtyard before Jason could catch up with me and physically react. I wasn't sure why I said that. It was true. I didn't let him go down on me. He was terrible at it and complained how gross it was the entire time, making me feel disgusting. But I knew saying something like that in front of that group would only piss him off to the extreme.
He didn't like feeling inferior in front of people he considered nobodies.
I found his obsession with Rhett Collins odd. For the longest time, he'd
pick him out of a crowd to torture. I often wondered if he was suppressing something, and actually wanted to fuck the guy. No one else got his attention like Rhett did. I also wouldn't be surprised if Rhett one day lost it on him. He was quiet and submissive, but I could see the rage building in him.
Picking on people wasn't something that gave me pleasure. I used to do it to keep up appearances and solidify my status as the alpha mean girl. I honestly only did it if there was a large group watching. I never got anything out of tearing them down, just a trained response.
One day, I wouldn't have to worry about any of it. No one would know my name. I wouldn't have to be anything but a person floating through life with no eyes on me.
"Babe!" Jason called after me.
I was almost to the table with his friends. I just had to make it there. Hopefully, he'd cool down before the end of school and I wouldn't have to worry about the ride home. I was pushing my luck with how many times I’d pissed him off for the day. I was having a hard time filtering my thoughts and controlling my mouth. Normally, I held more in.
His hand grabbed mine just as I made it to the table. He moved to wrap his arm around me from behind and forced my back into his chest while making it look like he was being cute and affectionate.
He leaned his head down, lips near my ear. "What the fuck, Chanel? You're really fucking pissing me off today. Don't do it again."
I giggled as his hot breath tickled my ear and pulled off the interaction as something cute and not a threat from him for later. I turned my head to look at him. "Awe, I love you, too, babe!"
Kissing him on the cheek, I wiggled out of his hold and sat across from Lyric. "Still going to cheerleading practice after school? We could go shopping. I hear Secret is having another bra blow out sale. We could get some cute stuff."
Anything to put off having to go home and see my mother.
I may not be able to eat until then, but I was used to only eating when she told me to. I didn't want to eat her boiled chicken breast, or salmon, or baked organic sweet potato and greens that could only come from her garden. I wanted fatty, greasy, sugary things, but even if we jogged around the mall for an hour, I wouldn't be able to get away with any of it. My mother took my blood sugar every day after school, and if it wasn't dismally low, she accused me of eating off schedule. And I didn't want to think about what kind of punishment she would delve out for that. The tube was the worst.