Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
AKIO
Monday morning, I stood by my locker and watched the front doors. I had gone over to Jace Harbor’s house twice this weekend to talk to him, but every time I showed up, the maid had answered the door.
I rearranged the books in my locker, desperate to appear busy. All I wanted was to talk to him to see what Nicole had wanted, to ask why he had shown up at her house … but I already knew the reason—he’d wanted to get his dick sucked.
Teeth gritted so hard that I nearly chipped them, I slammed a book deep into my locker and hit the metal backboard.
What the hell was wrong with me?! I shouldn’t like Nicole. I shouldn’t care about Nicole. She was using me.
Yet it’d felt so real with her.
But maybe that was because she was my first everything.
I wasn’t her first anything and definitely wouldn’t be her last.
After grumbling to myself, I caught Jace walking through the door. I slammed my locker closed and followed him down a few hallways to his locker. He opened it up and stuffed some books into it.
“Jace,” I said.
“Look who it is,” Jo?o said from behind me.
Jace glanced over his shoulder at me, then Jo?o. “What’s up?”
Jo?o wrapped an arm around my shoulders, in a much better mood than he had been the last time I saw him in the halls, and pulled me tight. “Akio is here to warn you to stay away from his girl or else . Fucking nerd.”
Jace shook his head at Jo?o. “What’s up, Akio?”
After shoving Jo?o away, I straightened myself out. “I, um …”
Why’d Jo?o have to ruin it?
Jo?o leaned against the lockers and lit up a cigarette. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”
I pressed my lips together and looked at Jace, who seemed just as curious. “No.”
“Then, what’re you doing here?”
“I came to tell you that I had a good time with Imani on Saturday night.”
Jace chuckled.
Jo?o slammed me into the lockers. “The fuck did you just say?”
“You heard me.”
His forearm slid up my chest and to my throat. “You fucking want to say that?—”
Jace shoved him back. “Lay off the guy, Jo?o.”
After shooting Jo?o a glare, I turned on my heel and headed back down the hallway. I had wanted to confront Jace, but he seemed like a decent guy … at least from my one-minute interaction with him.
But that didn’t mean I liked him.
“Akio!” someone shouted from down the hall. “Akio, wait up!”
After readjusting my glasses, I glanced over my shoulder and spotted Nicole. With her heels clacking on the tiles, she ran down the corridor toward me, her hair thrown up into a messy bun and her eyes soft.
I didn’t know whether to continue walking to class and ignore her or wait.
The closer she came, the harder it was to pick up my feet or even drag them.
“Can we talk?” she asked, pushing a strand of her blonde hair around her ear.
“I have class,” I said.
“Screw class.”
“School is important to me.”
“You’re right.” She looked at the ground between us. “I’m sorry.”
“Nicole, I didn’t …” I started, unsure how to finish. “I mean … we can still talk. We have?—”
“No. No, you’re right.” She fidgeted with her fingers. “Maybe we can talk after school.”
“I didn’t mean it,” I said, shaking my head. “I mean, I did, but?—”
“It’s okay, Akio.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “School is important to you.”
“Yeah, but you’re important to me too.”
As soon as the words tumbled out of my mouth, I wished that I could take them back. You’re important to me too?!
All Nicole cared about was getting a passing grade so she could graduate and go off to live as a trophy wife to Jace.
She didn’t give a shit about me.
“You what?” she asked breathlessly.
Warmth spread throughout my chest. I opened and closed my mouth a handful of times, not knowing what to say. Whether I admitted it again or not, I was screwed. One way, she would laugh in my face at how stupid I was. The other, she’d brush it off like I hadn’t said anything.
I didn’t know which was worse.
“I, um …” I whispered, mouth parched. “I …”
“I’m important to you?” she repeated.
After waving my arms, I cleared my throat. “I—Nicole … I didn’t mean it.”
A long pause, and I couldn’t stop myself from screwing up.
“Oh,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself and turning. “Never mind then.”
Before she could walk away, I grabbed her wrist and twirled her back around. “I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant. Please, don’t be angry or upset with me, Nicole. I just …” I swallowed hard, unsure about what to say. “I …”
“It’s okay,” she said, pushing me away. “I’m just some … pussy to you.”
My chest tightened, and I squeezed her hand tighter. “No, you’re not.”
She plastered the fakest smile on her face that I had ever seen—one she had given Jace the other night—and laughed. “Come on, Akio. It’s fine. That’s what everyone uses me for. I’m used to it. No need to be so uptight about what you?—”
I didn’t know how to get her to stop talking nonsense, so I kissed her.
Fingers laced through her hair. Mouth on hers. Body pressing her into the lockers.
“I’m sorry,” I said, pulling away, suddenly hyperaware that there were other students around and potentially watching the nerdy kid kiss the head cheerleader. I wiped my lips. “I shouldn’t have kissed you here …”
Nicole leaned against the lockers, cheeks flushed and breathing heavily. “Akio?—”
“Come on,” I said, grabbing her hand and leading her down the hallway. “We need to talk, but not here. Somewhere more private.”