Romeo and the Angel: Impossible Crush Chronicles

by Leeann M. Shane

  “Because I don’t think I can go anymore. We can’t afford it, and since we switched so late in the grade, everything I accomplished in New Hampshire no longer matters. Dad keeps mentioning the Kings River Community College. Says it’s a great school.” I hated how whiny I sounded. I sighed gruffly. “Look, I love my parents. They’re the best. They’re struggling right now and they’re doing the best they can. Mom’s pregnant with twins and it’s been so hard on her body. Dad’s at work all day and all night. So I keep my mouth shut. I help out as much as I can. And on top of that, I just feel… nothing inside all day. School sucks. I’m nothing there, or I’m being bullied. The entire city is terrifying. And Kenzie’s so good at making friends, I have to wonder if it’s me. It is me, isn’t it? I’m defected or something.”

  He listened to me talk, his face unreadable the entire time. Until finally he blinked, slow and thoughtful. “Feel better getting that off your chest?”

  I exhaled deeply. “Yes.”

  “You’re not defected, Rya. We are.”

  I wasn’t sure what he meant by that. I was the outcast. That made sense to me. I pulled my knees to my chest, spotting city lights in the distance. “Did you ever bring Rosa here?”

  “Stop mentioning her.”

  “I don’t mention her often.”

  “You do. And if you don’t stop, people are going to start thinking you’re jealous.”

  I rolled my eyes. “People or you?”

  That made him laugh lightly again. “Sweet, sweet, Rya. You have a lot to learn.” He reached for his bag, stuffing the taco trash into the front pocket. “Let’s go check out the slides.”

  The slides were on the other side of the park, held up by barely intact wooden beams. The slides themselves were no doubt covered in lead paint and the sun had turned them all into a sallow yellow color. But they looked like so much fun.

  “How do we get to the top?” I asked.

  “There’s ladders on both sides of the stands. Want to make a bet?”

  “Another bet?” I arched a haughty brow at his last bet.

  “I think you’ll like this one better. Whoever gets to the top and can get to the bottom first, wins. What do you want?”

  “Why don’t you tell me what you want instead.”

  His eyes twinkled in the dark. “I want you to stop mentioning my ex and stop talking down to yourself. You’re nothing like what you think you are. What I see isn’t defected or forgotten. Frankly, what I see is far too good for a guy like me, but I see it, Rya. And one day I hope you do too.”

  So, it seemed the latter was correct. Having a crush was a sudden happening. A swift punch to the heart, stealing your breath and replacing it with them. I shifted my feet to see if they were as unbalanced as I felt they were. Blinked my eyes to see if I was mistaking the shimmer burning in his.

  “What do you want if you win?” he asked, voice low and serious.

  “To kiss you.”

  The words were out before I could help them. I slapped my hand over my mouth and stared, wide-eyed, waiting for him to laugh in my face.

  But other than a small, private grin, he didn’t call me out. “On three.”

  Romeo counted loudly, his strong voice carrying over the entire park. When he got to three, we both took off for our respective ladders. I planted my feet and pushed, feeling the intense sudden desire to win. I had to win. At something, after feeling like I’d been losing for months.

  I heard him grunt, his feet pounding on the other side. I hurried, reaching the top a second before him. I laughed breathlessly as he hectically sank down to his butt and grabbed the top bar in preparation to catapult himself down. But I’d already grabbed the side bars, pulling myself down the sun-faded slide. The wind, still warmed with summer air, whipped at my hair and stung my face.

  It was the first time in a long time I felt free.

  I didn’t even mind that my feet were the last ones to touch the bottom.

  Romeo whooped, punching his fist into the air.

  I remained seated, watching him celebrate. “Technically, you lost,” I teased. “I’ve never been told, but I’m pretty sure I’m an awesome kisser.”

  He hit me with another one of those private grins. “How many guys have you kissed?”

  “I’d rather not say.”

  His face sobered. “How many, Rya?”

  “Why does it matter?”

  “Because it does. How many?”

  “It matters in general or it matters to you?”

  His eyes, dark and entrancing, bravely held mine. “To me.”

  Hmm. Who looked jealous now? I decided to toy with him a moment longer. “I can’t seem to recall the exact number at the moment.”

  “That many?” he grumbled, his tone sour.

  “Race me again, and I’ll tell you?”

  “Three!” he growled, taking off for his ladder.

  I did the same, laughing so hard my side hurt by the time I got to the top. I made it down the slide a few seconds after him, finding him waiting, face overtly serious.

  “Surprise. You lost again. Tell me.”

  I sighed dramatically and pushed to my feet. “Is your ladder shorter than mine?”

  He snorted. “No, my legs are longer than yours. Obviously.”

  His blatant attitude was hard not to laugh at. I bit my lip and walked up to him, peering at him with my most innocent smile. “What’s five plus five, minus ten?”

  He frowned. “Zero.”

  “Well, there you go.” I patted his chest and stepped around him.

  Behind me, I heard his sharp inhale of air.

  And I had to wonder, if crushes went both ways.

  Impossibly small, and then too much.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ROMEO

  I lay awake.

  It was almost four in the morning.

  In a few hours, Mama would come barging in and wake us all up for church. Thankfully, the twins knew better than to act the way they did for school. Mama didn’t mess around with her faith, hence her obsession with angels.

  And my name.

  I’d gotten in an hour ago, tiptoeing to my room in the garage; my mind hadn’t shut off once. I tried to think about anything else. Anything. But nothing else would do.

  But her.

  And that just wouldn’t do.

  Mama noticed at breakfast. She eyed me over her eggs, spooning them slowly into her mouth, gaze squinted in suspicion. Gabby was eating cereal and Antony was reading under the table, having power-housed his breakfast so he could finish his book.

  “What?” I asked her, in no mood for her fishing. Not about this.

  “Why are you in such a bad mood?”

  “I’m always in a bad mood.” I shrugged, forking my own eggs into my mouth. Maybe if I kept my mouth busy, she’d stop while she was ahead.

  “Where were you last night?”

  I glared at her.

  She never asked about my whereabouts. I could skip out for days and she’d probably only notice because no one was there to take care of the twins. I felt guilty thinking that, and even more neglected, but the truth of the matter was, Mama wasn’t the same after Papa went to prison. She checked out. Worked too much so she didn’t have to deal with her emotions, thus disregarding ours. Gabby and Antony barely even knew her.

  When Papa went to prison, she had a choice to make. And she made the wrong one. We could have split. No one would have blamed her for picking up her children and leaving this gang-ridden cesspool. Instead she couldn’t let go. Hung on to everything that reminded her of her husband. Even if that meant keeping her kids in danger.

  Not soon after Papa was gone, Diego joined the gang. He said he did it to save me, but I knew the truth. He had no choice. Papa had a debt with the Kings. He’d botched the robbery that landed him in prison, and someone had lost their life during it. Even though Papa swore up and down that he hadn’t killed the guard, he’d been charged with second degree murder and armed robbery. He got
a life sentence and an extra twenty years. He was never getting out.

  The warehouse they ripped off belonged to the enemy. The West Snakes had a mole in their group and leaked the information that the warehouse was where they kept their home base. Which meant it was overflowing with drugs and money.

  When Papa botched that robbery, he hadn’t been alone. Sergio had been with him. The cops confiscated millions of dollars and even more worth of drugs. Either way, the West Snakes would have retaliated for a loss that large. Without concrete proof, it would have been a different war. But with proof, it would have been a slaughter.

  The Kings settled with the West Snakes. They gave them all that they could and have been paying off the rest ever since. Rosa’s father was the leader then. He didn’t survive much longer. Papa never ratted Sergio out. If he had, maybe things would be different, and he wouldn’t be the leader of the Kings.

  Diego and I were in their debt not because we wanted to be, but because my father had made it so.

  I had to join the gang.

  I had to risk my life.

  Or they’d take someone else’s until I did.

  Following Rya and me around wasn’t coincidence. It was a threat. Against her.

  I excused myself and walked forcedly slow to the bathroom. I locked the bathroom door and turned on the overhead fan. So it would block out the sound of me puking up my breakfast.

  What did I do? Giving in to my… whatever the hell it was I felt for Rya. For months I’d been content watching.

  I gave in one time, hung out with her just once, and it had done nothing for my mind or her safety.

  I knew what had to be done. I had to separate myself from her. Lie. Make it seem like she was nothing to me.

  I had to keep her safe.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  RYA

  Waking up Monday morning didn’t feel as awful as it had been.

  I was up before Kenzie, reaching between our twin beds crammed in our small bedroom to turn off the alarm ringing on our nightstand. I tossed my covers aside and gave her a shove. “Get up.”

  She groaned, pulling the covers over her head. “Get lost.”

  Kenzie couldn’t ruin my mood. I’d spent Sunday helping Mom deep clean the kitchen. Which mostly consisted of her barking orders as she sat, grouchy, at the kitchen table. I hadn’t had time to think. Time to replay my date with Romeo. I was calling it a date. He hadn’t done so, but I equated that to the fact that he was a boy, and thus romantically challenged.

  I showered and dressed, taking the time to dry and straighten my hair. I put mascara on and dabbed a little blush on my cheeks. I skipped out into the kitchen, screeching to a halt when I spied my mother and father sitting at the kitchen table, faces stern.

  “What?” I squeaked. “Did Kenzie do something?”

  “No,” Dad said, “you did.”

  “I did?”

  Mom sipped her tea, still grouchy. “Did you think we wouldn’t find out?”

  “About…?”

  “About you epically breaking your curfew Saturday night,” she hissed.

  Oh, so that’s why she put me to work yesterday. She was pissed, and just waiting for my father to deliver the blow.

  “I didn’t think you’d care,” I lied, turning my back on them and grabbing a mug from the cupboard, and taking my time filling it with coffee from the pot.

  “We gave you the chance to act maturely. We didn’t even ask to meet the boy first, something I regret. And you repay us by staying out until three in the morning?”

  “Boy?” Dad spit out. “She was with a boy? You said she was with a friend.”

  “No, I said a boyfriend.”

  “You most certainly did not. I would have remembered that.”

  I groaned, pouring cream into my coffee. “Romeo isn’t my boyfriend.”

  “What were you two doing together?” Dad demanded.

  “Who?” Kenzie asked, shuffling into the kitchen and still wearing her pajamas. She snatched my coffee mug and sank down at the table.

  I was thankful for the excuse to make another.

  “Rya and her boyfriend.”

  Kenzie spit coffee all over the table. “What?” Her eyes cut to mine. “You have a boyfriend before me?”

  I knew my choice of blush would benefit me. I bet they could barely see my embarrassment. “Romeo isn’t my boyfriend,” I reiterated.

  “Wait. Romeo? Rya,” Kenzie whisper-hissed, as if it were just us two. “Are you kidding me?”

  “He’s a thug, isn’t he?” Dad groaned like a freaking whale. “I knew it.”

  Kenzie got up and grabbed my arm. “We need to talk.”

  I stared, hard, into her eyes. “No, we don’t.”

  “Who is this boy, Kenzie?” Mom eyed us like hawks.

  I begged my sister with my eyes not to say anything.

  Normally, she’d do it anyway. But she did something that shocked me. She blinked at me and her shoulders sagged, but when she looked at our parents, she appeared chipper.

  “No one. I’m into his friend, and I don’t think it’s fair that Rya is going to interfere.”

  Both of them studied us. Dad wanted to believe us. Mom on the other hand, didn’t.

  “What do you think?” Dad asked her.

  “I think Rya is going to be grounded for two weeks and she isn’t allowed to take the car anymore. Not until she redeems herself. And I think Kenzie will join her. Maybe she’ll think twice before trying to cover for her sister.”

  “Covering what?” Dad could hardly look at us. “Boys? When did that happen? It was just yesterday that Rya was screaming because the neighbor boy touched her and gave her cooties. We had to give her a bandage just so she’d stop crying.”

  Kenzie rolled her eyes heavenward. “We’re not little girls anymore, Dad. We’re freaking seventeen. We’re allowed to like boys. Or girls. Or both. It’s not like we’re committing a crime.”

  I stared at my sister in shock. Totally impressed.

  Dad wasn’t listening. He was miserably shaking his head. “Boys? Rya hates boys. Kenzie barely stopped playing with her dolls.”

  Kenzie looked at me. “I haven’t played with dolls since I was twelve.”

  “If it helps, Dad,” I offered, “boys still have cooties. Especially in Kings River.”

  That only made him worse. Mom rubbed his back. Kenzie still gripped my arm and I was trying not to run away and never come back.

  “We’ll talk after school,” Mom threatened. She pointed between us both. “If you’re not home within twenty minutes of the last bell, your grounding will become nuclear basement intense.”

  Kenzie pulled me out of the kitchen and all the way to our room, and then slammed the bedroom door.

  “Rya, what are you thinking, hanging out with Romeo all freaking night?” She tossed my arm away. “Wait, did you two do it? Are you doing it with him?”

  “Would you calm down? You’re going to get pimples freaking out that hard.” I walked over to my backpack.

  Behind me, she gasped. “You are doing it, aren’t you?”

  “No!” I hissed. “We didn’t do anything. Chill out.”

  Her shocked face calmed, slightly. “But you did hang out with him?”

  “Yes. Is that a crime?”

  “It is a crime when you already got jumped because of him. It is a crime when his brother is an awful gang member. I asked around after you got jumped. Romeo Moreno isn’t tied to good people. He’s got trouble written all over him.”

  “You don’t even know him. And I can guarantee that none of those people do either.” I could still see the real Romeo in the abandoned amusement park.

  “And you do know him?”

  “I know enough.”

  She shook her head at me. “You have to think about this right. I’m starting to realize that the people in Kings River aren’t like the people in New Hampshire. They’re so…” She shuddered. “Cruel.”

  I frowned. “Why do you say that
?”

  She sat down on her bed, a heavy sigh falling from her lips. “I thought this guy and I were getting close. I thought he really liked me. But he lied. Right to my face. He showed up to school with a tattoo on his arm and two black eyes and a broken rib. Said he got jumped in over the weekend. After he had promised me that he was going to be better than that.” Tears filled her eyes.

  To see my sister hurt shocked me. I sat down beside her. “Kenzie.”

  She flung herself at me, crying into my shoulder. “He lied. Took my virginity and still did what he promised he wouldn’t do. Chose that disgusting gang over me.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I hugged her sobbing body. “You gave him your virginity? I didn’t even know you were still a virgin.”

  She laughed sadly, gripping me tighter. “Gee, thanks.”

  “Wait, so that story was true. He’s Romeo’s friend?”

  “Yeah. His name is Raf.”

  I froze. “What?”

  She pulled back. “You know him?”

  “I know he’s a sleaze ball.”

  She nodded. “You’re right about that. But he’s such a gorgeous sleaze ball…”

  I shook my head, feeling off balance. “Kenz, I’m so sorry.”

  She wiped her nose off on the back of her hand, staring down at her lap. “So am I. They’re not good people.” Her tear-soaked eyes met mine. “He used me. Said the most perfect things. And then he betrayed me.”

  “He’s also sleeping with Romeo’s ex, Rosa,” I blurted out, unable to stop myself. “They were following us on Saturday.” I knew that was why he’d wanted to bail at the taco stand. I’d seen them. Watching us.

  Kenzie’s eyes widened, more tears filled them, and that time, they didn’t stop for a long time. I wrapped my arms around her, feeling my sister’s pain run deep. I pictured myself doing the same thing. Giving Romeo my virginity and then having him royally screw me over, by choosing another girl and the gang. My heart twisted painfully, and I hugged my sister tighter.

  “Why would he do something like that?” she sobbed, bawling into my shirt. “I thought he loved me.”

  “He’s a pig. And Rosa’s a psychotic bitch. Romeo isn’t talking to either of them anymore. But I think they have something on him. Or over him. I can’t put my finger on why every time they come around, he gets uneasy.”