10. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Levi
Sunny comes to an abrupt halt right outside the double doors that lead inside. She closes her eyes, holds her face up to the sky, takes in a deep breath and holds it. She's a nervous wreck. There can't possibly be anything on the other side of these doors that's that bad. I have her back. She'll see that soon enough. Exhaling loudly, with a hint of resignation, she says, "Let me see your schedule. I'll help you figure out where you're going."
I take the folded-up piece of paper out of my pocket and before I can hand it to her, she snatches it out of my hand and begins studying it. She's shaking.
She was right. Partially. I don't really need her help figuring out anything. Practices have been going on for over a month now and there isn't an inch of this entire place I haven't checked out. I know it like the back of my hand.
Her face scrunches with the same look of concentration she gets when she's reading. It's adorable and I can't help but smile. When she lifts her gaze to mine she is definitely not smiling. Her face is clouded with what looks like disappointment.
"We both already missed our first class, but your second one is the same as mine."
"Great! I—"
Sunny's expression turns even more sour, and the sarcasm is thick in her voice. "Yeah. Great."
Her eyes are shiny and her cheeks are flushed, and if I didn't know better I'd say she's about to start crying.
"You know, maybe we should just go in separately. It might be easier that way. For you. You don't need me to show you around. Again, I'm sure you'll have plenty of volunteers once you get in there. You should go. Seriously."
What could be so awful on the other side of those doors? I mean, it can't all be me. I know I make her uncomfortable, but there's nothing to be done about that right now. Time is the only cure for that. Time and patience, both of which I have plenty of. But, I'm not going anywhere today without her. She needs to know she can't get rid of me that easily.
"Sunny. You're starting to make me think you're embarrassed to be seen with me. I'm not going anywhere without you. You said you'd show me around and I'm holding you to it. Now, come on. Let's get inside," I say as I grab the handle of the door and pull it open.
She pauses and stares at me blankly for a moment before she speaks. "Fine. But, this is a bad idea. Don't say I didn't warn you," she says in a serious tone as she steps inside.
Making our way up the stairs, we start down the hall just as the bell rings and people start pouring out of the classrooms. It's the expected, typical first day of school chaos, but, as we ease our way into and begin navigating through the traffic in the hallway, it becomes obvious that something isn't right.
The hallway is packed, but people are giving us way too much room. They can't seem to get out of our way fast enough. It's impossible to ignore the steady stream of whispers and snickers that seem to erupt and follow us as we pass. As if those things weren't unsettling enough, I'm starting to feel like a monkey in a cage with all of the gawking and staring that's going on. It's unnerving.
Almost every single one of these faces has been at my house, drinking up my beer, enjoying themselves on my time, but there isn't one of these fuckers that'll look me in the eyes right now. If I didn't know better, I'd swear we crossed an invisible border and landed smack in the middle of enemy territory. I say we, but I know it's not me who's attracting all of this attention. It's Sunny. Sunny’s the one wearing the target.
I understand now why it took her so long to decide if she wanted to do this or not. Why she was dreading walking through those doors. I gotta hand it to her. She's tougher than me. If I were in her shoes, I don’t think I would’ve done it. Not if I knew this is what I had to look forward to. There's no way I'd put myself through this willingly.
But, she did. She knew what was waiting for her and, here she is. Next to me. And as awful as it is right now, I wouldn't have it any other way. I don’t know if my being next to her is making it any easier or better for her though. I can hear my name in at least half of the whispers as we pass. But at least she’s not alone.
God, I hate these assholes.
To her credit, Sunny's staying close to me as we walk. She’s keeping her head held high and matching my stride like she doesn't have a care in the world. To most people it'd look like none of this was bothering her. But, most people probably wouldn't notice the way her fingers are wrapped so tight around the strap of her backpack that her knuckles are white. Or the way she's chewing non-stop at the inside of her cheek.
I'm impressed. Not everyone could stand up to all this bullshit, but, she's not giving them anything. Nothing.
I give her a silent 'Atta girl' as we keep moving down the hall. I, on the other hand, am not nearly half as cool as her. I can feel my face twist in disgust, and my body tense as anger starts to settle in. I make a mental note of each and every sneer, stare, and comment, imagining how good it's going to feel to put each one of these fuckers in their place.
All in good time.
I hear Zack coming even before he turns the corner ahead of us. His voice carries over every other sound in the packed hallway and ricochets off the metal lockers lining the hall.
It's like nails on a chalkboard.
He's not someone I would ever choose to have anything to do with. Apparently though, he likes pretending we're best friends. Emphasis on the pretend part. What’s that saying about keeping friends close, but enemies closer? I think that’s his angle. My jaw tenses and I grind my teeth.
"Hey! Levi!" Zack's voice carries over the steady drone and buzz of conversation and bursts of laughter. I can easily see him over the heads of people trying to make it to their next class. I watch as he begins pushing and shoving his way down the hall towards me and Sunny.
"What's up, my man?" he says with a wide toothy smile as he offers me his knuckles. He seems completely unbothered that he's caused traffic on one side of the hallway to come a complete stop. I doubt he even notices.
It takes only a moment for his eyes to travel from me and land on Sunny. His smile dissolves into a cruel smirk as he looks her up and down. "Huh. I didn't know you two knew each other." His tone is cold as his eyes move from Sunny to me and back again. "Sorry man, I should've told you sooner. Warned you to stay as far away as you can from this... this... thing."
He curls his lip in a sneer. Pausing, his eyes narrow, focusing in on her with laser precision. For the first time, I see a crack in my girl's armor. She shrinks from the sound of Zack's voice and takes a step back.
"I know, I know. She's fucking hot, right? I'm pretty sure she didn't tell you that she's taken though, did she? Taken with a capital T. Property of—"
"Zack. Please don't. Leave it alone for once. Please," Sunny interrupts. Her voice is a desperate, pleading whisper. "Please."
Zack doesn't take his eyes off her. It's obvious with the way he's looking at her, gauging her reaction to his words, that whatever this is isn't new to either of them.
My jaw clenches as I struggle to keep my mouth shut. If I open it now, there'll be no way for me to stop what comes out of it, and that is a slippery slope I'm not willing to go down. Yet.
I do know, with absolute certainty, there's no way Sunny should be begging this guy for anything. Especially not for mercy. She's too good for this. Too good for him. My fingers curl into a fist.
"Awww, Sunny. What's wrong? Don't you think our new friend here deserves to know the truth?" Zack says loudly as he takes a step closer to her.
Sunny flinches as if each of his words strikes a physical blow, and it takes everything I have to maintain control. My nails bite into the skin of my palms as my fists tighten. It feels like someone lit a fuse in my skull—my entire body tenses waiting for the explosion. There's nothing I would love more than to destroy the guy standing in front of me. I remind myself that this isn't the time or the place.
When I look at Sunny, I can see she's struggling too. She's still holding her head up, but her gaze is unfocused and far away. She's not blinking, she's not moving, she's just staring straight ahead. She’s checked out. There's a small group of people clustered around us now and the hallway sounds have become softer, more muffled.
"Now, as I was saying." Zack clears his throat dramatically and puffs out his chest like he's getting ready to give the speech of his life. His eyes move over the crowd gathered around the three of us before settling on me. "I'm just looking out for you, man. Being that you're new and all. A pig can never be anything but a pig, no matter how pretty it is on the outside."
A small chorus of chuckles erupts around us. Zack's smirk turns into a broad, smug smile. My teeth feel like they're going to crack and my knuckles twitch and ache to hit something.
"See, Sunny likes her guys a little bit older, a little rougher. Don't you Sunny? You're into some real twisted shit, aren't you sweetie?" He pauses, his eyes flicking between Sunny and I. "Her mom's boyfriend owns her ass. Literally. Has she shown you the tattoo yet?"
As soon as the words leave his mouth, and his eyes settle on mine, he realizes he's miscalculated this entire situation. The smile slides off his face and he takes a step back. He's not the only one. I don't say a word—apparently, my thoughts are coming through my expression loud and clear.
In my mind, Zack's already a dead man. I can see every step of how it's going to happen, what I'm going to do to him. I can practically feel the satisfying crunch of bone under my fist, watch as he begs for mercy. A low growl works it way out of my throat but before I can take a step forward, a soft brush of warm, smooth skin across my knuckles stops me in my tracks. My breath catches in my throat and I swallow hard, unsure if I really felt it.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath in as I feel it again. Sunny glides her finger over each knuckle, tracing tiny circles, forward and back, forward and back, again and again. It's a delicate touch, almost too light to feel, but it's there. She's there. When I open my eyes, she's looking up at me with a small, sad smile on her face.
"I'm okay. It's okay. Don't do this. Not here."
"Fuck." The world stops for a moment, and I breathe the word out as an exhale. What she's asking me for is physically painful. But she's right. Not here.
This was a mistake. A huge mistake. My mistake. I can see now that I should've listened to her from the beginning. Without a word, I relax my hand and shake out my fingers, resenting the loss of her touch. It's one more thing Zack will pay for when the time is right. Some of the tension drains from her shoulders and face as I start to relax.
Before she can object, I reach out and weave my fingers through hers, turn on my heel and begin pulling her back the way we came. I don't have to look behind me to know that Zack along with everyone else is watching us make our retreat. I'm sure he thinks he's won. This isn't over though. Not by a long shot. Sunny stepping in did nothing but delay the inevitable. Zack’s over as far as I’m concerned.