Beware of Bad Boy

by Brookshire, April

  Now I was pissed. “My fault? It’s your fault she quit cheerleading! Ask her yourself. And as for that prick Josh, why don’t you invite him over for another talk and ask him about how he tried to force himself on her? Or about the time that he banged her head against a brick wall and knocked her out?”

  “I don’t believe a word you’re saying,” Julie stubbornly denied.

  I looked to my dad. “You don’t actually think I’m going to break up with Gianna just because Julie wants me to?”

  I could tell my dad was confused by the whole situation. “No, I don’t think you will.”

  “Make him!” Julie screamed, having definitely lost it.

  “How do you suggest I do that, Julie?” my dad asked her. If she didn’t watch it, his temper would rise too.

  “I don’t care how you do it! He’s your loser son! You deal with him!” Julie stalked back to the kitchen.

  My dad followed her and I let out a relieved sigh. It was good to have that crazy bitch out of my face. My dad and Julie were still fighting loudly in the kitchen when Gianna peeked her head into the living room. “Is it safe?”

  I held out my arms. “No, but come here anyways.” She rushed over and sat on my lap. Wrapping my arms around her, I tried reassuring her with a kiss.

  Julie and my dad stormed back to the living room. Julie zeroed in on Gianna on my lap and went ballistic. “Gianna, get away from him!” Julie tried forcing Gianna off my lap, but Gianna was holding on tightly to my neck.

  “Deal with it, mom! You can’t make us break up!” Gianna yelled.

  “No, but I can make him leave!” Julie hollered back.

  My dad would only be pushed so far. “My son has a right to be here!”

  Julie got in my dad’s face now. “You don’t seem to understand, Scott. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep a delinquent like your son away from my daughter!”

  “He’s just a kid! You make him sound like the scum of the earth!” He wasn’t backing down and it was clearly pissing Julie off.

  “He’s not good enough for her! I bet she doesn’t even know half of the things he’s gotten up to!”

  Gianna interrupted their argument, “I don’t care about his past, mom. I only care about his present and presently he’s my boyfriend. You can’t do anything about it.”

  Julie slowly looked from Gianna to me to my dad. She had a strange look in her eyes now and her face was going pale. “Take your son and leave, Scott.”

  My dad was taken aback. “What?” he asked faintly.

  “I want your son out of my house and away from my daughter permanently. Take your degenerate son with you and leave.” She moved away from him toward the doorway. “You can come home when you send him back to live with his mom.”

  “You fucking bitch,” my dad whispered. Julie’s face crumpled and she left the room.

  Gianna jumped off my lap to follow her mom. A few seconds later, I heard Gianna and her mom fighting.

  My dad still had a stunned look on his face. I didn’t really know what to say to him, so all I said was, “I’m sorry, dad.”

  He cleared his throat. “Don’t worry about it, Caleb. I wouldn’t want to stay with a woman who looked down on my son, anyways. I think it’s best if we leave right away. I still have the condo and it’s in-between renters. We’ll go there. Go pack enough for the next few days.”

  My dad looked defeated as he climbed the stairs. I’d never wanted to hit a woman before, but I was coming real close when it came to Julie.

  I didn’t really see any choice but to do as he asked. I ran up to my bedroom and grabbed my largest duffel bag. I was throwing things in there when Gianna slammed into my room. “What are you doing? Where are you going?” She was panicking and I wanted to comfort her but didn’t know how. Things were so fucked up at the moment. More than anything, I was hurting for my dad. He loved that crazy bitch.

  “Leaving. So is my dad. Since your mom kicked us out, we’re going to my dad’s condo.”

  She had tears in her eyes. “Are you going to break up with me?”

  Rushing over to her, I hugged her. “God no! It’ll be okay, don’t cry.” I used my thumbs to wipe away her tears. “Please stop crying, Gianna. It’s only twenty minutes from here.”

  Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to stop crying. “It’s just that I’ve gotten so used to you always being here. Are you going to switch schools?”

  “I don’t see why I should. It’s not that far. I can even pick you up every day.” That finally got a smile out of her.

  “My mom would love that,” Gianna croaked sarcastically.

  “She’ll probably sit on the front porch with a shotgun.” I laughed just picturing it. My Camaro would never survive.

  “I’m trying not to freak out here,” Gianna explained. “I need to talk to my dad. I’ll be right back. Don’t leave yet. I have to go get my phone because my dad needs to hear about how crazy my mom is acting.”

  Gianna went to her room to call her dad in Houston. Would he really back her up? Or would he agree with Julie that I wasn’t good enough for their daughter? Julie said she’d do anything to keep us apart, but how much crazier could she get? She’d already kicked me and my dad out of the house in an effort to get rid of me.

  Could Julie talk Gianna into breaking up with me? I didn’t think so. Julie couldn’t talk Gianna into something as small as staying in cheerleading, so I doubted she’d succeed in getting her to break up with me. The thought of not being with Gianna caused an ache to my chest. I didn’t want to lose her.

  Before I met Gianna, I’d thought I was living life to the fullest, wild and carefree. Now that I had her in my life I understood what it really meant to feel alive.

  What could be done about Julie, though? Obviously something drastic would have to happen to get her to see reason. As I was zipping up my bag, an idea popped into my head.

  Going into Gianna’s room, I found her crying while on the phone. “Dad, you have to talk to her. She’s gone psycho. You remember how crazy she can be.”

  Gianna barely glanced at me as I went to her closet and pulled out a suitcase. Opening it on her bed, I started throwing clothes and shoes in. I took the suitcase to her dresser and tossed in bras, panties and socks.

  I heard Gianna tell her dad in a rush, “Um, dad, I have to go, call you later.” She got up off her bed and watched me zip up the suitcase. “Caleb, what are you doing?”

  “Get your toiletries and makeup out of the bathroom.” When she just stood there, I said, “Hurry!”

  She left the room, coming back a few minutes later with a large cosmetic bag stuffed full. I slipped it into front pocket of the suitcase, grabbed both our bags and said, “Let’s go.”

  “Go where?” Gianna asked worriedly, following me down the stairs.

  “Shh!” I warned her.

  At the bottom of the stairs I didn’t see anyone around, so I grabbed Gianna’s hand and we quietly snuck out the front door. I threw the bags in the trunk and opened Gianna’s door for her.

  After a clean getaway, we were driving out of the neighborhood when Gianna’s patience ran out. “Can you tell me where we’re going, Caleb?”

  I gave her the wicked smile I reserved for when I was doing something really bad. “We’re going to do the last thing left on your list, number eight.”

  “Caleb, we can’t do that right now! My mom will freak out!” Gianna shrieked.

  I chuckled at the possibility of Julie getting any crazier. “Yeah she will.”

  Gianna had a dazed expression on her face. “I can’t believe I’m going along with this. How far is the drive to Vegas?”

  Book 2 of the Beware of Bad Boy series

  Coming November 2013

  Also by April Brookshire:

  YOUNG LOVE MURDER

  DEAD CHAOS

  For info on upcoming books, playlists, my blog and newsletter,

  Connect with me online at:

  www.aprilbrookshire.net

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