"Some bad news," I grimaced. "Just shit on top of more shit, you know how it goes."
"Damn, sorry to hear." He stashed the wrapper from the cookies in my backpack. "Can I do anything to help?"
"Doubt it." I glanced up at him. "Heard you got caught with Miss James' panties."
"Oh yeah, shit." He gave me an apologetic grin. "Coach Jameson might have caught me with those... And he might have heard me saying who they belonged to as well. Sorry, dude. Does she know?"
"Yeah."
"Are you in trouble?"
"Kind of," I shrugged non-commitally. "She's not super happy with me at the moment, let's just say that."
"Crap," my brother muttered. "I'm real sorry I got you in trouble."
"That's okay. Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure." He grinned wide and I stared at him, wondering for the umpteenth time how it was possible the two of us were so different given that we were brothers. Natan was everything I wasn't - heartthrob, jokester, dick. But luckily, we still got along.
"I have a bit of a situation going on with Estella," I finally admitted. "As in, she didn't get into Eastvale, and I did."
"I know," he nodded, waiting for me to go on.
"I have a chance to get her in," I said. "But... it's gonna cost me."
"Cost you what?"
"Losing her," I muttered.
"As in, breaking up?"
"Yeah," I nodded miserably. "What do you think I should do?"
"Well..." Nate thought about it for a moment before shrugging at me. "Look, worst case scenario, you still both end up at Eastvale next year. You can put the moves on her again then."
"Sure," I nodded, knowing Miss James would be there again. Surely, she'd find something else to hold over my head. But, Natan was right. Maybe I could fix things at Eastvale. "You think that school is so important to her?"
"Dude," Natan sighed. "It was legit everything the girl talked about when we were together. And not just cause of her crazy Dad. I think she genuinely dreamed about going there her entire life."
"Got it. So... you think she'd pick Eastvale over me?"
"I can't say for sure," Nate muttered. "But you don't want her resenting you because she didn't get in, do you? Those grudges can last a lifetime."
"No, I don't," I sighed. "Thanks, Nate. That was actually helpful for once."
"Happy to help," he grinned, slapping me on the back. "I'll see you at home, yeah?"
I nodded, watching him walk away without a care in the world. Things had always been so easy for Nate. He had everything going for him, after all. Meanwhile, I was about to lose the only person I ever loved. And she was going to hate me for it... possibly forever.
23
DATE: OCTOBER 16TH, 2019, 4 P.M.
PLACE: CLANCY’S DINER & ROLLER-SKATING RINK
ESTELLA
“Hey, pretty little thing.” The guy smirked at me and I rolled my eyes, tapping my pen against the notepad I used for taking orders.
“What can I get you?” I asked.
“How about you sit on my lap and tell me about the specials.” He raised his brows at me. It was then that I noticed the Silverside jersey he was wearing – our rival school. They were a bunch of pricks over there.
“How about you tip me fifty percent,” I shot back. “And we’ll see about me not asking the manager to take you out of here.”
“Boring,” one of the other guys said, making a whomp-whomp sound. “I want a cheeseburger, chili fries on the side. Hurry up, mamacita.”
“Don’t call me that,” I hissed.
“Or else what?” The guy was peacocking, staring at me and daring me to say something. But I didn’t have to.
Milo’s fingers wrapped around my hips as he approached us. He glared at the group of Silversiders. “You should watch your tongue around her. Just a piece of general advice. I only give first warnings.”
“Oh yeah? What comes after that?” the first guy asked, getting up and clearing his throat when he noticed he was about a foot shorter than Milo. I nearly laughed out loud.
“After that?” Milo smirked, gently pushing me behind him and stepping up. “After that, I tell you if you ever mistreat my girl again, I’m going to smash your face into your burger and make you eat the rest of your meal covered in ketchup.”
The Silversider laughed, looking over his shoulder for back-up. I didn’t like these odds – there were four of them against Milo. But he wasn’t backing down. No, if anything, his cryptic gaze got even more ferocious. And then he turned away and walked off. We all watched him sit down at the counter, push his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and pull out a book. As he started reading, the second guy laughed out loud.
“What a nerd.” He glanced at me. “Come on, sweetcheeks, we ain’t got all day.”
I rolled my eyes before retreating to the kitchen where I gave the cook their orders. I washed some dishes before grabbing the plates and carrying them over there. I set them down in front of guy number one and guy number two, hoping for their sake they had more brains than they looked they did.
“Not so brave without your boyfriend?” one of the other two asked, slapping my ass. The other three egged him on, and I shook my head.
“I don’t need him to fight my battles,” I smiled sweetly. “But it’s so much fun watching him do it.” I looked over my shoulder, calling out Milo’s name. His head snapped up and the table remained silent while he approached us, grinning at the Silverside bunch.
“Had to learn it the hard way, didn’t you?” he sighed. “Such a shame you Silversiders are such dumbasses. This could have been easily avoided.”
“What?” the last guy asked. “You want to go up against the four of us?”
"Might as well," Milo shrugged. "I told you I'd make you eat your burger, didn't I? Every last crumb of it."
"I'd like to see you try," the guy smirked, looking around the table for support.
Milo gave him a smile before grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and slamming him down on the table. The whole diner went quiet, and everyone watched in shock as Milo pushed the guy's plate to him. "You hungry yet?"
"Stop," the guy squirmed. "You're fucking... you're crazy, man!"
"First thing you're gonna do," Milo went on calmly. "Is you're gonna tell my girlfriend you're sorry, and you're never gonna treat another woman this badly again, including her."
"Fuck you!" the guy yelled, but Milo calmly picked up the top bun of the burger, smearing mustard and ketchup all over the dude's face. I could barely hold back my laugh. The guy groaned before starting to talk, Milo's grip on his shirt never wavering. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm fucking sorry!"
"You don't sound that sorry, though," Milo went on. "You want a taste of the patty? They season it so well here..."
"No, fuck no!" the guy cried out. "Look, I'm sorry. We won't come here again."
"Damn right you won't," Milo said calmly. "Now apologize properly."
The guy's eyes snapped up to me. He looked so desperate and sad I almost felt a little sorry for him. Almost. "I'm sorry I talked to you that way, I won't do it again, and neither will my friends."
"Thanks." I batted my lashes at him.
"And now..." Milo grinned at me before pushing the guy again. "One last thing. You're gonna get up on the table and tell the restaurant how much better Wildwood is than Silverside. Go wild, be creative. I'm waiting."
He let go of the guy, who cleared his throat, grabbing a napkin and wiping his flushed face. He looked angry enough to start a fight, but I had a feeling he didn't want to get on Milo's bad side - after what I'd seen, I was pretty sure nobody did. He got up on the table, making everyone in the room look at him.
"Silverside sucks," he muttered.
"Excuse me?" I asked sweetly. "Could you do it a bit louder for the people in the back?"
The guy gritted his teeth together. "Silverside sucks, Wildwood rocks."
He climbed off the table to the sound of applause and whoop-
whoops from the other customers, all of them Wildwood students.
"That'll teach you," Milo said pleasantly. "This is Wildwood turf; I don't want to see you here ever again. Got it?"
The guy nodded sheepishly. "We're leaving, anyway. This place sucks."
"Don't forget to tip me," I said in a sing-song voice as Milo wrapped his arm around my waist and walked me to the counter. Before we even reached the kitchen, I was dissolving in giggles and laughter. "That was so badass! I can't believe you, Milo!"
"Just don't want those guys picking on you," he muttered. "If you ever have any trouble with them or anyone else from Silverside, just let me or Natan know, cool?"
"Cool," I nodded. "For sure. Hey, let me just grab some orders. Be back soon, okay?"
He nodded, settling down quietly at the bar with his book. I was beaming wide as I got into the kitchen, but my smile faded when I saw Jeff, glaring at me.
"You know what I'm going to say, don't you?" Jeff raised his brows at me.
"What?" I crossed my arms defensively. "He was just trying to help me. Those guys were being mean."
"Yeah, I get that, and next time, you should just ask for my help," Jeff insisted. "I can't have you guys trashing the place with your petty arguments about which high school is better, for Pete’s sakes."
"Fine," I sighed. "I guess we didn't have to make such a mess. I'm sorry, Jeff."
"See? You're getting better with every day," he grinned at me. "I definitely didn't think an ice princess like you would ever say sorry to me when you walked in here for the first time."
"I'm full of surprises."
I blew him a kiss and got the rest of the orders ready before taking them to our waiting customers. By the time I got out of the kitchen, the Silversiders were gone, and had left a hefty tip on the table. I grinned to myself as I worked the rest of my shift, continuously sneaking glances at Milo who was still reading his book at the bar. Every time I looked at him, I felt shivers go down my spine. There was something so very special about him, and I'd barely even scratched the surface of it. I couldn't wait to find out more, but I already knew I wouldn’t mind not going to Eastvale if it meant I’d get to be with Milo.
I'd told papa I'd be home an hour after my shift ended, which gave me an hour of extra Milo time. As I put my apron and uniform in my locker and got changed, I was giddy with excitement. I wanted to spend every second of the day with my boyfriend, but papa's strictness had made sure I was a prisoner at home. So we had to make every minute we had together count.
"Here I am," I grinned as I made my way out of the staff room. "All done."
"Great." Milo smiled at me, but there was an edge to his usually cocksure grin.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah," he replied, closing his book and putting it under his arm. "Come on, I wanna take you to see something."
He took my hand and led me outside. His shitty car was sitting in the parking lot of Clancy's, and we got in. The car screeched and made not very promising sounds as we climbed inside. I gave Milo a meaningful look.
"Remember your promise?"
"How could I forget?" He sighed. "I'll give Gertie up, I promise."
"Good," I said, strapping myself in with the seatbelt. "It would kill me if you got hurt in this thing."
He didn't say a word, and I toyed with the ancient radio that kept skipping. Milo drove us into the city, and then up to a hill. I soon realized where we were going and gave him a mischievous grin.
"Really, babe? The makeout spot?"
"Just give it a chance," he muttered, pulling into the lot where a couple other cars were already parked. "I promise you'll like it."
"You know, if you wanted to make out with me, you just had to ask," I purred, and Milo gave me a distracted smile before parking the car. He walked around to open my door for me, passing me his hand.
"Come on. I want you to see this view." I took his hand and followed him to the front of the cliff. Below us, there was nothing but shrubbery and dirt. We got up on the hood of his car, lying on our backs and staring up at the inky sky. "I used to come here all the time. I love the city view, but the stars are even better."
"It's so romantic," I whispered, suddenly overcome by the situation and the intensity of my feelings for Milo. "I love it. Thank you so much for bringing me here."
"You're welcome, princess." He took my hand in his and we stared up at the sky for a long couple of minutes without saying a word. "I wanted to talk to you about something as well."
I pulled myself up on my elbows, giving him a questioning look. "Oh? Something important?"
"Yeah." He bit his bottom lip, and I watched his teeth dig into the skin.
"Everything okay?"
"No, it really isn't." He looked so troubled I could barely resist the urge to sit closer, wrap him up in my arms and tell him I'd be there no matter what. "We really need to talk, Stells."
"Talk about?" Alarm bells started going off in my head. Whenever a guy started a conversation like that, it was never good news. I should've known - I'd been through my fair share of breakups. "What's going on?"
"I think..." He looked away, as if it were too painful to keep eye contact. "I think we need to break up, Stells."
"Break u-up?" I stuttered over the two simple words, feeling helpless. "What? Why are you saying that?"
"I just think it would be better for us," he shrugged. "For you, for me. I need to pay attention to school more. My grades have been slipping, and the teachers have noticed. I don't want to risk my spot at Eastvale."
"What?" I wanted to smack some sense into him, but my body had gone rigid. I could barely move. "How can you say that? Things have finally started going right for us, and now you want to break things off, just like that?"
"I'm sorry," he muttered, finally looking up at me, with guilt in his eyes. "I feel terrible about all of this. I shouldn't have led you on."
"No," I said icily. "You shouldn't have. Why even bring me here? You wanted a nice memory of this goddamned breakup, or what?"
"No, I just wanted..."
"What, Milo?" I was fuming as I jumped off the hood of his car. "What the hell were you trying to do?"
"I'm sorry," he said again, this time even more helplessly than the last.
"Well, that means nothing to me." I pulled my old phone out of the pocket of my jeans, struggling to see through the tears blurring my vision. "I'm calling Inca to come and pick me up."
"I can take you home," he insisted. "Come on, Stells, don't be difficult."
"Difficult? Difficult?!" I roared.
"Milo Earnshaw?"
Milo turned around and I followed his gaze until it met a group of tall, broad-shouldered guys who looked about our age, but whom I'd never seen before. One of them was inexplicably carrying a baseball bat.
"Yeah?" Milo asked.
"We're kind of in the middle of something here," I snapped.
"Shut up, bitch," one of the guys snarled at me, and I took a step back in shock. Milo came to stand in front of me, protectively blocking my body from their view. I was so scared I accepted it despite our argument.
"What do you want?" Milo demanded. "I don't have cash on me."
"Heard you gave my little bro trouble at some lame-ass diner today," the baseball bat guy hissed. "Now I don't take too kindly to a bunch of spoiled rich kids bullying someone from my family."
"He started it," I spat out, but Milo squeezed my arm and I shut up, shaking.
"What do you want?" Milo repeated. "I'll give you money."
"I don't want your money, asshole," Baseball Bat sneered. "I want to teach you a goddamn lesson." He took a step forward and I whimpered in fear when Milo pushed me back.
"Are you looking for a fight?" Milo asked. "Because I'm more than happy to take you. All of you."
"No," the guy smacked his lips. "I'm not here to start a war between Silverside and Wildwood. We got enough beef already."
"Then what?" Milo crossed his arms.
"I'm here to fuck up something you love," the guy laughed.
I gasped behind him as the guy weighed the bat in his hands, and Milo snarled in his face, "If you touch my girl, I'm going to pull your fucking tongue out of your asshole."
"Oh no, not her." The guy grinned. "This one." He pointed to the car.
Milo swallowed and I could feel anger coming off him in waves. "Don't touch my car."
"Or else what?" the guy asked with a pearly-white grin before taking a swing at Milo's car. I closed my eyes tightly. I couldn't bring myself to watch as the rest of the guys joined in, cheering the Silversider as he smashed Milo's windows before moving on to the front of the car. "You should count your lucky stars we didn't do this to your girl. Could use a fine piece of ass like that working us, one by one."
"Shut your mouth," Milo snarled as I burst into tears behind him. "Fucking... shit." He pulled my hand and leaned down to whisper in my ear. "We need to get outta here, Stells. Come on."
The guys laughed at us as he took my hand and gently led me away. The whole time I was terrified they'd come after us next, but thankfully, they let us leave.
"What the hell do we do now?" I asked Milo as we stood at the top of the hill, a little way off from where his car was. "We don't have a ride."
"I'm calling Natan," he muttered. "Those guys better be gone by the time he gets here."
I bit back my tears and wished to God I could just rewind the whole day to before I started my shift at Clancy's.
"Milo..."
"What?" He glanced up from his phone distractedly. "Are you okay? They didn't hurt you, did they? I'll motherfucking kill them one by one if-"
"No," I shook my head. "What you said up there... You really want to break up?"
He looked guilty as fuck as he looked deep into my eyes. "Yes," he finally admitted. "We have to."
"You know what?" I took a deep breath. "Don't bother asking Natan for help. I'll find my own way down."
With those words, I took off running, ignoring his shouts after me.
I could take care of my own damn self.
Boys That Read: A High School Romance (Lords of Wildwood Book 2) Page 20
