The next day, half of the grade had a hangover from last night's party. Of course, I refrained from drinking any alcoholic beverages. Lily didn't either–we all knew how that would end. However hungover my peers were, what they saw next seemed to grasp their attention.
Lily and I walked out of school after the final bell rang. We passed Antonio and his group of bandits hovering near the front doors. With a cigarette in hand, Antonio lazily leaned against the wall and spoke to his friends. He oozed of nonchalance, yet each of the guys practically held their breaths to cling onto the words that their leader emitted. I couldn't blame them. His towering height and charming demeanor simply demanded attention.
As if he could sense my gaze, Antonio's eyes flickered over to me in the parking lot. I could see his eyes gloss over as he lost his train of thought. He mumbled an excuse to his insubordinate friends and then handed his cigarette to Benny, before jogging in my direction.
"Hey."
Lily paused and turned around.
"Hi, Antonio," she replied.
I glanced behind him to look at his group of friends. Excluding Benny, there were three others, each looking more smug than the last. The only one who appeared rather dismayed was Ethan.
The suggestive looks on their faces caused me to roll my eyes. I could only imagine the indecent thoughts running through their heads. Turning back to face Antonio, I cocked my head to the side.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Ouch. What happened to hello? How are you?" He dramatically clutched his heart.
I shared a look with Lily before turning around and walking again.
"Wait, Flower," he caught up to me before dramatically lowering his voice. "You heading over to the spot?"
"That's the plan," I nodded, recalling yesterday's agreement. "I figured we'd go there separately."
As if he didn't hear me, he latched onto my wrist and began to lead me through the parking lot. Lily, who had been standing to the side and giving us our privacy, had a wide grin on her face. Before I could open my mouth and holler out an explanation to her, she waved me off.
"Call me tonight!" That was code for girl, you better fill me in the second you get home.
We waved at each other. Meanwhile, I wrenched my arm out of Antonio's grasp and began to eye his eager figure with suspicion.
"Where are you taking me?"
The answer to my question came pretty quickly. We came to an abrupt stop in front of his motorcycle. I gave him a look, which of course, he ignored. Rather, he placed on the helmet for me before getting on the motorcycle.
"Hop on."
I weighed the pros and cons, and he sighed at the worried look on my face.
"Stop thinking," he gently insisted.
"Fine." I bit my lip before climbing behind him.
I snaked my arms around his abdomen, feeling his muscles contract before relaxing at my touch.
The motorcycle engine roared to life, and all eyes were on us as he drove out of the parking lot. Most were in pure shock. Just briefly, I caught a glimpse of the envious looks on Beth and Kimmy as they stood with their other minions.
I found myself laughing.
Antonio raised his voice over the wind. "Why are you laughing?"
"No reason," I innocently replied. As he turned onto the main road, I couldn't help but ask, "how come you decided to drive me to the spot? We easily could've gone separately."
"No reason," he cheekily replied.
I made a face even though he couldn't see me. With that, we fell into a peaceful silence. I rested my head on his back and softly smiled at the feeling of the wind whipping back my hair.
• • •
Later that evening, Romano picked me up to go to the movie theatre, as promised. Hollering a goodbye to Jo, I zipped up my gray sweater before running out of my house and over to Romano's gleaming red Porsche, which was parked in the driveway. As I opened the car door, I was surprised to see Antonio already sitting in the passenger seat.
"I called shotgun," he smirked at me.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded.
I'd already seen enough of him today. There was only so much I could take.
"Hey, Ro," Romano greeted from the driver's seat. "Don't be mad, I forced him to come. Besides, he's paying."
I hummed. "Well, in that case!"
I entered the back seat, while the conceited smile disappeared from Antonio's face.
"Glad I could be of service," he rolled his dark eyes.
I stifled a giggle. Perks of having rich friends. Kidding...
I sat up once Romano turned on the radio, and we began to shamelessly sing offbeat. Antonio groaned and clapped his hands over his ears, which only encouraged us to sing louder. When we finally arrived at the theatre, we quickly jumped into action.
"Alright, let's split up. I'll get the tickets, Rose get the popcorn, and Antonio, get the drinks," Romano commanded.
"Sir, yes sir," I saluted.
The three of us promptly split up. I used the cash Antonio had given me to buy each of us identical bags of yummy, buttery popcorn. Once I got the food, I located Romano in the ticket line.
"Hey, could you hold the popcorn? I've gotta go to the washroom," I said urgently.
"Hold on," he ordered me while juggling the bags of popcorn I'd practically tossed him. "What's this I hear about you riding Antonio's motorcycle?"
I stared at him skeptically. "Who told you? Lily?"
He nodded with an excited look on his face.
"What's the big deal?" I laughed. "I go in your car all the time. Is there a difference?"
"Oh there's a big difference. Antonio never lets anyone ride his motorcycle–even Benny. I remember one time I tried to touch it and he kneed me in the balls."
My freckled nose wrinkled in a mixture of shock and confusion. "Really? Then why'd he let me?"
Romano almost laughed, shaking his head fondly. "He's claiming you as his. After all, you are His Flower."
"Claiming? What do you mean?"
"Now that every guy at school has seen you on his motorcycle, they're gonna know to stay away. Not unless they wanna face him."
I gaped. "There goes my love life."
Romano actually giggled. He looked a little too excited about this for my liking.
"Next in line," the bored ticket clerk droned.
Romano bought the tickets and handed me mine. "Be quick, before the movie starts."
With that, we separated.
As I exited the washroom a few minutes later, I bumped into a firm chest and stumbled backwards.
"Sorr–" I cut myself off, and my eyes suddenly narrowed.
It was Buzz, and he wasn't alone. Finn and Lance, his two lackeys, were right next to him.
"Of course." I warily crossed my arms.
"Hello, Rose," Finn said, his British accent prominent. A devious grin danced along his face.
"I'm surprised to see you here," Buzz said innocently, staring at me. "Didn't know you'd be able to afford it."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"My apologies, I didn't mean to offend you," he said. Finn chuckled in the background, urging Buzz to continue. "It's just that, your parents are dead. Wouldn't that make you some kind of a broke orphan?"
I froze, completely mortified. How could he possibly know about my parents?
"Well of course she's broke. Do you even have to ask?"
Just as I thought things couldn't get any worse, Beth and Kimmy slowly emerged from behind the three guys. Both of them bore complacent looks that made me frown.
"I mean, look at her," Beth carried on. "Her clothes, her hair. Does that look like someone who has money?"
I surveyed my attire. A gray sweater I'd owned for years and sweatpants of the same color.
My hair was in black box braids that I'd only gotten done just hours ago, prior to Romano picking me up. The African hairstyle made me feel quite pretty, but at Beth's comment, I suddenly felt the complete opposite.
I wanted so badly to defend myself, but I was frozen in horror.
"You ask me, she's only screwing Antonio for his money," Kimmy dauntingly said.
Kimmy, Beth, Buzz, and Finn all roared in laughter. Lance, the only one who hadn't said anything, looked down at his shoes as he scratched his blond hair. I felt tears springing to my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
"Aww, is she about to cry?" Finn mocked.
They laughed even louder. I turned around.
"C'mon guys, that's enough," I heard Lance feebly mutter.
He was too late. The damage was already done. Their laughter haunted me as I walked down the cinema hall, and tears dripped down my face at the humiliation I'd just endured. How could they possibly know about my parents? To make fun of something like that was truly sick.
To also have them accuse me of using Antonio for his money... they couldn't be more wrong. I would never befriend someone for their material possessions. Moreover, my aunt had more than enough money to keep the two of us on our feet—I wasn't poor at all. Perhaps they'd only assumed so because of the color of my skin. It made me sick to think that racial stereotypes were still so common in today's society.
I didn't know why their words were getting to me so much. It was clear they had no idea what they were talking about.
"You alright, miss?" a worker asked as I showed my ticket.
"Yes, thank you." I offered a weak smile as I wiped away my tears. "It's... allergies." I took a leaf out of Benny's book.
The woman gave me a worried look. I practically fleeted past her, sniffling as I walked into the designated movie room. The confrontation wouldn't stop replaying in my mind. I wished I'd been able to defend myself, but the second Buzz had brought up my parents, I'd been too stunned to speak.
I saw Antonio and Romano sitting at the very back of the dark theater. They'd saved me a seat in between them. I walked up the stairs and muttered apologies as I squeezed through the aisle.
"Jeez, you sure took your sweet time! The movie already started," Romano whispered.
On another day, I would've laughed. Though, I only offered a miserable smile that looked more like a grimace.
Antonio handed me my popcorn. As he did so, he whispered. "Hey, I just noticed. Did you get your hair done?"
I froze, recalling how the others had ridiculed my braided hair a few minutes ago. I reluctantly nodded at him.
"Looks nice," Antonio murmured while tossing a handful of popcorn into his mouth.
I was sure he didn't even realize how much the little compliment meant to me, but I felt my heart soar. It erased the insult that Beth had given me just moments prior.
"Thanks," I smiled at him.
He smiled back, but after staring at my face, his smile suddenly dropped.
"Why were you crying?" he demanded.
I internally cursed. No doubt he had seen my red, puffy eyes.
"What? I wasn't," I quietly denied, looking away.
"Did someone hurt you?" he tersely asked.
I stared straight ahead, but that seemed to be enough of an answer for him.
"Who was it?"
I glanced at him and opened my mouth.
"Don't you dare try to deny it." He was angry, though not at me. Those dark eyes of his protectively flashed. We looked at each other for what must've been a full minute, until I finally slumped in my seat.
"I ran into Buzz and his friends. They were acting like jerks, but it doesn't matter. I'm over it," I said. That was a lie–I wasn't over it. But I knew I would be soon enough.
Antonio stared at me for a moment before slowly nodding. "Okay. Thanks for telling me."
He took that way better than I expected. I gently nodded and began to pay attention to the movie. As I stared at the bright screen, I slowly munched on my popcorn.
After a few minutes, Antonio glanced between Romano and me. "I'm going to the washroom. Be back in 5," he muttered.
We waved him off, and so he got up and left. After 5 minutes, Antonio returned and casually settled back down in his seat as if nothing had happened.
Nothing but his bruised knuckles gave him away.
"You didn't," I gasped with wide eyes. When the couple in front of me angrily turned around, I lowered my voice. "Antonio, I don't need you fighting my battles for me!"
"I'm not," he said, his eyes twinkling. "Just... defending my friend."
"I'm never telling you anything again."
He only smirked and we looked away from each other, before snuggling into our seats and continuing to watch the movie. Although I'd put up an annoyed front, I was secretly happy that Antonio had gone to defend me. It was nice to know I had someone in my corner.
Unfortunately, the trouble wasn't over yet.