The Lunacy Fringe

Seventy-Five

At lunch, Felix and I left for class early. We were really only telling everyone that, of course. Because once we found a deserted hallway, I pushed him up against a locker. He laughed as I moved in for a kiss.

"You're going to get us both in trouble, you know that?" he said against my lips.

"Are you complaining?" He shook his head once, the smile still lingering.

"Definitely not."

I laughed, and he took my lips again. My hands splayed out over his chest, and I moved to stand between his legs. We were close enough to feel every breath. His hands moved to my hair, somehow drawing me even closer until we were thigh-to-thigh and so lost in each other that we would definitely get in trouble if we got caught.

It wasn't anything like the first time we kissed in the hallway. The secretary busted us, but the kiss had been innocent. Testing. Hesitant. Unsure. This kiss said we were two people who knew each other intimately enough to know exactly which buttons to push. Felix knew that kissing my neck drove me crazy. So when he moved his lips there, gently nibbling on my skin with his teeth, I gasped and gripped his shoulders.

"God, you're incredible," rushed out of me before I could think.

And, of course, we got caught. I heard the screech of rubber shoes against the linoleum floor, signaling that someone had just stopped very abruptly.

"Son of a bitch," they whispered when we pulled apart. I turned, and then my heart dropped. Of all the people who could bust us, it had to be Jake. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him more than I already had.

I felt Felix go ridged beneath my hands. He moved his hands to my arms to gently push me off him.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, voice going low and no longer soft. Jake glared and crossed his arms over his chest. Both of them were itching for a fight. So I gripped my hands in the front of Felix's shirt, hoping I could stay between them and stop them from doing something they'd regret.

"No problem at all. I'll let you get back to your slut."

And then I knew we were really in for trouble. Felix didn't care about the death grip I had on his shirt. He set his hands on my shoulders and gently guided me to the side.

"Felix, don't," I tried, desperate to hold on before he lunged at Jake. But he just took a step forward, shoulders tense.

"What did you just say?" he asked. I gripped his shirt again.

"Felix—really—it's not a big deal. He's just trying to get a rise out of you."

"No, it is a big deal, Ruby. You need to apologize." Jake's eyes narrowed. He lifted his chin.

"Why the hell would I do that?" he replied. I knew he was just trying to bait Felix. Unfortunately, I also knew he was winning. I gripped his sleeves as he gently tried to pry me off.

"You can't walk in here and insult my girlfriend and think you can get away with it."

"Nice of you to assume I was talking about her. Doesn't matter anyway. She insulted herself when she started whoring around with you."

Maybe if Jake had not used that particular word, we could have ended this without an altercation. I could have successfully pulled Felix back and dragged him back to the group outside before it came to blows. Maybe if he'd just insulted Felix alone. Or changed his wording a little bit, Felix might have just walked away. But that wasn't what Jake wanted. And he'd chosen those words so Felix would do precisely what he did.

Which was pry himself out of my grip and swing his fist toward Jake's face. And even though I knew it was coming, I still jumped when they went for each other. Scrambling like cats until they ended up on the floor. They were a fury of fists and swear words.

"Stop!" I squeaked. But it was no use. Jake was a big guy and played football well enough to know how to handle himself. But Felix wasn't on the small side either. Shorter than Quinn, but not by much. But where Quinn was tall and lanky, all bones and scrawny limbs, Felix was lean and broad and apparently not unfamiliar with a good right hook.

I jumped back as they rolled toward me, nearly tripping over my bag to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. But thankfully, I heard the doors open at the end of the hall and caught sight of my insanely tall brother and all our friends.

"Quinn!" I shrieked. "Help!"

They were at my side in a second, yanking Felix and Jake apart. It took them a moment to get through the tangle of fists and kicking feet.

"I'm gonna make you wish you never fucked with me!" Jake was shouting. "You and your stupid slut!" Felix struggled to get free from Freddy and Aaron, but he didn't need to.

Quinn wasn't a violent person, as far as I knew. But he didn't take kindly to people blatantly disrespecting me to my face. He spun in a split second and clocked Jake right in the jaw. Then he stood back and shook out his hand. The only evidence he was mad was the angry set of his eyebrows. Otherwise, he looked infinitely less furious than Felix, who struggled to get away from Freddy and Aaron.

"You really didn't think that through, did you? That's my sister, you idiot," Quinn said calmly.

"Fuck you!"

Aaron and Freddy weren't having the easiest time holding onto Felix. He was like a slippery toddler or a hungry wolverine.

"Ruby, get him out of here before he hurts himself, please?" I dropped to the floor before him and took his face in my hands. He immediately stopped.

"Hey," I said. "C'mon. Come with me."

Since he'd stopped putting up a fight, Aaron and Freddy released him. He stood back up and adjusted his shirt. I kept my hand in his while I reached for my bag. Then I slung it over my shoulder and dragged him down the hall toward the door. I held him tightly. I didn't trust him not to go running back to Jake if he happened to get another word in. Which he, of course, made sure of.

"How does it feel to fuck a whore?" he yelled after us. Felix jerked to a halt, and I had to put my hand on his chest to calm him down again. His heart was beating a mile a minute, and he was breathing sharply through his nose.

"He's just trying to bait you. Don't fall for it. Let's just go outside." He refused to look at me. His jaw was clenched, and it looked like he was debating jumping back in. But he nodded once and let me pull him outside. Once the doors shut behind us, I felt safe enough to let him go. Instead, I pushed him down onto the steps and searched my bag for a tissue to wipe away the blood.

"Did you hear what he said?" he asked. He still wasn't looking at me. His sharp green eyes were focused on the parking lot across the street.

"Yeah, I did. But don't worry about it." I dabbed at his bloody lip with the tissue. He barely seemed to notice.

"Don't worry about it? Are you kidding me? That guy...."

"Felix. Babe." I held his face again and forced him to finally look at me. His eyes were red, but I seemed to catch his attention. I'd never called him that before. And his expression softened. "It's okay. Really." I ran my thumbs over his swelling cheeks. "People insult each other all the time. We don't need to beat the crap out of everyone for it. He's not the first, and he probably won't be the last."

"It's different," he said.

"How?"

"Because it's you." I sighed and swept his black hair off of his slowly bruising face.

"I'm grateful that you're willing to come to my defense. But—you have to calm down. He didn't mean it. He's just angry and hurt, and he wanted to take it out on someone. You can't let him win, okay?" He nodded, and I could see the sanity return to his eyes. So I pulled him to me and held him close. He wrapped his arms around me and sighed deeply into my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have done that in front of you. I know he was trying to bait me, and I shouldn't have taken it. I just—saw red."

"It's okay. Just—don't do that again, okay? You scared the crap out of me." He held me tighter.

"I won't. I promise. Next time I'll make sure you're in a different room."

"Ugh, Felix." I kissed the side of his head, and he winced. "Oh, let me look at that." He pulled away and squinted. "You should go to the nurse."

"I'd rather not. I'll just—put some ice on it when I get home."

"Are you sure?" He pressed his palm against his eyebrow like it hurt.

"I'm good. It's fine. Probably." I groaned.

"You're gonna be the death of me. You know that?" He just smiled.