Chapter 9 Gabe
GABE
This year was supposed to be about freedom.
Being our senior year, we should be doing whatever the fuck we want, but I might as well be chained to the clubhouse table.
Freedom’s an illusion. You’re tied to the school system until they spit you out, then you’re just another pawn in the government’s game.
I guess if I have to choose the club or being another cog in the wheel, I’d choose the club, but I’m never going to get that choice anyway.
My dad’s proud to have something to hand down to me, and don’t get me wrong, I do love it. It’s been my life, but these days he seems to want to talk about my future with the club rather than normal shit.
Nothing this year has been how I expected it to be.
JT’s up Katie’s ass these days. Barely eighteen and he acts like they’re married or some stupid shit.
Shane’s secret—I say that lightly because honestly, he’s the only one that still thinks it’s a secret—drug problem is so far out of control he spends most of his time so high he might as well be in outer space.
I keep my head down as I strut into school a whopping ten minutes late. Shouldn’t be a big deal, but it will be. Thank God we only have another couple weeks of this shit.
“Mr. Abbott,” the principal, Mr. Wallace, shouts down the hall. “My office.”
Groaning, I spin on my heel. “Fuck me.”
“Watch your mouth,” he says, heading for his office.
Surprise! He called my mother. Want to know who wasn’t surprised? My mother. I swear that fucker calls her once a week.
I couldn’t get away from him fast enough after he told me I was getting detention for the rest of the week—again. The bell rings as I make it to my locker.
“Where were you?” Shane asks, coming out of our first period class as I put my stuff away and slam the door.
“Office.” I take off toward second period with Shane.
“Damn, again?”
I shoot him a dirty look. “Yeah. Not all of us get a fucking pity pass.”
Shit.
I shouldn’t have said that. Ever since his dad put him in the hospital, everyone gives him a free pass. And they should. The kid deserves a break, but damn, I wish they’d get off my ass for a while.
“Jeez, somebody’s got his panties in a twist,” he bites, shoving me sideways.
“Sorry.” I shake my head. “It’s not your fault. I think that motherfucker has it out for me.”
“Wallace?”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe he just wants an excuse to talk to your mom,” JT teases, coming up beside me. Eavesdropping prick.
“Fuck off with that shit!” I spit.
“Hey, don’t blame me just cause your mom’s a babe.” He throws up one of his lanky-ass arms. He looks like Gumby. After puberty, he just kept getting taller but the rest of him stayed the same. Like someone stretched him out too far.
My jaw tics. “Shut the fuck up, JT.”
“Why do you do this?” Shane asks.
“Because he wants his ass beat.” I glare at the dumbshit.
“Gabe, you couldn’t beat my ass if Shane held me down first.”
We file into Social Studies. “Want to find out?” I toss my books down on the desk, and they land with a crack. “Shane, get his arms!”
“Fuck no.” He throws his hands up, lifting his books above his head in one hand. “I’m not getting in the middle of your little lover’s quarrel.”
Sliding into my seat, I wink at Cassie Lowe, the cute brunette that works at the Ice Hut.
She sits in the desk closest to the windows which means here in a minute when the sun gets a little too hot, she’ll take off that jacket, and every jackass in the room will spend the hour struggling to keep their eyes on the whiteboard instead of her rack.
She grins. “Hey, Gabe.”
Shane rolls his eyes. “Are you gonna sleep with the entire school before graduation?”
“I don’t know. I hadn’t planned on it, but now that you mention it…” I smirk, quirking a brow. “Maybe.”
As Katie slides into the seat in front of JT, she narrows her feline green eyes at me. “You’re disgusting.”
I wink at the little she-devil.
She scoffs, flipping her shoulder-length brown hair as she turns around.
“Is there even anyone left?” JT bites, turning around in his seat.
I chuckle. “A few. I guess I’ll have to get my ass in gear, huh?”
“Abbott, Michaels, Taylor!” Mrs. Baron shouts. “Do I need to call your parents?”
“No need.” JT throws up a hand, leaning back in his seat. “Mr. Wallace already called his mom this morning.”
I jab him hard in the side with my pencil, and the two knuckleheads I call friends laugh hysterically.
After school, JT drops Shane and I off at my house. I’d be driving my badass vintage Corvette, but thanks to Mr. Wallace, my dad took it away last week.
The second my foot crosses the threshold my mother’s on me. “Gabriel Jonathan Abbott, were you late this morning?” Half her blonde hair is pulled back off her face as she barrels toward the front door.
I pretend to think about it for a minute, dropping my backpack to the floor. “I don’t know. That was a long time ago.”
“Do not play with me.” She snaps me with a kitchen towel. “All I ask is that you show up. I don’t even care if you pass, although that would be a bonus.”
“Well, good news. I showed up.” I trot down the hall toward the kitchen, Shane trailing behind.
“Late!” She spins, hot on my tail.
I finish my trek backwards. “Right, but that’s not what you said.”
Spinning when I hit the kitchen, I’m met with my dad’s stern stare.
“Gabe, please tell me I didn’t just hear that Mr. Wallace called your mother again.” He’s doing the classic Jon Abbott stance: feet apart, arms crossed, shoulders back. Pair that with his huge stature and dark features and he’s one intimidating motherfucker.
“Hmm… you should do something about that. I think that guy has a thing for her.”
Shane chuckles as we both slide into the barstools at the island.
“Gabriel!” he barks. “Half this town already thinks you’re a punk. Don’t give them more reasons.”
My laughter comes to a screeching halt. “Yes, sir.”
“Oh, and the rumor I heard about you at fight night better be just that.” He glares at me for a minute before stalking out of the room.
Shane winces because he knows as well as I do, it wasn’t a rumor.