by N. Natishna
“It was just a matter of time, really.”
I rolled my eyes at Bianca’s statement. We all knew since we first met Rosie that it wouldn’t be long until Liam snatched her up. If he wasn’t right by her side, he was nearby keeping his blues eyes on her at all times. It was cute, actually.
The three of us talked about Rosie and Liam’s new relationship as we walked to the building. Deklan, Luke, and I parted from the others and made our way to English class. When I took my seat I turned around to face Deklan.
“I want to show you something later. Can you meet me in the art room after school?”
He nodded and pulled out his book. I kissed my fingers and touched them to his lips before turning back around. I saw Cody from the corner of my eye and took a quick glance at him before looking back at my binder. He was turned toward the front of the class, but his shoulders were ramrod straight. The tension rolling off him was hard not to notice. I shook my head and did my best to ignore him. Hopefully, he got the message that my boyfriend would pummel the shit out of him if he came near me. I smiled as I smelled Deklan’s cologne surrounding me. I relaxed back in my chair, and let it calm me, taking my mind off Cody and everything else.
The first half of school ticked by so slowly I almost fell asleep in Government. Zane and Aria had to take turns poking me awake. I had a 3.7 GPA and never missed a day of school unless I was practically dying; I entitled myself one day to zone out, okay?
When lunch finally came around I jumped out of my chair and scurried into the hallway. Deklan was leaning up against my locker when I got there. He shifted to pull me in between his legs.
“How was your day so far?” he asked as he bent to kiss me. I groaned against his lips and wrapped my arms around him.
“Slow and boring. I missed you.”
“We saw each other two classes ago,” he teased and I shrugged.
“I still missed you.”
He kissed my forehead. “Missed you, too, Pixie.” He moved so I could get in my locker and switch out my books. He took my bag and slung it over his shoulder as we walked hand-in-hand to the cafeteria.
Aria, Bianca, were huddled around Molly in line, but they looked up when they saw me.
“What’s going on?” I asked them.
“Molly just told off Amanda,” Bianca said on a laugh and I looked at Molly, who just looked irritated and uncomfortable by the attention.
“Girl’s got cojones, Slim,” Aria put in, patting Molly on her shoulder.
“What happened?”
“She came up asking where Luke was and called us liars when we told her we didn’t know.” Bianca grunted and cocked her hip. “Stupid bitch.”
“Then Molly got in her face, like she did with Nicole Sanders,” Aria finished.
“Hmm,” was my only response as I took in Molly’s tense features.
“You okay?” Deklan asked from behind me, before I could. She nodded curtly and shook off Bianca and Aria’s hands.
“I’m outta here,” she didn’t acknowledge anyone as she slung her bag over her shoulder. “See ya.”
I watched her walk out of the room and then I looked up at Deklan. “Will she be okay?”
He shrugged and put his arm around my shoulders, smiling slightly.
“She’s pissed, but she’ll be all right.”
I nodded and we got our food.
“So when’s this trip to Paris?” Zane asked when we sat down at our table. Everybody started talking excitedly at once and I had to calm them back down so I could explain.
“It’s during Christmas break. My parents will set up where we stay when I tell them who is all going.”
Reggie and Jeff fist bumped, and Aria and Bianca clapped their hands together.
I bounced in my seat a little. “Snow in Paris…it sounds so romantic.”
Reggie pretended to gag. “Don’t ruin it, Slim.”
“I think it sounds pretty cool,” Liam said. I smiled at how cute he and Rosie looked right now. Her small body was tucked between his legs as he sat sideways on the bench seat. One of his arms was over her shoulders and he was playing with the ends of her hair, while he used the other to eat. He put down his burger and looked at Rosie. “Think you’ll be able to come?”
She blinked a couple times and then looked confused as she thought. She looked over at me with wide eyes that still captivated me, then back at Liam, and nodded. I smiled and took a bite of my burger.
I saw Luke coming in from the cafeteria entrance to the courtyard and waved. He walked over and sat down, looking around us with narrowed eyes. We were silent as we took him in. He was his normal aloof self, but something felt different. I reached across the table and grasped his hand. He looked over at me and I smiled softly.
“Everything okay?”
He nodded, his face softening, but only a little.
“Where’s Molly?” he asked us.
“She left,” Bianca answered and smirked. “After she verbally bitch slapped Amanda Cornwell.”
Luke raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“She’s been looking for you all day. We were all getting tired of her, and Molly told her off, then left.”
He nodded slowly and checked his phone. Standing, he slung his jacket over his shoulder. “Later.”
He strode out of the cafeteria and disappeared through the doors.
“Well, he’s in a mood,” Bianca scoffed.
I went back to my food with a shrug. Luke was always in a bad mood. He never smiled, barely talked to anyone outside our group, and had a serious temper. That’s how he was when we met him and that’s how he’ll always be. And honestly, we wouldn’t change him in the slightest. He was our best friend, no matter what. There was never a moment that he didn’t have our backs when we needed him. There was no doubt that we would do the same for him.
When I was done eating, I looked back at Deklan.
“Don’t forget to come to the art room after school.”
“No worries, babe, I won’t forget. I see you right before that class starts, so the reminder will be fresh in my memory.”
I nodded and stole some of his fries with a sly smirk.
“You’re lucky I get twice as much food now, because of you,” he teased.
I frowned and took another fry. “How would it look if I carried two trays of food, Deklan? I’d look like a hog.”
He chuckled and touched the tip of my nose. “Don’t pretend like you give a shit, Pixie.”
I sighed and shrugged. “True, but I like snatching food from you, and you love me, so you let me do it.”
He just laughed and then took a drink from his water bottle.
French class was so far the most entertaining class I’d had today. Mrs. Anway had tried connecting her laptop to the ceiling projector with serious difficulty and ended up cussing for about five whole minutes in French. Everyone in class had to hold back their laughter when we saw her pissed off face. Then she shook her head and chuckled behind her hand, giving the rest of us permission to laugh at her expense.
Deklan spent our whole free period trying to teach me how to play the drums. I was definitely no pro, but I was getting the hang of it. I reminded him about coming back to the art room as he walked me there. He rolled his eyes, tapped his hand on my butt, and walked away.
Rosie was in the activity room when I got there. I set my bag down on our table and went next door. I donned an apron and went to sit behind the easel next to Rosie’s. Mrs. Palmer was sitting on a stool behind her and watched her work.
“Hey, what are you drawing?”
Rosie looked up and smiled. “I snatched this photo of Liam in his baseball uniform. He likes when I sketch things for him, so I’m doing this one for him.”
“You must be one heck of a girlfriend, Rosie. I’m showing Deklan the one I did for him, after school today.”
Mrs. Palmer perked up and went to grab it. She came back with my canvas and set it on the easel in front of us. Rosie leaned forward and analyze
d the picture in awe. She gasped and put her hand to her chest. She’d only seen the beginning stage of it. The rest I had to finish in a corner by myself, until it was finished.
“Oh wow,” Rosie breathed out and looked at me. “It’s absolutely beautiful, Emma. You have a wonderful talent and gift.”
“Thank you,” I said, blushing. Her eyes were so wide with wonder, and I couldn’t seem to look away as her eyes met mine.
“This is one of my favorites of yours, Em,” Mrs. Palmer told me. I blinked and smiled at her. “It just stands out perfectly.” She ran her fingers over the painted arms. “The way you guys are clutching one another like somebody was about to pull you away from each other, it goes great with the message.”
I straightened up with pride in myself. I loved getting praises for my artwork; it made me feel more confident. Mrs. Palmer was right, though; this piece was definitely one of my bests. It was a painted portrait of the time Deklan and I were at the beach that first day. We were in the water and I was wrapped around his body. We had been kissing and then Deklan had told me people were watching us.
‘Let them stare’ was written elegantly at the bottom. That’s exactly what I’d told him. It was the first time I’d said I just didn’t give a crap about what others thought. It was how I pictured this memory in my head after that. His arms were under the water holding me and I had mine around his neck, my lips just inches from his. His tattoos had been the hardest to do, but I think I did a decent job of it.
“It’s perfect,” Rosie told me and waved toward the painting. “He’s going to love it.”
“Thank you so much, ladies,” I told both of them and Mrs. Palmer took the painting back to the next room. I turned back around, but spun too fast on the stool and knocked a couple paint brushes to the ground. Before I could bend to get them, Rosie beat me to it.
“I’ll get them.” When she bent to grab them, the back of her shirt rode up. I gasped at the two big bruises that marred her skin.
“Rosie, what happened?!” I whisper yelled and went to touch the dark bruises. She jerked up and yanked her shirt down; her snow white face becoming even paler. I looked at her with concern and lowered my voice. “Are you all right?”
She blew some bangs out of her way and looked away. “Some kid ran by me and I was in the way. I tripped and fell back on the stairs.” She shrugged. “That’s what happens when you’re small.”
I nodded and smiled, a little unconvinced. Something wasn’t right here, and I wanted to help if someone was hurting Rosie. But I could just be overreacting, like usual. It’s not like I’ve spotted bruises on her before. I wasn’t going to jump to conclusions, though. The last time I did that, I tried ignoring the guy that could most possibly be the love of my life. “Trust me, I’ve gotten my fair share of pains from getting a little roughed up in those crowded hallways. If it wasn’t for Deklan, I’d be stomped on left and right.”
Her soft laugh sounded forced as she turned back toward her easel. When she brought her hand up to her sketchpad, her hand started to shake. I could hear her breathing turn into soft panting and I darted over to her, rubbing her back when I saw her eyes get glossy.
“Rosie?” I touched her face with my free hand and turned her head so she was facing me. “Rosie, I need you to listen to me.”
I knew an oncoming panic attack when I saw one. I was the daughter of an outstanding surgeon, and I’ve learned many things from him. Smoothing her hair out of her face, I stared into her eyes. They weren’t the same shimmering silver, but a dull grey.
“Rosie, it’s okay; you’re okay. Look, follow me, okay? Follow my breathing.” Her eyes flickered as her breathing slowed down, and her body relaxed. I kept rubbing her back as the life came back in her eyes again. She immediately glanced around the room to see everyone staring their way. Her face paled even more, and I started to worry for her health. I turned toward the others.
“Can’t you see that you’re freaking her out!” I said with a glare. I turned back to Rosie and smiled softly at her grateful expression.
“Thank you,” she said in a soft whisper. I grasped her shaking hands in mine and squeezed.
“Do you get these often, Rosie?” I asked her. She looked to the ground and nodded.
“Since I was a child.”
I sighed and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, hugging her tightly. She was stiff for a moment and then returned the hug. When I pulled back, I smiled. These few times that I’ve been around her, I could see how sweet and delicate she was.
“You have such a wonderful aura about yourself.”
She stared at me wide-eyed for a moment, and then shook her head, chuckling. Seeing her laugh had me joining in and I was relieved. This girl needed people in her life that cared about her. I just positively knew that my friends and I would be good for her.
Not wanting to rile any more of either of our emotions, I gave her one more, quick hug, and then went back to my easel. I studied her for a second before getting to work. Rosie got a stroke of luck when she’d run into my friends. If there was one group of people that were downright loyal and caring about one another, it was us.
✽✽✽
I was relieved when the bell rang, ending school, and waited right outside the room as it cleared. I spotted Deklan coming down the hall and waved at him eagerly. He wrapped an arm around my waist and bent to kiss me before I led him inside. He looked around with wide eyes.
“Never actually been in here. This place is fuckin’ sweet.”
I nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. I could spend all day in here.”
“Then there’d be no time for me, so I don’t think so.”
“Touché,” I laughed and pulled him towards one of the stools, sitting him down in it. “I have a present for you.”
He quirked his pierced brow and propped his elbow back on the tall working table behind him. I tapped his chest.
“Don’t move a muscle,” I ordered and turned to run next door. Mrs. Palmer was sitting behind her desk working on her laptop. She grinned and pointed to the closet. I went to grab the painting, making sure it was facing me so Deklan couldn’t see it. He was still leaning back on the table when I got back. He eyed the back of the portrait and then brought his eyes back to mine.
“We had this project a while back to create something personal and I immediately thought of you.”
He smirked and I bit my lip as I turned the painting around. “This is for you.”
He looked down and stared. His eyes widened just a bit as they wandered over every inch of the painting. He reached out to lift it from my hands, moving it over to the closest easel. I stood next to him as he traced parts of the canvas.
“Damn, babe, how long did this take you?”
The wondrous tone I heard had my shoulders hunching in relief. I could tell he liked it. “A week plus some. What do you think?”
He flicked his eyes to me, back to the painting, and then returned to me. He ran his fingers down my jaw. “It’s amazing, Emma. You’re so incredibly talented.”
“I call it ‘Anomaly’.”
His eyes softened and a sexy grin tugged at his mouth. “That’s perfect, Emma.”
I went up on my tiptoes to kiss him, and then he held me close.
“Thank you, baby.”
“You’re very much welcome.”
CHAPTER 14.
After Deklan put the painting in his car he walked me to cheer practice. He went to the stands and I went to change into my cheer shirt and shorts, with my thermal leggings underneath them so I wouldn’t freeze. Aria was stretching off to the side, talking to Rosie. She had her white-blonde curls swept up into a high ponytail, her bangs hanging down above her eyes. She was wearing dark jeans and a purple baby tee under her grey hoodie. A camera hung from around her neck.
I looked up in the stands and saw all the guys, plus Bianca. Luke and Liam were sitting by Deklan, listening to something Zane said, and Reggie and Jeff were rough housing. I rolled my eyes. The onl
y reason those two came to the practices was to check out the other cheerleaders. Oh, they tell us they’re there to support their friends, but we weren’t stupid.
“Hey,” Rosie said sweetly when I got to them. “I was hoping to get some pictures of you guys today, if that’s okay.”
I nodded and bent over, gathering my hair together in a high messy bun. “Are you on the yearbook committee?” I asked when I popped back up.
She shook her head. “No, it’s for my scrapbook.”
“You have a scrapbook?”
“A couple, actually. Something to do when I’m not sketching.”
Huh. That sounded neat. “I’d love to look at them sometime.”
Rosie grimaced and shuffled her feet.
“That sounds nice, but I’d have to come over to your house. My dad, he doesn’t like me bringing people over when he’s not home.”
“Oh, well, that’s understandable. I’d love for you to come over!”
“Okay.” She gave a little wave and walked off to take some pictures. I sat down next to Aria and started stretching.
“I want to go shopping this weekend,” she said as she reached out to grab the tips of her toes.
“Sure.” I grinned and nodded my head towards Rosie. “We should take her. We’ll go out to eat afterwards.”
“Sounds cool. I’ll mention it to Bianca. Maybe Molly would wanna join us too.”
I rotated my neck slowly and rubbed the back of it. “’Kay.”
✽✽✽
My dad was standing in the middle of the foyer when I walked in. He didn’t look really pissed, but he definitely wasn’t happy. I tried to think back to see if I’d done anything bad – besides sleeping with Deklan over the weekend – but I didn’t come up with anything.
“Daddy?” I asked and he motioned towards the sitting room.
“Your mother and I would like to talk to you, Emma.”
Oh crap.
I followed him into the other room and sat down in one of the chairs across from the love seat where my mom was sitting. My dad sat next to her and cleared his throat. It was like déjà vu, except now it was my parents who wanted to talk.