She saw her poster appear on the table before her, and then Nero took his seat beside her. She definitely couldn’t look at him after that, so she quickly pulled out some paper and started writing, spending most of her time at the task. It was hard to concentrate after what had happened, yet she really was too embarrassed to even look at him.
She would peer out of the corner of her eyes every now and then when she knew he wasn’t paying any attention to her. The next time, when her eyes glanced out, she noticed his knuckles. She had felt the scrapes but hadn’t realized how inflamed they were. They were all bright red. Before she put much thought into it, the bell rang. Instinct kicked in, and she stood up to retrieve Chloe.
Nero took her hand. “No, Amo is bringing her to you, and we’ll all walk out together.”
Elle watched the students leave before her, feeling odd; she was always the first one out. “Please, let me go get her.”
“Elle, look at me.” Elle looked down at Nero after she realized he wasn’t going to let her go if she didn’t. “Do you trust me?”
Elle looked at Nero hard. For some reason, she knew, when he made a promise, he would keep it. He was just that type of guy. She couldn’t explain it.
Elle quietly said, “Yes.”
“Okay, well, sit then.” Elle didn’t want to sit; she wanted to wait outside the door for Chloe. Nero sighed and pulled her down on his lap. “You should really start listening to me.”
She tried to get up, however, one arm rested behind her back, holding her hip, and the other arm rested on her lap, his hand gripping her leg. When she struggled, he only held tighter, his hand moving farther up her leg.
“Relax, Elle. They will be here in a minute.”
She didn’t want to feel stupid, so she quit struggling and just sunk into his lap. She felt calm after a minute. For the first time, she felt almost safe within these walls.
The moment Elle saw Amo in the distance, she jumped off Nero’s lap. She waited by the door where Vincent had arrived a minute earlier for Amo to reach them. When Amo stopped in front of her, Chloe emerged from behind him.
“Nero, we need to talk. Chloe will not get off my ass. I told her,” Amo looked right at Chloe in the eyes, “to walk beside me, but she refuses to even say a word to me.”
“T-that’s how I walk!” Chloe blurted.
Elle started laughing; it was too hard not to.
“Oh, now you can talk because Elle’s around.” Elle only laughed harder. “I blame you!” He pointed at Elle.
“Me? What did I do?”
“You taught her to walk like that.”
Elle took a step forward, going toe to toe with Amo. Yes, he is big. And yes, he is scary, but he knows nothing.
“No, I didn’t teach her shit. She learned to walk behind me when everyone started bullying us.”
“We never bullied you.”
“No, but you all sure as hell didn’t stop it. Come on, Chloe; we’re leaving.”
“All right, calm down.” Nero grabbed her hand, stopping her again. That is really pissing me off.
“You’re right. We’re just as guilty. All three of us are sorry, and we are trying to make it up from now on. But you and Chloe need to help us out here. Chloe, listen to Amo and try to talk to him every now and then.”
“And…” Amo got out.
“And get off Amo’s ass. Walk beside him from now on. It’s safer there, anyway. Someone could grab you from behind him if they wanted.”
Chloe swallowed and nodded.
“Yeah, like she’ll have much room to walk beside the beast.” Elle stuck out her tongue.
Amo was about to say something, but Nero held up his hand. Instead, Amo started the walk to the school’s front doors. Nero tugged Elle to walk beside him and Chloe fell in behind with Vincent following them all.
“Chloe, beside.”
Chloe moved out from behind Elle with her head down while Amo shook his head in front of them. He is really rubbing me the wrong way.
When Chloe finally looked up, she gave her a sympathetic smile, but Elle thought it was nice to finally walk beside her friend again.
As they reached outside the doors, the cold air whipped her face and Nero pulled her closer. She did love the cold, but she also liked the warmth of Nero.
Elle noticed Sebastian staring at them before he entered his car. She also noticed his black eye, which is when it clicked for her. Nero doesn’t punch walls, just faces.
They reached Chloe’s BMW and Amo was the first to notice something wasn’t right.
“Someone slashed her fucking tires.”
Nero ran his hands through his hair, pushing back the dark strands from his face. “All right. Elle and Chloe, I’ll take you both home.”
“It’s okay. I’ve gotten flat tires before. I can drive on them for a few miles to the dealership.”
“Oh, God, is she serious?” Elle was shocked it had come from Vincent.
“Chloe, you are not driving on flat tires, and not with Elle. I’ll take you home. Your dad can take care of the car, right?”
“I-I can drive it. That was the whole point of buying the tires.” Elle felt for Chloe. She definitely wasn’t going to tell her dad. It wasn’t like he was going to give a shit, anyway.
“Jesus Christ, I gotta get out of here. I’ll take Leo home for you. Good luck with these crazies.” Amo walked off and yelled for Leo to come on.
“Chloe, you’re either going home with me and Elle, or Vincent will take you home.”
Vincent gave Chloe a wicked smile. Although he was the shortest of the three, Amo and Nero were freakishly tall. Additionally, Vincent was the pretty boy of their group; he was perfectly tall and had the perfect body type. Well, if you were into the whole perfect thing.
His light-blond hair and baby-blue eyes, paired with his pretty face, had all the girls vying for his attention.