Chapter 29

Nothing in the world worked faster than the high school rumor mill. The way gossip flew around astounded me. I was five minutes late for homeroom, and by the time I headed out for my my first class people were talking about what happened out in the parking lot.

In a matter of minutes I'd gone from Atlee's girlfriend to a home-wrecker who was getting between two friends, making them fight. By second period I was the desirable girl everyone wanted, or I was the one banging two guys. Then finally right before lunch, I was secretly gay.

"That's her." Some girl whispered to her friend as they walked past our table in the cafeteria. "That's the girl who broke Atlee's heart."

And now I was a heartbreaker. I was seriously concerned with how information was relayed in this place.

"What the hell was that about?"

I was also concerned with Chuck's ignorance. Or impressed by it? I wished I could ignore everyone. So far seventeen people felt the need to give me their opinion on who I should chose – Atlee was winning by five votes – and three girls asked me out.

"Haven't you heard…" Memphis threw his arm over my shoulder. "Our little Nova is a bit of a legend."

Ugh, I'd rather be the girl with a sock on her ass.

I shrugged his arm off me. "People have too much time on their hands."

I was not a legend, I was annoyed, and pissed off. This shit was all Gio's fault. If he hadn't gone all caveman and acted like an idiot then no one would be saying a thing. On the upside no one seemed to be talking about what happened in his Range Rover, so there was that. Thank God for tinted windows.

"Wait." Chuck held up his hands. "You're telling me all the crap I've been hearing this morning is about Nova?"

"Yes." Memphis nodded.

"This Nova?"

Was there another one, because that would be outstanding? I always wanted to have a death battle with myself.

Memphis nodded again. "Yes. This Nova."

"Why would anyone talk about her?"

That was a very good question. I wasn't that interesting.

"Look at her." Chuck waved his hand in my direction. "She's a mess, and…" He stopped and took a second to eye me. "What are you wearing?"

The fact that it took him this long to say something was further proof of his ignorance. Gio's shirt didn't fit me at all. It looked like I blanket or sheet draped over my shoulders.

"Is that a T-shirt?"

"No," I said. "It's a weapon."

Both Memphis and Chuck tipped their heads and cocked a brow, but it was Memphis who spoke. "How is that a weapon?"

Guess it was time for a demonstration.

I grabbed a handful of the cloth–which was more like a dress than a shirt on me–gave it a quick twirl, then flicked my wrist, whipping the end off Memphis's hand.

"Ouch." Memphis jerked his hand back to shake away the pain. "That hurts."

"I know. Effective isn't it?" Especially when someone thought they could lick the icing off the beaters in home ech. Those were my beaters.

It also came in handy when the same someone tried to steal my pencil. This shirt had many purposes. Including detention, which was where I would be heading after school. Sister Mary Of The Hallway was not impressed with my amazing whipping ability. Nor was she impressed with my very visible bra when she told me to take the shirt off.

I, myself, was more disturbed by the fact that I got a little turned on when I saw her now, but whatever. We all had our own grievances.

Chuck shook his head and rolled his eyes. "There's something wrong with you."

"Are you referring to my questionable sexuality and man problems? Or do you mean my legendary status?" Personally, I found that to be a big issue. More people were trying to talk to me.

"The only place you're a legend is in your own mind."

Clearly, he had never been in my mind.

"And the only man problems you have is finding one that will put up with you."

"Shows how much you know." Although I wouldn't necessarily say Gio put up with me. It was more like torment and punishment, with a side of orgasms and sperm running down my thigh. By the way, that was not a comforting thing to feel when one was trying to learn chemistry.

"Are you trying to say you have a boyfriend?"

"No." I had a fiancé. "Now, if you don't mind." I pulled a pencil out of my bag. "I have a bullshit essay to write."

Memphis's gaze narrowed. "Why do you have to write an essay?"

I sighed. "Apparently the first one wasn't good enough for Maw Maw."

It wasn't like I could tell her why I did a rush job. Somehow I didn't think sorry I was getting railed by Gio Mancini all weekend would fly over well. All I could do was shrug, which got me a smack on the head.

So, now I had to spend my lunch break writing some bullshit essay so I could hand it in and show Maw Maw the grade. I needed to come up with a better excuse for next weekend.

"Ah." Memphis scooped his sandwich off his tray and tipped his head. "Is this the arranged marriage in the modern age one?"

"Yup."

"I told you, you should've put more thought into it."

Well, pin a rose on his nose.

"Personally, I would've picked a better topic. Or come up with something better than a fake project."

"The only reason Maw Maw would let me take off for a weekend would be for school."

"You took off for a weekend?"

Crap. I forgot Chuck was here.

Both Memphis and I turned his way.

"Why do you guys look so guilty?"

We didn't look guilty, did we?

That thought was answered when I shifted my gaze over to Memphis.

Son of a bitch, we did look guilty. And why did he have those lines in his face Memphis didn't do anything?

"What's going on?" Chuck asked when we didn't respond.

"Nothing you need to know about." It was better if he didn't know. I would've liked to keep Memphis in the dark as well, but that wasn't happening.

"Whatever." Chuck rolled his eyes. "Spend the weekend getting railed by some random guy for all I care."

Huh? That was oddly close. Maybe Chuck wasn't the moron I had him pegged for?

"Haven't you heard, I'm dating Atlee."

Yup, that was also still going around. Fuck my life.

"You might want to tell that to the girl he was banging behind the bleachers this morning."

That sounded about right.

"I remember that." Memphis said. "She was loud."

I didn't need to know that. There was such a thing as too much information.

Chuck's lips curled in a smirk. "Not as loud as you."

Eww.

"I can't help it. Your mouth is magic."

Gag.That's it, first thing I was doing after lunch was burning my eardrums out.

"Oh yeah?" Chuck leaned in, bringing his mouth a breath away from Memphis's. "Maybe we should sneak off to the bleachers so you can get another taste of my magic mouth?"

Oh god, why was I being subjected to this torture? And also…

"Why would you make out behind the bleachers? Only jocks and man whores do that."

Chuck paused and tipped a brow my way. "I am a jock."

"Pfft, barely."

"I'm the captain of the basketball team."

"Yes, but can you spell whore?"

"Really, Nova?" Memphis dropped his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I thought we were past that?"

"No, you were past it." I still hadn't definitively ruled Chuck out.

He shook his head. "I give up."

"I told you to do that years ago. Not my fault you didn't listen."

Some people were sucker's for punishment.

"It's okay Memphis," Chuck said. "One of these days she'll realise how great I am."

"Please, Chuck. I'm trying to write a bullshit essay." A little peace and quiet would be nice.

"The one you used as an excuse for the weekend?"

"That's right."

"Uh huh?" Chuck gave me a sarcastic nod. "And what exactly were you doing this weekend?"

Well, I wasn't interrogating people.Who was he, Sherlock Holms?

"More like who." Memphis snickered.

"Hey," I slammed my hand on the table. "That's private information."

Except for maybe the few dozen people who may or may not have seen something this morning, no one needed to know.

Chuck's lip curled. "You didn't fuck Simon, did you?"

"Eww, no." Comments like that just confirmed that Chuck didn't know me at all.

"But you fucked someone?"

"Why the sudden interest in my sex life Chuck?" I placed my forearm on the table and leaned in a bit. "Are you thinking about switching teams?"

There were a few girls that would be happy if he did. I wasn't one of them, but I did look forward to the possible murder spree I may have to help Memphis with.

"Despite what you think, I do consider you a friend Nova. I don't want to see you get hurt."

That was random, and slightly disturbing. "Well, I'm fine."

That's when a new voice assailed my ears.

"Where's your lunch?"

Scratch that, I was not fine. In fact I was so far from fine that the word held no meaning.

"You better not be skipping meals."

I rolled my eyes back to Gio who wasn't alone. The rest of the asshole trio was with him.

"Damnit, I was hoping to starve to death before I had to talk to you again."

He smacked his lips, unimpressed by my comment.

"Relax, I ate." As if I'd skip a meal. Especially on pizza day. I scarfed down three slices in under five minutes. It was a new record.

Chuck's eyes narrowed. "Why do you care if she ate?"

Why did he have to ask so many questions? Was there no mystery left in the world?

Gio responded by not responding. The only thing he did do was briefly glance in Chuck's direction, before dropping his tray on the table and taking the seat next to me.

Atlee followed, wedging his way between Memphis and I – probably to get on Memphis's nerves – while Darry walked around and sat down on the other side of the table.

Our quiet space had officially been invaded by pricks, and I was not having it.

"What are you doing?"

Gio popped a fry in his mouth and said, "I believe it's called eating."

The audacity! "Don't throw my words back at me."

I was the one who stated the obvious in this relationship.

"Um…" Chuck leaned in and whispered. "Why are they here?"

Atlee leaned over and kissed my cheek before I could say anything. "I can't let my girlfriend eat lunch by herself."

Okay, first off I wasn't alone, and secondly, I needed something to burn the germs off my cheek.

"She's too cute for that." Atlee said while throwing his arm over my shoulders.

And, now I needed to burn this shirt.

Gio scowled over at him. "I will break your fucking arm Atlee."

"I don't know." Atlee sang. "It might be worth it."

One look from Gio had Atlee laughing and holding up his palms in surrender.

"Okay, okay. She's all yours."

"I am not some commodity to be traded." I was a commodity that sold herself.

"Quiet." Atlee waved his hand at me. "The grown-ups are talking."

Bastard. Gio didn't need to hit him, because I was going to.

"You know it only takes fifty pounds of force to pop a testicle."

All the men at the table reacted to that. Chuck and Gio groaned, Atlee curled his lip, Darry choked on his food, and Memphis stared at me like I just slapped his mother – who was the only parent he liked. It was fantastic.

"What the hell Nova?"

I shrugged at Memphis. "What? There's a reason they make those cup thingies for sports. Remember that Chuck."

Chuck stared at me for a second before saying, "You scare me sometimes."

"Thank you." I chose to take that as a compliment. "On a side note it takes about 175 pounds to rupture a breast, so one could argue that women are built better than men."

"And yet it's the man who controls the woman." Darry muttered while taking a bite of his lunch – which wasn't pizza. He chose salad and pasta instead. Clearly he was insane.

"Men don't control women."

Darry stabbed his fork in his pasta and looked up at me. "Sorry, it's the men who correct the women."

Well, someone had issues. "I feel sorry for the poor girl you end up with."

"So do I."

Okay, well at least we agreed on that.

"Seriously," Chuck interrupted. "Why are they here?"

I totally had this.

"These guys are assholes. Assholes like to cause shit, and we are currently in the middle of a giant shit pile."

That pretty much summed it up.

Chuck wasn't the only one to give me a strange look. They all did. Except for Memphis, but he spoke Nova.

I wasn't entirely sure if Darry spoke until a few seconds ago, and now he couldn't seem to shut up.

"What?"

"What part of asshole and shit pile did you not understand?" I thought it was pretty clear.

"All of it."

"That sounds like a you problem."

"I understood it." Memphis piped in.

I smiled at Darry. "See."

Darry stared at me for a second before turning his attention to Gio. "Can you shut her up? I don't like the sound of her voice?"

Ugh, rude.

"He doesn't control me."

"That's not what I heard," Atlee snickered.

"I will punch you in the nuts. 50 pounds, remember."

"If you want to play with my nuts, Baby Cakes, all you have to do is ask."

"I swear to fucking God, Atlee." Gio growled.

At least he was on my side.

"What? She is my girlfriend."

Did Atlee have to poke the bear? Maybe he liked pain?

"That's it." Gio dropped his fry on his tray, grabbed the back of my head, and slammed his mouth down on mine.

The kiss was forceful, demanding, and over before I knew what was happening. But it was long enough to change the entire atmosphere in the room.

Chuck's jaw was practically on the floor, Memphis was smirking, while the rest of the cafeteria had gone eerily quiet. Not only that, but everyone was staring at us.

Great, just great.

Silence and high school did not go together. The absence of sound was eerily loud.

"Why is no one talking?"

I wasn't asking anyone in particular, but Atlee answered anyway.

"Oh, that's because Gio's never fucked a girl in this school."

That couldn't be right. Gio was hot, anyone could see that. There was no way. Not to mention…

"I'm in this school."

By Atlee's logic, that would therefore mean that Gio wouldn't fuck me and what happened this morning proved that wrong.

"I know." Atlee nodded. "Scandalous isn't it?"

He was serious.

I looked over at Gio. "You've really never dated a girl in school?"

Did he not go out with girls his own age? I'd seen the one, but she was much older than him. Maybe he liked them more mature. I thought it was creepy, and a tad predatory on her part.

"Would you care if I had?"

Yes…

No…

Maybe?

Would it bother me if he'd slept with someone I walked through the same halls as every day? I found myself looking around at the female faces in the room, wondering if any of them knew what Gio looked like naked. Had they felt his washboard abs and heard his heavy breaths? Bitches.

"Don't worry, Gattina," Gio reached down and squeezed my thigh. "The only girl I've fucked in this room is you."

Was it wrong that that made me feel a little better? I don't know why I was worried in the first place. It wasn't like I enjoyed being with him. Right?

"Hold up." Chuck held up his hands. "Did he just say he fucked you?"

Crap.

"Ugh, no." I snorted. "I think you've been hit too many times on the head with a basketball."

His face dropped. "I know what I heard, Nova."

"Do you?" People had been talking about me all day and apparently he didn't put that together, so…

That's when Chuck shifted his question to another person. "Gio…"

Damnit.

"Did you fuck Nova?"

Gio wouldn't say anything.

"Yes."

Or he would. Son of a bitch.

Chuck's attention turned back to me. I could feel the suspicion in his eyes before he spoke.

"What's going on here?"

"Lunch, obviously." People were eating, there were tables, it was a fine dining cafeteria experience.

"You know what I meant."

"Maybe you should be more clear next time."

His tongue clicked off the roof of his mouth. "How's this for clear? Why are you suddenly involved with Gio Mancini. The guy who's brother, your brother killed?"

Yup, that was pretty clear, and much harder to skirt around. It would've been nice if he said it a little quieter. If people weren't staring before they were now.

"Why does anyone do anything?" I snorted, followed that with a scoff, another snort, then a short nervous snicker. It wasn't my best attempt at a coverup, but it wasn't the worst either.

Chuck looked from me to Gio then back again. "Did he threaten you?"

Stupid Chuck and his nonjock functioning brain. It wasn't just Gio staring at him now, the rest of the asshole trio had joined in. This wasn't good.

"No Chuck," I said trying to defuse the situation. "He did not threaten me."

"Uh huh? Then why does Memphis look like he's about to shit his pants?"

Because he neglected to take that acting class with me last fall. Damnit Memphis.

"You're overreacting Chuck. You need to calm down." Before someone else blew up.

"Sure Nova, I'll calm down. Just as soon as Gio tells me what he's holding over your head."

I could feel the danger when Gio's green eyes snapped over to Chuck. "What the fuck did you just say?"

"You heard me." Chuck was not backing down. "What did you do, threaten her brother or sister?"

Gio wasn't backing down either. "So what if I did? What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm sure the cops could do something about it."

Oh no, he did not just say that. I was expecting violence in the form of a cafeteria brawl. What I got was a barked out laugh from Gio.

"And what are you going to tell them? That I forced her into a relationship?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," Gio chuckled. "Good luck proving that."

He had a point. It wasn't like there was any hard evidence he could take with him, and even if there was, what would Gio be charged with. Unwanted engagement?

"Well, I'm not going to sit by and watch this happen."

His conviction was admirable, but he didn't have a choice.

"Chuck," Memphis reached out and placed his hand over his boyfriends. "Let it go. They're just dating, that's all."

"Bullshit Memphis. Last week he was making her life hell, and now they're a couple. Uh uh. I'm not buying it."

"You should listen to you boyfriend, Chuckles." Atlee piped in.

He had that look in his eye. The vacant stare that sent a chill up my spine when I asked about his mother.

"No one asked for your opinion manwhore." Chuck spat back at Atlee before asking me, "Did he threaten you?"

"No." I mean he did, but Gio threatened me all the time. It didn't prove anything.

But I did have to say something to steer him in another direction. This road was dangerous, and as much as we disagreed, I didn't want him to get hurt.

"I like him." Was it wrong that for some reason that didn't feel like a lie?

"Bullshit." Chuck snarled.

"I'd be quiet if I were you." Gio's voice was eerily calm. I didn't like it. "What we do is none of your business."

Chuck raised his hand and pointed at me. "She, is my business. You can fuck off."

The muscle in Gio's jaw ticked, that's when I started getting nervous.

"Chuck," Memphis tried again. "Can we talk about this later?"

He tipped his head and shifted his eyes. "You knew about this, didn't you?"

"I said we'll talk about it later." Memphis whispered.

"Really Memphis?"

It was my turn to try. "It's not what you think."

"No Nova, it's exactly what I think." Chuck shook his head at Memphis. "I can't believe you. She's your friend."

After that Chuck pushed his chair back and left.

I could see Memphis crack, but I wasn't in time to stop him. He jumped up and chased after Chuck, saying, "I couldn't stop her. You know how she is."

When Gio tensed beside me, I placed my hand on his thigh and plead with him. "Don't. Please leave him alone."

"He's gonna be a problem."

Fucking Darry.

"No he won't." I snarled at him. "I'll talk to him. It'll be fine." I looked back at Gio and added, "I promise."

Seconds felt like hours as time ticked quietly by. When he finally did speak, dread seeped into my bones.

"Fine, I'll leave your friend alone, but we're officially announcing our engagement this weekend."

He could mean… "When you say official?"

"I mean we tell everyone."

Fuck.

"It's time to live with your choices Gattina."