Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
NICOLE
After staring into the car mirror, I dabbed a bit more concealer on my cheek. I hadn’t come to school for almost a week because my entire face had been swollen to basically twice its size.
I stared at my dull eyes for a few more moments, then slammed the visor up and exited the car. Akio had come back to my house a few more times these past few days, only for Dad to give him the excuse that I was sick.
Every time he came over, it only pissed Dad off more. And I braced myself many, many times for another punch to the face after the front door slammed, but it never happened. I wished that boy had just stopped coming over.
He was putting himself in danger, showing Dad that he cared about me … when nobody was supposed to care about me.
As soon as I stepped into Redwood Academy, the second bell rang, signaling that I was late for class. I hurried to my locker to drop off some books and decided that I needed to flirt with the teachers to get out of all the work I’d missed because I didn’t have it in me to do the work.
Why did it matter anyway?
When I turned the corner, I spotted Akio at my locker. He looked up when he saw me, his eyes wide and a stack of papers in his arms. I paused for a moment to gather myself, then strutted to my locker as if his presence didn’t bother me.
“Nicole,” Akio said. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
“Here,” he said, handing me the papers.
“What’s this?” I asked, staring down at the one-inch stack.
“All your work that you missed while you were sick,” Akio said. “I did it for you.”
Be rude to him. Show him how much you don’t want him. Protect this precious boy.
After snatching the papers from his hand, I shoved them angrily into my locker. “I didn’t ask you to do my work for me, nor did I ask for you to get the work from any of my classes. I’ve been sick, not incapable of doing things for myself.”
“I know, but I thought it would be a nice gesture.”
“Well, it’s not.”
Fuck, I hate being rude. Especially to him.
“Nicole,” he said softly, taking my wrist.
Pain shot up my arm from the bruise that I had covered up underneath my long-sleeved shirt. I winced and snatched my hand back, biting back the pain and not looking at him once. I didn’t want him to know or even think that anything had happened.
A moment of silence passed.
“You’re hurt.” Akio pushed some hair off my cheek. “You’re covering up bruises.”
I twirled around to face him, pissed. “Can you leave me alone?”
“Who did this to you?” he pushed.
“Akio,” I snapped, “drop it.”
He widened his pretty brown eyes, brows knitting together like a puppy dog. All I wanted to do was grab his face and tell him that I took it all back, that this wasn’t how I felt, that I was trying to protect him.
If Dad found me with Akio anymore, Dad would kill him.
“Tell me who did this to you.”
This time, it wasn’t a question. He wanted answers.
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” I growled, hating to hurt him. “Leave me alone.”
While I hurried down the hall, getting away from anyone else, Akio followed after me. I jogged a bit more, my heels making it extremely hard to run any faster. When I looked over my shoulder, Akio was still following me. So, I slipped into the girls’ restroom.
“Nicole, just tell me,” he said, shutting the door behind him.
“Why do you want to know so badly?!” I exclaimed, throwing up my arms.
“Because I love you too.”
My eyes widened slightly, and a warm yet terrifying feeling spread through my chest. I opened and closed my mouth a handful of times, then … tears burst from my eyes, and I choked on a sob. He grabbed my hands, but I pulled them away.
“Why’d you have to say that?” I asked.
“Because it’s true.”
“It only makes this all harder,” I whispered. “I wish you hated me.”
Then, I wouldn’t feel bad about bullying him, about ignoring him like he meant nothing to me, just like he hadn’t before this stupid science project. I wouldn’t care about what he thought about me or trying to protect him.
“Why?” he asked, his voice filled with pain. “Why do you wish I hated you?”
I turned my head to the side. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does to me,” Akio said. “ You matter to me.”
“Stop talking, Akio. I don’t matter to anyone.”
It was easier that way to protect him. Hell, I didn’t care anymore about what Dad did to me as long as he didn’t touch a hair on Akio’s head. If I had to hurt Akio myself, then I would do that to protect him from being murdered.
“Tell me who hurt you.”
After pressing my quivering lips together, I dropped my gaze to the ground. “I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because you can’t get involved in this. You can’t be involved with me .”
I would find a way out of this, but I had to do it myself. Once Akio got involved, I would be too distracted by trying to protect him.
“I’m already involved in this. I’ve already—” Suddenly, Akio stopped short and smacked his lips together. After a few moments of silence, he shook his head and looked away from me. “Just tell me.”
“What did you do?” I whispered.
Akio glanced back over at me, brows knotted together. “It was nothing.”
“Akio …”
“If I tell you, you’re either going to be angry or feel bad about it.” He readjusted his glasses. “All you need to know is that I did what I had to do to protect you, and I will continue to protect you. Whether you tell me who hurt you or not, I will find them.”
“Stop with the crazy ideas. Don’t get yourself killed because of me.”
“Caring about you isn’t crazy,” Akio said, holding my gaze. “So, you can either tell me who did this to you or I can find out myself. And if you love me the way that you said you did last week, then you’ll give me a name. At least one.”
My heart pounded in my ears. “But …”
“Just give me a name, and I’ll do the rest.”
I stared at him for a few moments, not wanting to get him involved, but knowing that he would get himself killed if he tried finding out for himself. So, I dropped my head and blew out a breath of frustration, mixed with defeat.
“Pick,” I whispered. “One of them is nicknamed Pick.”