by Karla Luna
I didn’t even try to deny it as I gave him a fake smile. “Sure did,” I said, as I slapped the hand that was brought up for me to shake. It made him press his lips together to stop from laughing at me. “And I would like for you to stay away from me, especially Zavier. You’ve already caused him enough damage, and I wouldn’t want you hurting him anymore.”
“You’re funny.” But he didn’t laugh at all. He seemed dead-on serious, but I still stood tall, clenching my free hand at my side. “See, I came out of juvie, obviously. But I changed. And I can really show you people that, starting with Zavier.” He turned to Zavier and gave him a heart-warming smile. It really did seem sincere, too. “Zavier, I know what I did in the past was wrong, but I learned from it. I know I hurt you and that you’re probably still scared shitless of me, but I’m here to make a truce. I promise to not cause any more trouble with you or your family and friends. I sincerely apologize.” The nice, honest, and sincere look Davne gave to Zavier almost made me believe him. Zavier didn’t seem so sure and he didn’t even seem to want to shake Davne’s hand for a truce either, but he still nodded reluctantly.
“Please, let’s just go,” Zavier whispered, and I felt him shake even more. I definitely knew it wasn’t because of him being deep inside a cold pool just mere minutes ago.
“You guys can happily go,” Davne started. But then, he smirked and pointed a single finger at me, once again looking me over like I was a piece of fresh meat. But hey, I learned that most guys I met would do that first. Although, while most guys looked at me like they wanted to jump me, Zavier first looked at me like he wanted to hide deep in a hole from embarrassment. It was adorable and I knew I’d never forget it. He was a first and I respected him for that. “But I’d like for her to stay for a while and dance,” Davne finished off.
That’s when I put on yet another fake smile and started to stupidly dance to the current song playing, Harlem by New Politics. A few people around us either chuckled or smiled at my horrible dancing.
“There, happy?” I innocently asked, looking up at him through my dark lashes.
“Cute. You truly are the comedian.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “I meant dance with me. And then you guys can go. I promise not to interfere after this.” He slightly frowned and held his palms up as if to show innocence. However, I was sure every person in the house knew that look wasn’t entirely filled with innocence at all.
I huffed and let go of Zavier’s hand. Then I went for Davne’s slightly warm one. “Fine, anything to shut you up,” I sneered, pulling him over to the now empty dance floor to get my sexy groove on.
•Zavier•
Get me out of here, get me out of here, please, just get me out of here!
Trying to control my breathing while Evelyn pulled Davne toward the dance floor was slightly harder compared to when he was standing directly right in front of me. I just couldn’t believe it. My childhood bully was back, and he was stronger than ever. When he apologized, I knew I nodded, but I also knew that I still couldn’t trust him at all. I mean, you couldn’t just go to juvie for 6 years and spend all of your time in there thinking deeply about everything bad you’ve done to one dorky kid. Right?
I needed to get out of here before I suffocated. But I couldn’t just let Evelyn out of my sight, with him right there with her. He could do anything like rape her, kill her, kidnap her and possibly even…
I suddenly jumped out my seat at the bar stool when someone roughly put their hand on my left shoulder.
“Dude, let’s go,” Jesse roughly demanded as he and Ethan reached for my arm. But I reluctantly pulled away after trying to calm down my racing heart. “Dude, let’s go!” he repeated more venomously.
“I’m staying…” I managed to whisper, barely hearing my own voice through the loud crowd. “I don’t care if I freak out or have an attack right here, I’m not leaving him alone with her,” I hissed, as I tried to control my rough breathing and sudden dizziness. The first time it all happened – when I heard Davne had come back – felt absolutely awful. I felt like I was going to die. If it weren’t for Evelyn coming to comfort me, I think I would’ve attacked my two best friends right then and there.
But right now, I wasn’t just trying to save myself. And it was hard, but I was managing it.
“Dude, she can protect herself. You saw how she handled the other guy, who, may I remind you, basically tried to murder y…”
“Have you met Davne?” I asked as I glared up at him. “Have you ever gotten beaten up by him? No. But I surely have, and it’s not fun. He’s bound to hurt her. He’s bound to hurt anyone! But I’m not letting him. He can kill me as long as he lets her go right afterwards.” I didn’t know what had suddenly gotten into me. I was defending Evelyn. Heck, I was basically risking my own life for hers. Why was that? Sure, I’d risk my life for any girl, but I never admitted it to anyone, especially not to my two best friends, face to face.
Jesse and Ethan seemed stunned at my words, but I just hugged my poor, shaking body and kept my eyes on Davne and Evelyn, who seemed to be having fun with each other. Well, Davne was having fun, but Evelyn… she seemed to hate him as much as I already did.
Good. I couldn’t even bear the thought of them getting along. I mean, he was a bad boy, and she was a bad girl. I was so sure that when she heard about him, she was going to want to be his partner in crime and do all those illegal stuff with him. And I was so sure that when she saw how he really looked, that she’d leave me right then and there. I admit, he was way better looking than me.
I love how she didn’t even spare him a single flirty glance. Did that possibly mean something? No, no, Zavier, you’re getting ahead of yourself. Calm down, he’s just getting to your head like he always did.
“Don’t tell me you trust the guy now,” Ethan suddenly said, making me scowl and turn to him in a swift motion.
“Of course not! I never called a truce. He always lied and did this sort of things. How can he be back and just change? Being bad is supposed to be fun for him. He can’t just stop doing what he thinks is fun. It just doesn’t happen!” I groaned and tightly closed my eyes when I felt my pulse picking up and my breathing hitch. I just tilted my head back and prayed that Evelyn and I would be all right by the end of the night. I just wanted this whole night to end. I wanted to go home, lie down, and sleep all of this off, hoping it was just a horrible nightmare.
“Calm down, Zavier,” Ethan said, patting my back comfortingly. Jesse was also about to state something, when Davne’s laugh completely interrupted him.
We all turned to watch him and Evelyn, who both seemed to be laughing and challenging one another. I hoped they now finished their stupid dancing, but I doubted it.
Right then, the All Time Low song ‘Lost In Stereo’ started playing loudly through the speakers and everyone almost immediately became intrigued by Evelyn’s movements (by everyone, I meant most of the male population). And yes, she was doing those hip movements that she showed me herself when she was on cocaine, though more along to the beat of the song.
“Hot damn, you never told me she could dance like that,” Jesse mumbled to himself, now forgetting our whole discussion that wasn’t even a minute ago.
I blushed, thinking Jesse had just magically read my mind and saw everything from when she was on cocaine to earlier when we were dancing so close together.
Evelyn flipped her hair and twirled, all while moving those sexy hips of hers… wait, what did I just say!? Sexy hips?
No, no, no, Zavier. Stop it. Stop it right now! Granny panties, granny panties! Dang it! What has gotten into you! Never in my life have I thought of that sort of stuff! What was this girl doing to me?
Without even thinking twice about it, I turned around in my stool and slapped myself. I closed my eyes from the impact, and just buried my hands deep in my dark hair, taking a deep breath.
The music was still playing, and as badly as I found myself wanting to turn back around and look at her again, I knew I couldn�
�t (and definitely shouldn’t).
But suddenly, the lyrics really stuck to me.
“Sit back, gotta catch my breath. ‘Cause every time I see her I know she’s gonna take it back somehow... Tattoos and a switchblade attitude… She’s out of control, so beautiful… in stereo, lost in stereo.”
I now found myself chuckling, knowing so dang well how much that song really described Evelyn. She was bad, an out-of-control kind of girl. But oh, how beautiful she was. And I wasn’t going to deny it one bit. It was the truth. And I hoped she knew it deep down inside as well. She even had that innocent baby face, when in reality… well, we all knew what she was capable of after beating up that big bulky guy for me.
“Zavier?”
Turning my head to the right, I almost choked on my own stupid saliva when I spotted Joss. Her beautiful bright blue eyes stared at me in shock, and I did the same to her. She was wearing a simple, short, yellow cocktail dress, and I kept my gaze on hers as my cheeks started to burn up.
Dang it, did she hear what I just said? In my head?! Oh, this was bad, this was so, so bad.
Abort mission, Zavier!
I really needed to slap myself again. What was I thinking? Was this what usually happened at high school parties? Did kids just intensely lose their minds even if they didn’t drink a single sip of alcohol? Because that’s what was happening to me and I didn’t like it one bit. It was really freaking me out.
“Wow, I… you, at a high school party?” she asked, playfully rolling her eyes as she leaned back against the bar counter. But she seemed to lose her balance a little, making me feel rather concerned about her sudden odd behavior. “Wow, if anyone told me that the genius boy, Zavier Coin, was gonna go out to a party his senior year, I wouldn’t have believed it,” she paused to hiccup, “and would’ve laughed right in their faces! Then I would’ve patted them in the back,” another hiccup, “and hauled them right to the nearest mental hospital!” She laughed, but all of a sudden stopped. “Wait, your mother’s a psychologist, so I’m sure she could help, too!” And she laughed again, as if it were the greatest and most genius joke in history.
Oh no, she was definitely drunk. Joss, straight A+++ student and also preacher’s daughter, was out on a Saturday night, getting drunk at a high school party? I mean, I understood her shock about me being here, but Evelyn practically dragged me here. Who could’ve possibly dragged Joss out here? Herself? A… a bad boy? Ha! That was a good one.
“Now what are you doing here, handsome?” she asked as she batted her eyelashes and rested her hands on her chin.
I just looked around and instantly blushed at her words. But she was drunk, so she was just saying these things, right? Yeah, yeah. Let’s not jump to conclusions and blame the alcohol instead. Oh, but how I wished she were actually sober.
“You know Zavier,” she paused to smile and hiccup once again, “I really like you.”
That made my heart jump for joy, but I tried to calm it down when I reminded myself how she was just off right now. The day Joss actually liked me would be the day Jesse and Ethan (mostly Jesse) stopped obsessing over girls.
Yeah, you guessed it, it was never going to happen.
“I…. I um…” I swallowed hard, cleared my throat, and then shyly scratched the back of my neck. What did you say to a drunken girl when she told you something like that?
Oh, gee, thanks... or Nah, nah, nah… or Oh, stop it, you!
I furrowed my eyebrows together as I looked down at the table right in front of me. I felt her eyes on me, and that made me more nervous.
“Joss…”
“Oh! We should totally play a game right now! How about Questions?!” she yelled ecstatically while waving her arms in the air.
That made me chuckle. She was just too adorable. “I would, but I don’t think you’d remember any of it.”
“Oh, sure I will! Let’s see…” Putting her index finger to her chin, she looked to the side as she began to think intensely. “Oooh! How about, do you have a girlfriend!?” I instantly frowned and brought my palm up to my forehead. Why, out of all the questions in the world, did it have to be that one? Come on, she could’ve asked if I was a tree hugger and I wouldn’t even care (ahem, so what if I was, why did it matter?!).
Oh well… at least she didn’t ask about my first kiss like Evelyn, or worse, about my virginity. I shivered at the thought.
“So…?” Looking up at Joss, I blew out a breath and then took a look around. I didn’t see Evelyn anywhere and the music changed to some dubstep. “Do you?” she asked again as she pursed her lips and played with her index and middle finger on the table. Then I noticed her getting closer but I didn’t think at all about moving.
“Um, I don—”
“What about Evelyn? Is she your girlfriend?”
I felt tingly when I heard slight jealousy in her tone. Her eyebrows had also knitted together and she had her hand on her hip. Overall, she looked a bit… irritated? Angry? I wasn’t so sure.
“No, why do you keep implying that?” I asked in a soft tone.
“Because, you’re always with her. I see how you look at her. I saw you guys dancing earlier, too. Come on, don’t lie.”
All I could do was shake my head. “Joss…”
“Do you like her?”
“I like you!” After I yelled that out, I felt as if everything in the room went quiet. But nothing did. It was all in my head. I had just confessed to her something I’ve always wanted to, but was never brave enough to. I was breathing faster now, and I felt all Demi Lovato since I felt like I was going to have a freakin’ ‘Heart Attack’ right about now (don’t ask me how I knew about that song).
Joss just stood there with her eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape. Oh man, what did I do?
All of a sudden, she started falling. But I quickly stepped in and caught her in my arms.
I looked around and saw that no one was looking at us, but they were enjoying themselves instead. She just passed out on me, what do I do!?
Softly setting her down on the bar stool to at least go look for some decent help, I immediately felt someone grab my hand, hauling me out.
“Let’s get out of here, Zavier,” Evelyn said to me as she tightly gripped my hand, making me wonder if she was angry because of Davne. I definitely wouldn’t blame her.
Before she could take me anywhere though, I stopped her and made her turn, which caused her to hit my chest. She swallowed hard, as if she was nervous, but she almost immediately straightened up and looked me dead in the eye.
She raised her eyebrows at me, waiting for my answer as to why I had just stopped us from leaving. I mean, I did say I didn’t want to come here in the first place.
“It’s Joss…”
“What about her? Don’t tell me you finally want to confess your undying love for her. Really?” Suddenly, she grabbed me by the collar and shook me. “At this moment, teddy!?”
“No!” Grabbing her wrists to pull her hands away from me, I cleared my throat and fixed my collar. “See, she’s sort of… drunk?”
Evelyn just stood there for a minute or so, completely shocked and frozen up, I would’ve thought she wasn’t with us anymore.
I even brought my right hand up to wave it in front of her face when I noticed her not blinking at all.
Then, all of a sudden, she started to laugh. Yep, she just started to crack up so hard I was afraid she might not be breathing anymore from how quiet her laugh got.
“Wait, wait, so… ‘so-called’ good girl, Jocey Rodriguez, just came and got her ass drunk? I think you’re seeing things now, teddy bear,” she said, as she bopped my nose and continued on with her chuckling.
I took that chance to sigh and go back to Joss, who was starting to slip from her seat. Luckily, I grabbed her just in time.
Evelyn’s smile faded away once I came back with Joss in my arms, who has completely passed out.
“Oh, and you were serious.”
I sighed again and shrugged my s
houlders. I kept looking at Evelyn and when she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, I guess she finally got my mental memo.
“Give me her other damn arm.”
13: Mathletes Rule
•Zavier•
“All right, first thing’s first. I am so terribly sorry, everyone, for having this super early Mathletes meeting on a Monday morning,” Joss announced, as she stood at the very front of the chemistry classroom we had to use instead of our usual math classroom.
I turned my head to the left to hide my face when I yawned. Yeah, I had to get up earlier than usual, and I hardly got any sleep last night. I just kept going on and on about Saturday night.
Evelyn and I had to take Joss home, and we were really lucky her parents were very heavy sleepers. Evelyn used her ‘illegal skills’ to pick the lock and open it up for all of us to enter, like it was any other day someone broke into your house. We had taken Joss up to her room and I found myself wanting to stay so badly with her, but I knew I couldn’t (also since that would be rather creepy – you know, watching her sleep). She could take care of herself, but still… I felt bad, you know?
Evelyn seemed irritated and we didn’t even speak all of Sunday. At first I thought she was angry with me, but I guess she was just irritated at how Davne was flirting and acting with her. And every time I thought about that, I found myself to be equally angry.
Then, there came the ultimate thing that kept bothering me since that night. Yes, you guessed it – confessing to Joss that I liked her.
But seriously, it wasn’t like she actually remembered it, right? When I greeted her this morning, she seemed a bit tired but was still professional about everything. I got worried that maybe, just maybe, she remembered every single detail of that night. I kept panicking and panicking, kicking myself to the max for being stupid enough to blurt it out when she kept implying that Evelyn and I were dating, when we hardly know each other. Plus, I never had a girlfriend before, and Evelyn wouldn’t even go for a guy like me. Just a fact.