by Karla Luna
“Just take me out of here,” Zavier managed to say in between harsh gasps. “I don’t care if I…” He stumbled on his words, trying to break free from the strong grips holding him tight in place. “I don’t care!” His face was red with anger, and I swore he was about ready to punch his two best friends that were really trying so hard to calm him down.
“Zavier, what’s wrong?!” I asked, noticing people walk past to look at him. His dark blue shirt was being pulled so much that his collarbone and shoulder were exposed, and I saw how his muscles flexed from how tense he was.
If it weren’t for how frightened I actually was that he was probably having some sort of panic attack, I would’ve had some slight dirty thoughts about how fucking sexy he looked, even if he was freaking out.
“Nothing! Let me go!”
I needed to help. I wanted to help. Thinking about the times Drake always comforted me, I remembered how he always held me so that I would feel safe in his arms. I would talk to him about anything and feel whole just by having someone listen to all the bullshit I had to say.
So without another possible hesitation, I took a few steps forward until I reached the three boys. Immediately, I placed my warm hands on Zavier’s cheeks, as he looked up at me with pleading eyes. They held so much in them, but right now, they told me just how scared he really was, and how desperate he was to get out of this place. Alive.
“Let him go. I got him,” I whispered to the two boys still holding on to him. Ethan looked at Jesse for an answer, while Jesse just paused and finally sighed as if in agreement. They slowly started to let go of him, and I made sure not to move my gaze away from Zavier’s.
He simply looked like a lost little boy, with a not-so-perfect life. Suddenly, he reminded me of… well, me. How broken I seemed and how much I just needed someone.
Well, I was the delinquent, the criminal that supposedly had no heart and needed help. But Zavier? He was slowly changing me, and I wasn’t just going to leave him when he was there for me these past few days. I wasn’t going to leave him there with hopelessness. I wasn’t going to leave him alone to face whatever problems he had to go through.
“It’s okay,” I told him, even though I didn’t know yet what all the fuss was about.
Getting down on his knees as the bell rang, I followed through and crouched down next to him. All of a sudden, he grabbed my waist and yanked me toward his quivering body.
I was shocked to say the least, but this was nice. Gosh, he was so warm. But feeling him shake so badly made me immediately fear for his life. His breathing came out in ragged gasps, and I felt his icy breath in the crook of my neck. My back was arched as his grip tightened around me. I brought my arms around his neck, slipping my fingers in his dark hair to hug him back with equal force.
After a while, he had calmed down a bit by just having someone hold him. Hesitantly looking up, he met my eyes and I saw a few tears in his own eyes. His eyebrows furrowed together in sadness and it took all of my will power not to kiss him right then and there, to make him forget about the damn world around us.
But when he leaned in a little closer, I felt my heart jolt in excitement. I leaned in a bit, too, bringing his lips closer to mine by gently tugging on his soft hair.
Except, good things always had to end, right?
“Z-Zavier?”
Moving his gaze away from mine, he turned his head to the left to look at the person who had called out his name. My lips touched his right cheek now, and I hid by hugging him tight and digging my face into the crook of his neck. I don’t know why I had done it, but hey, his crush just saw us very intimate with each other, and I really wondered how she felt. I didn’t need to turn to look at her and seem like I was rubbing it all in her face.
That would’ve been great if it weren’t for the serious situation though.
“Joss. Um…” He swallowed hard, as I placed a gentle nibble on his neck. He shifted at my touch, trying to pull me away from him now.
Argh, really? Just because little Miss perfect Barbie doll was here to save the day? Well, teddy bear, why don’t you go crying to her then?
My mind changed when he shakily stood up and held my hand to help me up, too. But this time, he didn’t pull me away.
“What’s going on? I asked Jesse and Ethan about you, and I got the text. I thought you would like some company, but obviously you already have it,” she sweetly said, looking back and forth between us.
At that, Zavier looked down as if ashamed of what we just did. He ruffled his hair a little, making a few parts stick up.
After what seemed like dozens of minutes later, he finally spoke, his voice cracking a little. “I-I was just about to call my Mom to come and pick me up, or go to the nurse, because I’m…”
“If you want, I can give you a ride home instead,” she suggested, playing with her fingers while smiling at him, as if they were the only people there.
“I-I don’t know about that…”
“Please? Davne really has you scared, I can tell.”
At the mention of the name, Zavier cringed and almost crushed my hand by how hard he clung to it.
I now noticed how he seemed a little less scared, even though his voice still shook and stuttered out his words. He seemed way calmer as well, possibly by just having Barbie doll around and talking to him.
Letting go of his hand, he looked up at me with concern. But without another word, I just walked inside the school, ignoring Zavier’s questioning calls.
He was in better hands, and I knew that.
“Okay, seriously, who the hell is this Davne guy that pretty much has Zavier in a spasm, just from the mere mention of his name?” I asked, slamming my Arizona drink on the table. Ethan jumped away from his homework, looking up at me and blushing.
He was so cute, but I needed Jesse to talk already. So sitting down between them, and looking at Jesse (who was at my left), I raised my eyebrows as if to say ‘start talking.’
He sighed and closed the science-fiction book he was reading while drinking some of his Sprite to probably clear his throat and get ready to tell me the whole story.
“Davne Conrad, your typical notorious bad boy.”
A bad boy, huh? Interesting.
“Thing is, he always used to pick on Zavier when they were growing up. He was the only one he picked on. He made fun of him, tripped him down the stairs, and one time, he even beat Zavier up so badly, that the latter almost had to go to the hospital.”
Oh shit, poor Zavier. I now knew why he seemed so scared.
“Basically, Zavier’s life was a living hell until Davne got sent to juvie about six years ago for – rumor has it – murdering his father and then his alcoholic older brother. He grew up without a mother, too, so all he had were those two people who treated him like shit, as the rumor still says.”
Licking my lips, I looked blankly at the table. That was so much to take in. Drake couldn’t even compare himself to this Davne guy. He seemed less hesitant about things, and six years was two more than what Drake had gotten. Ian, Darrel and I had gotten arrested a few times before, but just to pay fines. We never really got caught for doing super bad things, mostly just underage drinking, some fake IDs, and fights.
“That’s… wow, really?” I stupidly asked. Jesse just nodded, and Ethan shrugged while eating some of his vegetables.
“That’s basically why he got all freaked out earlier. Davne nearly killed him once, and he knows the guy’s not afraid to do it if he ever had the chance.”
“Did Zavier ever do anything to deserve the treatment, you think?”
Jesse chuckled at that, but there was simply no humor in it whatsoever.
“Have you even met Zavier? The kid can’t hurt a freakin’ fly. He’s too sweet of a boy. Davne threatened him a bunch of times, too, so there’s a slight possibility that Davne might come after him since he probably thinks Zavier told the cops about the murder. I mean, if it’s true.”
Well, that was just a load of bul
lshit. Zavier wasn’t that kind of person, and I knew that. He was too sweet and I admired him for being able to really hold his temper, or have no temper at all. But considering what I saw today, I noticed he could get angry and freaked out so fast, just because of one person, who obviously made his life a living hell.
Poor Zavier. I hardly felt pity for others, but who would want to hurt someone like him? Whoever this Davne guy was, I knew I was gonna have speak to him. No one was going to hurt my teddy bear.
With those muscles, I was sure Zavier would know how to fight back. Maybe he just got the muscles right after Davne got arrested, who knew. But next to the ‘teaching him how to be comfortable around girls,’ I found myself also wanting to teach him about self-defense and confidence, to speak up and just punch a douchebag in the face, if he ever found himself in that kind of difficult situation.
“Wait, where’s Zavier?” Ethan spoke up, pointing to the chair Zavier always seemed to sit at.
“Who else do you see missing?” I asked, gesturing around the lunchroom.
Ethan raised his eyebrows and stuck his tongue out to think as he looked over at a pretty girl table, where he finally came to a realization.
Suddenly, little shy Ethan was gone. But then again, everyone had two sides to themselves. “Seriously? What did you do to him? He’s even talking to Joss normally without puking. You’ve only been with him, what, four, five days? You’re changing him already.”
I just shrugged as an answer. I had no idea what I’d done, but I was both glad and angry with myself for it. He was getting more comfortable around me, but also with her…
Ugh, why did I sound like some jealous, clingy girlfriend? I barely knew the guy, and that wasn’t something I usually did. I just played around with guys. I’ve never liked someone before, just Drake, and…
I couldn’t even bring myself to think about the first guy who ended up breaking my heart to pieces long ago before meeting Drake. My first love, the one who had changed me into this person.
But was it possible that one sweet, adorable guy could change me into who I used to be?
No, I’d have to stop it before it even started.
“You know, Evelyn…” I looked up at Jesse through my long eyelashes, as he chewed on his food. “I personally think you and Davne will hit it off. I mean, he’s oh, so very sexy.”
I snorted a laugh at his terrible attempt of a girl. His high-pitched voice was cracking, as he entwined his fingers together and attempted to put on a dreamy little schoolgirl expression.
“He’s bad, he’s got that damn smirk, and he’s tall, dark, bulky – the perfect bad boy. Bad boy, bad girl.” He pursed his lips and gestured, weighing both ideas on his hands, probably trying to show me the equal rankings of me and that guy, and how ‘perfect’ we would be together. “I mean, you obviously go for bad boys, don’t you?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out.
“Or are you more into sweet, nerdy boys that are in a Mathletes team and read comic books.” He smirked, causing me to almost punch his arm. He was clearly talking about Zavier, but was I really into guys like him? I didn’t even know for sure.
“I don’t know, to be honest,” I stated, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Well, like in most stories, the good girl always tends to fall for the notorious bad boy. But the question here is, will you, the bad girl, really fall for the dorky good boy?”
At that, I felt like my whole world just crashed down on me. This was stupid, but I needed to find out what was going on with me. Why Zavier? Why not some guy like Davne? I loved bad boys. I loved trouble. I freakin’ loved criminals and delinquents. I loved any guy who could take me on a joyride, but I also liked the mystery that was Zavier Coin. Why did he seem to like Joss? Why he was always so sweet? Why was he always so shy? Everything!
So picking up my bag – yes, I brought a bag to school, shocker – I stood up from my chair, giving the two boys a nod. “I have to go, guys,” I said, before sprinting out of the cafeteria and out of the school.
My destination was Zavier’s house.
Or, well, my house.
10: Three Makes It A Crowd
•Evelyn•
I literally had to hijack the closest damn car to get to the house as fast as I could, just because I didn’t have my bike today. Oh, don’t freak out, I was only joking.
Actually, I wasn’t. I did hijack a car, but it was one of the school sluts’ cars, which was both shitty and too preppy, even for them. But hey, I’d probably return it. If not, I’d put it by the Dumpster. Simple as that.
Getting on the road to the house, the speed limit was about 45mph. But fuck it, let me go 80mph, or perhaps 90mph? I’m sure I almost ran over a squirrel, and also a grouchy elderly woman on the way. But hey, like I said, almost. So I obviously, and fortunately (for the old hag) didn’t.
I would’ve brought my motorcycle to school, but seeing how Zavier was too scared to even look at the thing, I decided to only ride it elsewhere. Unless he was brave enough to ride it with me again.
So Jesse gave us free rides, which weren’t free at all, since he charged about 5 dollars per passenger.
But when I grabbed hold of his collar and threatened to cut his balls off, he just chuckled nervously and said he was only joking. Such a gentleman he was, even held the door open for me.
After about 5 minutes – which would’ve taken me 15 to 20 minutes at normal speed – I finally got to the house. I didn’t even park straight in the driveway, but that didn’t matter.
I knew they had house keys under the matt, which was so old school. But it came in handy since I always forgot my own house keys. Back at home, Drake kept it under a plant, which, if a stranger got too close, would immediately beep like a police car on a chase. So it would easily scare people away. I know, poor mailman.
Finally unlocking the door, I swiftly opened it, but froze up when I saw Zavier standing right in front of Joss, while her hand grazed his exposed left arm muscles.
Oh hell, what was she doing?! Only I got to touch his sexy toned muscles! Oh, what the f… Evelyn, snap out of it already! He’s clearly in love with her, and he’s simply not your type at all.
But wasn’t that what I came for? To be completely positive that I wasn’t going to fall for someone like him while we were living under the same roof?
He was the intelligent yet dorky, innocent boy, and I was the girl that was once in a gang, the delinquent, and the lawbreaker.
No matter how many times people said opposites attract, I just didn’t see it with us. I didn’t care what Jesse said, because it wasn’t happening. Nope. Not at all.
“Evelyn?” Zavier’s voice caught me by surprise, as Joss turned and quickly pulled her arm away as if she wasn’t just feeling him up.
I noticed his face, too, while she was touching him. It was full of shock, and his adorable rosy cheeks were quite obvious as his whole body went stiff and tensed up.
“Sorry, I…” Covering my face to stop myself from looking at them again, I ran up the stairs as fast as my wobbly legs could take me.
“Will you excuse me please?”
Shaking my head at Zavier’s stuttering voice, I ran faster until I finally saw the door to my bedroom.
“Wait, Evelyn!”
Almost there, I thought, as I fist pumped the air just as I reached my room. But then, to my wonderful luck, I clumsily tripped over my own two damn feet and stumbled face first to the floor. I heard a breathless person right behind me and I could tell he was trying so hard to stop himself from going into wild hysterics.
“Evelyn?”
“Shut up,” I mumbled, lifting my head up to notice my hair all over my face, probably making it look like a bird’s nest, much to Zavier’s entertainment.
“Here, let me help you.” He stood in front of me and crouched down while holding his hand out. But I just glared at him and swatted his hand away while getting up myself.
He nodded, curling his
lips into a sneer as he closed his open hand into a tight fist. He stood up and was right in front of me seconds later.
“Why don’t you go back to Joss downstairs instead and let me be? You two seemed very cozy before I interrupted.”
Blushing, Zavier dug his hands deep in his back pockets. He seemed lost in thought, as he rolled his bottom lip into his mouth.
I felt stupid but I still watched him do that since it was so attractive.
“Look, I was nervous about being alone here with her, since she wanted to skip class just to stay with me. And she’s never, ever done something like that.”
Nodding, I encouraged him to go on even though deep down inside, I just wanted to go lock myself in my room and have a beer or something, while rocking out to Hollywood Undead. Yeah, that sounded good.
“And when I get really nervous, I get really clumsy,” Zavier continued. “So I hit the same arm about three different times on the wall, the cabinets, the counter, almost every inanimate object. She wanted to make sure I wasn’t hurt so she just asked me to give her my arm and well, it probably looked like something else from where you were standing.”
Ohhhh, that had to be the lamest excuse in the damn book!
“Turns out, tomorrow I’ll be looking at about four to five different bruises.” He tried to chuckle it off, but I still gave him a hard glare, making him clear his throat and stop laughing almost immediately.
Nodding my head since I actually didn’t have a witty comeback, I just tried to pass by him, when he followed me. Rolling my eyes, I put my hand on my hip and raised my eyebrows as if to ask him, ‘do you mind?’
“Sorry, did I do something wrong? You seem angry with me…” At the last word, it seemed as though he wanted to crawl deep into a hole and hide away from me for all eternity. He truly was smart, because an angry Evelyn Jo was not pretty at all. She simply shouldn’t be messed around with.
