by Lannah Smith
Leon didn't answer. Instead, he said, "Fill out the form, John. He'll have your head if you won't."
John exhaled slowly. Guess they weren't talking about her.
"Let me copy yours," he requested.
"Fuck, no."
John scowled and picked up the pen beside the form. "Why can't school be three months a year and summer nine?"
"Why can't you just shut up and fill the damn form?"
See? Who was being the gloomy little shit now?
John gave him a disgruntled look and pulled the aforementioned form towards him. He cursed Suzie in his head for coming back and for already being a pain in the ass then cursed Ethan fucking Cameron for being such a hard-ass on the first day of school.
He didn't know he was saying all those things out loud until Leon gave him a glower. He shut his mouth, picked up his form and snatched Leon's off his desk and strode out of the door. He went in the teachers' office, didn't even bother to knock and looked around for that bastard teacher. But he wasn't inside so John just dropped the forms on his workstation and went back to the classroom.
"He wasn't in there," John announced when he returned. "So I just put them on his table."
"Want to go with me to the barber?" Leon asked. He was touching the tips of his hair that covered almost half his face.
"I'll come but I'm not getting a haircut."
"Why?" Leon raised his brow. "Are you growing out your hair?"
John absentmindedly ran a hand through his head as he took his seat. "I am," he replied.
"I thought you kept your head shaved to piss your parents off."
"Let's just say I'm growing my hair to provide support," John said with a smirk.
"Support..." Leon trailed off, his eyes and mind working. When it hit him, he scowled. "You're a fucking pig."
John burst into snickers and Leon shook his head.
"So, she likes it when you...?"
"Oh, yeah," John whispered. "Definitely."
Terry definitely did.
They'd met countless times, had sex countless times the rest of the summer. And John considered it the most glorious and most productive summer he ever had.
Hell, he was so fucking in love with her he didn't know what to do about it. So he was going to express it by worshiping her body. And it was a damn beautiful and hot body so he didn't have any qualms worshiping it.
John fell down with a surprised yelp when Leon suddenly kicked him off his chair. Looking smug, his asshole best friend picked up a random book on his desk and flipped the cover open.
"You're just jealous because I'm getting some and you're not," John grumbled as he picked himself up from the floor.
"You're too noisy. I'm busy here."
John frowned as he sat, leaning his upper body to Leon's side. "You're never serious with school stuff before. What gives?"
Leon stilled.
"Are you planning to go to college?" John asked hopefully.
Leon inhaled and exhaled slow but he didn't remove his gaze from the book. "I don't know. I might be in prison by then."
John snickered. "Man, and here I hoped Sophia blast some of her sunshine on you. You're still the king of super negativity."
"I remember punching you in the face back in middle school for calling me that."
"Then why aren't you?"
"I'm thinking about it."
John shrank back from him. "Please don't."
"And it's better to be negative than stay positive and watch it all crash down into a thousand pieces on you," he muttered.
John didn't like hearing that.
Leaning into him, he made sure he had Leon's full attention when he said, "I'll be there to pick the pieces up if it did. This time, Leon. I'll be there."
Leon's body tightened and he looked away, clenching his teeth.
And John hated it. He hated it that his best friend was still living in the past, still living in the shit that had happened to him.
"That's nice but I'm not letting you copy off me if that's what you're aiming for," Leon quipped, trying to lighten the atmosphere.
John chuckled and put his boots on top of the desk. "Damn, you caught me."
"Better get your butler to hire you a tutor," he suggested, brushing his hair from his face.
"Mr. Steele, shoes off the desk," Ethan snapped when he entered the room.
John smirked. "You forgot to say please, teach."
Ethan glared at him, waiting for him to do as he was told. But when John didn't, he never did anyway, the young teacher loosened his tie in frustration and slammed his things down on his table.
Whoa. Someone's in a rotten mood.
Then Ethan dropped his marker on the floor and he let out a low stream of curses.
And John decided to make it even more rotten.
"Ha! You said fuck," he pointed out cheerfully.
Ethan took a deep breath before growling, "I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
"I did not, Mr. Steele."
"Did, too."
"I swear to God I'll fail you this year," he snarled. "I don't care how much cash your precious parents throw at the school, I'll fucking fail you."
Oh, this was becoming fun.
"Uh-oh, teach," he said with a wide grin. "You said it again."
"Mr. Steele, is it too much to hope you'll get serious this year and act your age?"
"Only when you do, Ethan."
Leon came to his feet and tucked his books under his arm. The two stopped their sniping and looked at him.
"Where are you going?" Ethan asked.
"Out. I'm done here."
"But I just got here!"
Leon glanced at John and grinned. "John needs the lecture more than I do."
Before either of the two could protest, he quickly headed towards the door.
"Did he just... smile?" Ethan asked John.
John was still staring at the door.
He thought Leon was in a bad mood.
Hell, he never could keep up with his best friend's mood swings anyway and it was troublesome to even try.
John focused on Ethan again. "So why are you in a bad mood?" he asked.
Ethan let out a long sigh. "I have to start class now, Mr. Steele."
John leaned forward. "It's just you and me, Ethan. So let's talk about Haru."
Ethan gave him a tightlipped smile. "Even though I told you that I'm not interested in Terry, never was by the way, I'm still loyal to Haru and to the Evans family. Didn't I tell you this during our phone call?"
Hell, he hated to be reminded of that phone call.
And he hated how stupid and moronic Vincent was for putting himself in that situation.
I can't believe you.
John had just gone out of the shower when he received that text message from an unknown number. He was preparing to leave for Skull's resort where they were going to be preparing for Sophia's surprise birthday which was tomorrow.
Siccing your bodyguard on me. Are you insane, Mr. Steele?
Ah.
John grinned as he sat on the edge of his bed, drying his hair with a towel.
Only one person would call him that.
New fon. Hu dis? he texted, laughing.
Ethan's reply came quick. Get your bodyguard off me.
I don't know what you're talking about. Huehuehue.
I don't find you funny. Never have, never will. But maybe Terry will after I screencap our conversation and send this to her.
He lost the grin. Terry would drown him and though he wanted her attention, he didn't want her killing him.
Now where's the fun in that? he sent back.
Call off your guard. You know I'm not a threat.
I'm not sure about that now, pedo teach.
He didn't reply for a while and John taught he'd given up so he finished dressing up. But then his cellphone buzzed on the bed again.
Do what you want.
He rolled his eyes. Of course he would.
; And by the way, I'm enjoying coffee with your bodyguard.
Astonished, John almost dropped his phone.
He was what?
John immediately called Vincent. But it wasn't him that answered, it was Ethan. They had a lengthy conversation, half of it was John ranting and cursing his bodyguard while half of it was Ethan telling him, when he could, that he wasn't going to fulfill the marriage bargain, that he'd get himself out of it. But until then, they just had to let things be.
Still, all's well that ended well and John appreciated his bodyguard giving him the opportunity to talk to Ethan. He wasn't going to admit that however. Vincent would keep bragging about it and he was already insufferable enough.
"Yeah, you did tell me." John answered Ethan in a pissed off tone. "And I'll never understand that, teach," he finished.
"You don't need to," Ethan said with a shrug. "It's grown up stuff."
"Want to die?"
Ethan picked up his marker and opened his book. "I told you not to worry about me, John. Worry about getting Haru's approval instead."
"I don't need his approval."
"Maybe if you become a better student, I can put in a good word for you."
John chuckled low. "Not a chance, teach. I like annoying you."
"Well, the feeling goes both ways. You annoy me. I annoy you with harder examinations. Too bad you can still manage to get a 90%."
Fuck, John will never tell him how many sleepless nights he'd spent poring over his books and notes just to keep up his grades. And John will never tell his friends how he sometimes stole away, pretending he was meeting up with girls, when in fact he was studying like mad.
John leaned back and crossed his arms. "I'm a genius, what can I say," he said smugly.
Ethan was having none of that. "Leon's the genius. Not you. Now let's focus, shall we?"
It has been two months into the school year but the gossip about Suzie Turner still hadn't died down.
My eyes strayed to her as I walked down the stairs.
She was sitting on the steps, a sketchpad on her lap, drawing.
It was during a party early freshman year when Suzie was violated. She pointed her finger at Neil Logan, one of the golden boys of East Private School. No one believed her and everyone who was friends with Logan or liked him bullied her and called her a filthy liar, saying that even if it was true, she deserved it anyway because she was a slut.
Soon after, she quit school. And soon, we heard that Neil Logan was found outside of his house, his face a bloody mess, his body battered near to death.
My feelings about Suzie's return were mixed. First, I was glad she was able to move on, or at least try to move on. Second, I liked seeing her showing how strong she could be.
But I was afraid.
Knowing that John was the first person who saved her, knowing what Leon felt about her, her return might be a catalyst for something insidious. When I asked John what he felt about her return, he told me that he was glad she was alright. But he didn't want to have anything to do anymore, that he already did his best for her. It was Suzie's turn to do something for herself and that was it.
John also told me Suzie wanted to talk to Leon. And if she badly wanted to, she could use Sophia to get to him. Sophia would be naïve enough to do it and I wasn't going to allow that. She was so good-natured, it was stupid. And I didn't want her involved into deeper crap than she was in right now. She was already way too deep being involved with Leon.
"So you're telling me Sophia still thinks Leon is a bully"? I asked John in total shock when I asked him what Sophia thought of Leon's so-called justice and he answered she didn't know.
He nodded as he joined me on the sofa in his sitting room and handed me a cup of coffee.
My eyes drawn together, I continued to ask, "Then why is she still with him?"
John shrugged, a faint smile on his lips. "I guess that's what you call love?She still believes Leon is the monster everyone painted him to be and yet she's still by his side. There really is no other explanation."
"That's crazy," I breathed out. "What's crazier is that she doesn't even care to find out if the rumors were true or not."
"Leon showed up at her house after we kicked Ward's ass with bloody hands. I guess that made her conclusions true."
"But if it were me, I'd still investigate," I persisted. "I'd want to know the truth. The entire truth. And I'd want him to be truthful to me too."
"That's the intellect in you speaking," John said with a chuckle, snaking his arm around my shoulder. "Don't you see that love never makes any sense? We see people in fucked up relationships everyday and wonder why they stay. It's because of that damn emotion. Or feeling. Whatever."
"Actually, love is just different types of chemical reaction within the body, specifically the brain, instigated by different hormones-"
With a roll of his eyes, John brought down his mouth into mine, effectively shutting me up.
Thinking of John reminded me that I haven't seen him all day.
He also didn't text me last night or called to say good night.
The past me would not be suspicious by the neglect, but considering the facts and our past relationship's history, it let me to conclude that something had happened with either him or his friends again.
Clenching my jaw, I stepped into the corridor that lead out of and building to head for the library. But suddenly, a hand latched onto my arm, pulling me into a room. I whipped my head around, death glare in place, a fist in the air, ready to punch the daylights of whoever dared to manhandle me.
Green eyes.
I breathed a sigh of relief and lowered my hand.
"What the heck, John?" I hissed at him when he closed the door. "If I hadn't noticed it was you I would have punched you in the throat—."
My voice died when I saw his face.
And my body froze when he wrapped his arms around me and shoved his face into my neck.
"John?" I whispered, my voice shaking with fear. "What... what happened?"
He didn't let answer. He held me tight against his body. I grew quiet, holding him as close as I could, ice filling my veins.
It took awhile but he finally spoke.
"Shit, Terry," he whispered, his voice as tortured as the expression on his face. "Shit."
I let out a shaky breath. "Please tell me what's wrong, John."
His eyes were red when he lifted his head and my heart squeezed.
"Am I not enough?" he asked.
My brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
He closed his eyes tightly. "Am I not a good reason to stay alive?"
A painful lump formed in my throat.
He kept talking. "Leon, he's... he's gone into the deep end again."
"What?"
"He's saying he's tired of everything. He's saying that he want everything to end. Telling us, telling me that we were better off without him."
My mind went blank with anger as I listened.
How could Leon do this?
How could he do this to John, warm, generous and infinitely loving John?
How could he dare hurt the person who treasured him the most?
"I'm sure he didn't mean to say that, John," I told him when all I wanted was to curse the crap out of his insensitive best friend.
John looked like he desperately wanted to believe me.
My arms gave him a squeeze.
Then I proceeded to kiss away the pain Leon Gage had caused him.
Chapter 34
"You need to stop giving Sophia the stink eye."
As he said this, John slid his hands down my arms to hold my hands. I took a step back before he could, putting my hands on my hips.
His suggestion wasn't entirely unfounded. It was just very much unwelcomed.
It was because I'd gone back to hating Sophia.
Not because I was in a secret relationship with John again while she was open about hers, not like she had a choice to begin with.