Desolation Row [MxM]

Chapter 07

I couldn't even refrain myself from rolling my eyes, trying to get out of Joel's hold. “Aw, come on,” he said, tightening his grip around me. “I wanna meet these lovely friends of yours.”

“You just—” my retort was cut off by a familiar red car pulling up, and any resentment I felt for Joel's proximity was squashed as I smiled widely. I didn't realize how much I actually wanted to see Sophie and the others until her car was there, and she was climbing out of the driver's seat, smiling right back at me.

Alex got out of the passenger side, and Jake from the back, but as soon as they were both out of the vehicle, Alex went over to wrap an arm around Jake's waist. My eyes were drawn to them, unable to look away until Sophie came up and hugged me tightly. I hissed through my teeth quietly as she squeezed me, forcing myself to hug her back. When she pulled back though, I made sure my smile was back in place, and she started to say something before she looked over to Joel, seeming to just notice him. “Oh, Vic, who's this?”

Joel seemed to hesitate before he put his arm back around me and smiled, though the movement was clearly forced. I wasn't sure if Sophie or the others noticed, but I definitely did. “I'm Joel. Friend of uh, Vic's.”

It hadn't occurred to me that Joel didn't know my name. As a matter of fact, thinking back, he wasn't there on my first day.

Sophie raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't comment further as she glanced around, looking at the school and the football field where the game was still going on. To be honest, everything probably looked better in the dark. During the daylight hours, you could tell how rundown it all was. Thank God for whoever it was that decided to have football games in the evening.

“It's uh, a little different than I expected,” she commented. I couldn't find anything to say, my eyes continuously looking over to Jake and Alex. They didn't do much, just kept their arms around each other and occasionally whispered back and forth, but it was still physically closer than Alex and I had ever been.

The arm around me tightened a little again, making me glance over to Joel. “So, who are these little friends of yours, Vic?” he asked, the 'c' coming out unnecessarily hard as I frowned.

“It's Victor. And they're from Lakeview.” I answered, watching Joel roll his eyes a little. “The girl is Sophie, and the taller guy is Alex. The shorter one is Jake.”

“So, that where you're from? Lakeview?”

“Yes. Of course you'd know that, if you'd been in class on my first day here.”

“Someone's getting a little too mouthy,” he commented, then nodded almost thoughtfully. “Lakeview. Explains why you stick out like a sore thumb here, though, coming from a prissy school like that.”

Prissy? Who even said prissy, seriously? All I could do was roll my eyes at him. I wasn't prissy. And it wasn't a prissy school. Just because it had a nicer population and better equipment didn't make it prissy.

“How's the school here, Vic? Like it?” Sophie asked, turning back to us with a small smile. I fumbled for a second before I could respond.

“Uh, yeah, it's great. I'm doing really good, it's—it's been good,” I told her. It was an outright lie, one that Joel noticed immediately as he started to dig his nails into my shoulder. He was pressing down right onto a bruise, and I tried not to show any discomfort on my face, moving closer to him in a failed attempt to get away from his fingers.

Sophie wiggled her eyebrows a little at the interaction, smiling more. “So, how'd you guys meet?”

“Oh, we're in math together.” Joel replied with another fake little smile. Sophie nodded, then gestured pretty vaguely to the two of us.

“Are you two...you know...you two?"

“Oh, no, you've got the wrong idea, Soph—” I tried to deny, shaking my head quickly, but Joel apparently doesn't let opportunities pass, if it means making me that much more miserable.

He smirked, moving his arm down to my waist. “Aw, come on Vic, we shouldn't hide it from your friends, should we?” he asked. I could only manage to give him a mortified look as Sophie smiled, going on about how she knew it. Joel made it a point to turn and lean down slightly, kissing my temple as I looked over to Alex. He watched Joel and I with an odd look that I couldn't quite describe, and I didn't have the time to, either, as Joel spoke again. “We should all probably get out of here, huh? Vic doesn't like crowds too much.”

“Oh, he never has.” Sophie agreed, shaking her head as she turned to walk back toward her car. “Where are we going?”

“There's this little spot Vic and I like to go to, I think you guys'll like it. I'll lead you to it.”

“Great.” Sophie smiled, and the three of them got back in her car, Joel waiting until they weren't able to hear us before he leaned in closer to me again.

“You owe me big time for this,” he said quietly. I sputtered for a second, getting a rather indignant look.

“You're the one who invited yourself!” I argued. Joel just hummed in response and released me, heading over toward his car, and I shook my head a little before I did the same.

There was no way that this could end well for me.