Chapter 27
27
MALICE
“W hat the fuck did I witness?” I pin Trace against his locker with my palm on his chest. His hands are up like he’s under arrest.
“Hey, man, she has a sweet mouth, and I wanted one last kiss goodbye.” He smacks aside my hand. “Better bounce, bruh. You’re suspended, remember?”
Yeah, I do. Except I came by to surprise Rue.
I was sitting in the parking lot waiting for her to return my text about going out for lunch. Instead, I watched one of my best friends take my girl to the bench reserved for breakups. Except he doesn’t end things. Trace started something hot with my girl .
Fuck, with every beat of my heart, I see his fingers in her thick hair and his mouth moving over hers in this urgent manner that gets my blood boiling.
“You had no right, Trace. We follow a code.”
“ You put us together.”
“With the understanding you not start anything with Rue,” I say under my breath. The entire student body is milling around, eavesdropping.
“You want to end our friendship?” he says loudly.
Fuck’s sake, did the kiss scramble his brain? Is my best friend choosing my girl over our friendship? What the fuckery?
“No, I don’t,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Yeah, I get that,” Trace says near my ear. “Just play along, fool. End the friendship publicly. We’ll hang out in secret. A bromance.” He waggles his brows. Jesus.
Is he conspiring to get Rue and me together?
“Yes, I am,” he says, reading my freaking mind. “Think about it, bro. If we’re enemies, you can poach on Rue all you want just to get the fuck back at me.”
“A relationship isn’t in the cards for me. For us boys.”
“Why the hell not?” he says to me.
We are not having this conversation in the hallway. “You’re a lousy friend, Trace. Get your crap out of my GT-R and leave me the fuck alone. I don’t want anything to do with you and your sorry ass.”
I grab Trace by the collar and yank him down the hallway and out to the parking lot. In the GT-R, we fist bump, keeping it on the down low in case anyone is watching.
“Great acting, bruh. Had I not known better, I would have believed you.” Trace smirks. “Go over why we shouldn’t have girlfriends during our last year of high school?”
“Relationships end when school does. We’ll move on, move out, move away. There will be a lot of moving around next year,” I say.
Trace shrugs. “That’s life. And when the time comes to decide, then that’s when you do so and not now. Live in the moment.”
“Easy for you to say. It’s what you do. You live day by day. I prefer looking ahead.”
“You’re like that because of your parents. Time to you is based on how long they’re gone for and when they’ll be back. Instead of looking forward to when they return, why not let their arrival surprise you?”
“Is that what you do to deal with your parents’ business trips?”
Trace’s parents are gone as much as mine are, but he isn’t struggling in school or getting suspended. His parents' house also wasn’t burned down by what the fuckery. Shit, I need to FaceTime Dad and ask him what the Fire Marshall found in their investigation. Is it arson or too many electrical cords?
“My parents always come back.”
“But what if they don’t?” It’s my biggest fear. One I’ve never told anyone.
“Communication is a two-way street. Me and my parents keep in touch more than when they’re home. They get busy, so I text or FaceTime them. Initiate .”
“Is that what you’re hoping I’ll do with Rue?”
“Sure.” He stares at a moving figure going in between buildings. It’s Sorrow heading to her fifth period. Leigh is with her. Rue isn’t with them. Her fifth period is P.E. The D-bag with the broken nose is in that class with her.
“Stop treating her like shit, Malice.”
“I don’t.”
“Dude, you paired her with a player known to break hearts left and right. If that’s not shitty treatment, then I don’t know what is.”
I smirk. “You wished you broke hearts. We all know you do the opposite. You put the broken back together, Trace. That’s why I’m glad Sorrow is staying with you. At first, I had my doubts, but you’ll help her get through her trauma.” Of her dad attempting to kill her and Leigh and leaving her without her last parent when he died in a fire.
“She’s beyond helping.”
“I hear she’s going to therapy and that you take her.”
“Where’d you hear that from?”
“Seven from Leigh.”
“Well, tell him to shut his trap. Sorrow going to therapy is her personal business.”
I chuckle. “Overprotective to a T. You’d make a great offensive lineman.”
“I’d rather catch the ball and get all the glory than get pummeled by guys twice my size, but thanks for the confidence.”
“Anytime. You and Seven are my best buds. We’ll play ball at DU together. We’ll get all the girls.”
Except that thought doesn’t excite me. What has excitement coursing through my veins is the thought of Rue and all our girls cheering for us on the sidelines, followed by time partying with them before we take them home to “snuggle.” Yeah, that’s what makes my blood do this whoosh, whoosh, whoosh through my veins.
“I don’t want to hurt Rue,” I say.
“You’ll hurt her more if you don’t give her another chance. Give it a try. If it doesn’t work, then at least you two won’t have regrets.”
“She plans on sticking around Delridge.”
“So?”
“We’re headed to DU. Or possibly out of state for me.” I applied to colleges in California and Texas, but the thought of separating from my boys doesn’t sit well with me.
“So?” he says again. “There are things called FaceTime, the Internet, airplanes .” He opens the car door. Trace will be late to class, but he’ll get points for attendance. “Stop overthinking. Go with your heart and gut feeling. It’s never let you down before. You’re the reason we won the championship. The reason the scouts were at our games. When you’re on the field, Seven has hardly been sacked. You are the ultimate protector. Protect your girl, Malice.”
* * *
I look in through the glass of the gym door. The kids were placed into two groups, and they were scrimmaging in a game of basketball.
Someone must have fouled Rue. She’s at the free-throw line. The first shot bounces off the rim. She tries again. Her next shot makes it in. D-bag with the broken nose rushes over, and with his meaty palms on her waist, he lifts her in the air with a wide grin on his face.
What the fuck? Did I walk through a time warp? What metaverse am I in that Rue and D-bag are friends? Rue must have felt me staring at her. With her hands on D-bag’s shoulders, she looks my way. She says something to D-bag. He sets her on her feet. Rue holds her palm to her ear and then glances at her palm.
I check for a message from her.
Rue : Sorry I missed your text earlier. No lunch. No work romance either
Rue : I work for your parents. We keep things professional
It wasn’t the message I expected after our talk in my GT-R about being one another’s first in every lifetime, but I can go along with her.
Me : Sure thing
We’ll be professional, but it won’t stop me from playing our hate game. I’ll play our game until Rue caves and admits how much she has hated me and will continue to hate me even when we go our separate ways at the end of the school year.
Rue : No need to pick me up
Me : I go where you go
Rue : Josh is dropping me off
Me : Josh?
Rue : You broke his nose. Gotta go. TTYL
What the hell is going on? What am I missing? Am I having a bad nightmare? Fuck’s sake, none of this makes sense. I stomp to my ride. Is this a message from above that I should stop overthinking and live in the moment?
Should I accept everything as is? No, I can’t do that. Trace says I’m overprotective to a T and that I should protect my girl. I can do that. But to do so, I go with my gut feeling to find out further:
What about Rue’s old living situation was unsafe? Did she live with Isaac after her uncle abandoned her? What made living with him unsafe, other than it’s a shady part of town? Did one of his guys hurt Rue? If so, I’ll hunt the mother-effer down and pummel him until he’s a bloody mess beneath my shoes.
What kind of hold does Isaac have over my girl that he can “in a group message” demand she not step foot on his side of town?
Why is she chummy with the D-bag? Did Isaac have something to do with their newfound friendship?
Fuck, everything points to Isaac. That jerk owes me answers.
And Mason too.
Not to mention Shay and Winslow.
Yep, all the guys in Rue’s life owe me answers.
She is mine to protect.
Not Isaac’s.
Not Mason’s.
Not Shay’s or Winslow’s.
And most of all, she is not Red’s girl.
Not if I have a say in how Rue’s life goes down.