Nero (Made Men 1)

“I don’t care,” Elle got out.

“Yeah, uh, me either.” Chloe looked at the floor.

“Jesus, pick already. I’m fucking starving.” Amo, on the other hand, was still grouchy and tired.

Elle looked at the two lines. Hardly anyone was in the chicken and hamburger line. “Chicken patties sound fine.”

“Who the hell doesn’t choose pizza?” Vincent obviously wasn’t happy with their choice.

“Elle, do you like pizza?” She looked at Nero, remembering what he had told her about lying. She had already made him mad once today, and she’d learned she didn’t like it when he was mad at her.

Elle silently said, “Yes.”

“Chloe, do you eat pizza?” Amo asked that time.

Chloe looked over at Elle, and Elle hoped she understood to tell the truth. She nodded.

“So, why the hell can’t I have pizza?” Vincent clearly wanted some pizza.

“Elle, why did you pick that line?” She looked up at Nero and bit her lip. She really didn’t want to lie to him. Therefore, the only thing she could possibly do was evade the question, and by the looks of their three faces, they weren’t going to let her off.

She decided not to look at their eyes. “We always pick the line that doesn’t have anyone in it.”

“And what happens if the lines are about the same?” She really wished Nero would quit asking her questions.

She felt all their eyes on her, waiting for her answer, except Chloe’s. She was looking at the ground, wringing her hands. She didn’t want them to know anymore than Elle did.

“Hey, guys, what’s up?” Leo had found them and joined in, giving her hope she might not have to answer.

“Shut up, Leo. Answer the fucking question, Elle.” Elle was shocked Amo had been the one to say that. All hope is lost.

Elle decided to take a page from Chloe’s book—she looked at the floor. “If the lines are even, then we pick the line that has the least scary people in it.”

“Jesus Christ.” Elle heard Nero say.

“For fuck’s sake,” Amo chimed in.

“Motherfuckers,” Vincent added.

“Does that mean they don’t want piz—”

“Shut up, Leo!” Nero, Amo, and Vincent all said it at the same time, making Elle and Chloe jump.

“From now on, you fucking eat what you want to. Do you both understand?” Elle nodded her head at Nero. Chloe still didn’t reply.

“Chloe, if you want fucking pizza, you eat fucking pizza, got it?” Amo yelled at her. Chloe didn’t waste any time to nod in understanding.

Elle was ready to move on, so she decided to scurry away to the pizza line, no matter how badly her instincts screamed to go in the other line. Chloe wasted no time following her.

As Elle hurried away, she thought she heard Vincent say, “Let’s fucking kill ‘em.”

Leo ended up being the first one to join them. They were all the way in the back of the line since they were talking while everyone else had gotten in. When the three guys finally joined them, they didn’t look very pleased. I don’t know why they even asked me what I wanted to eat if pizza was clearly the only option.

“No way I’m waiting this fucking long. You know they run out of pizza. Let’s cut,” Amo said.

By the looks of the guys’ faces, they were ready to cut. Elle didn’t feel comfortable about it. “No, that’s wrong. We’re not cutting.” She looked at Nero to make sure he understood.

“Sorry, sweetheart. After what you just told me, I frankly don’t give a shit about right and wrong.” Vincent passed them and yelled “move” to the person ahead of them. She watched Amo join in, making everyone part the line.

Elle was shoved by Nero to move forward, giving Elle and Chloe no option other than to cut the line. Elle was shocked Nero was making her do this; she didn’t feel right about cutting in front of people.

When they reached the trays, the guys stopped and grabbed one. Amo handed his to Chloe and Vincent handed his to her. Elle reached and grabbed it, swearing Vincent’s face made her do it.

Now that she and Chloe had a tray, Elle walked through the line, figuring she might as well enjoy it. Once next week started, she was going to be lucky to eat without lunch money. The cost of lunch had gone up to a ridiculous price, but no one at a prep school would dare complain.

Elle got out of the line first, charging it to her account. She waited for Chloe to come out of the line. By the way the boys had probably pissed everyone off, she decided not to go until one of them had checked out. Nero checked out first and started walking back to the table with Elle following behind.

Once they were seated, Elle was caught off-guard when Nero pulled her in for a kiss on the cheek. She still wasn’t used to him, and she definitely wasn’t used to it when she was around Chloe.

Elle was glad when Leo sat again at the empty seat next to Chloe. She could tell Chloe eased a bit when he did. Elle looked around and saw that all the boys had bought an extra piece of pizza. That’s why they never have any left.

Elle smiled when she picked up her pepperoni pizza and saw Chloe doing the same. For once, she actually liked what she had gotten for lunch.

“When was the last time you ate pizza at school?”

Nero couldn’t just let me enjoy it, could he? She was really starting to hate the whole honesty thing. “Since middle school.”

“I had it freshman year.” Elle looked over at Chloe. That didn’t help, Chloe.

While the guys were becoming agitated by her answers, she didn’t understand why they would ask these questions when they knew they wouldn’t like the outcome.

She figured Leo sensed everyone was on edge since he tried to change the conversation. However, the thing he asked was possibly the worst thing he could, making it only worse.

“Chloe, how did you get those scars?” She knew Leo was young and didn’t know how she got them but figured everyone else had already heard about it.