Chapter 16
A week after that awful movie night, Gabriel still didn't talk to me.
A week later I was still heartbroken.
Ven had been with me the whole time, despite my protests about wanting to be alone. He had hugged me and kissed my hair when I sobbed on his chest after telling him about our fight, he had comforted me and told me that he was just being an ass and that I was too good to cry for a boy, but none of that calmed my aching heart.
Taylor and Jodie were also there for me when I needed them the most. They came to my house every afternoon, so I wouldn't be alone since my parents had already departed to their business trip, and would watch movies with me, help me study, paint my nails... They never touched 'Gabriel' subject, just did everything they could to distract me and, for that, I would be forever grateful.
Thanks to the three of them, I was able to put myself together. After that week, my heart still hurt like a chunk had been ripped off, but I did not cry again, I hated crying, I walked with my head held high and, despite the profound feeling of pain everytime I saw Gabriel walk by or sit on our lunch table without even glance at me, I managed to give him the same cold treatment. It was like we were nothing to each other, and if he wanted it that way, I would make damn sure I would be fine with it. Or, at least, make sure he didn't notice that the pain and longing were eating my insides.
It was tuesday and my History class had just ended so I got up, gathered my things, and left the room. Before heading to the cafeteria, I walked to my locker, to switch my books, and it was then that a already familiar blonde appeared by my side. Not bothering to look at her, I opened my locker and started to choose the books that I needed.
"I heard that you two had a fight." Kayla started, looking at her nails while talking. "I wonder if he finally understood that you're no good?"
I bit my tongue to prevent myself from breaking her nose. I was normally a pacific person, I never wanted problems and, usually, that kind of conversation or simply her presence would be enough to make me shut the locker, turn around and walk away, with my head hung low, however, I was in a pissy mood.
"The cat got your tongue?" She snickered, leaning in. "Oh please, it's not like you can be surprised, right? I mean, you really think that he actually liked y--"
"Oh shut the fuck up." I growled, shutting the locker with such force that the crash made everyone in the hall look at me. "I don't care what you think, actually, nobody cares so why don't you go piss off some other person because, honestly, I'm not in the freaking mood. So run along, dear, your little followers are waiting." And with that I walked away, taking angry strides towards the cafeteria when another person stood in my way. Hissing, I look up to see a boy smilling at me.
He was cute, with brown hair, blue eyes and a pair of killer dimples, he was also taller than me but shorter than Ven, and was dressed in a simple grey sweater, a pair of worn jeans and white sneakers. Raising a brow, I waited for him to speak since I was not in the mood to chit chat.
"Hi, you're Dylan, right? I'm Jason." His smile widened when he stretched out his hand and I, hesitantly, shook it.
"Yeah, I'm Dylan." I answered, not sure of what he wanted.
"The way you talked to Kayla...that was awesome. No one tells her to fuck off like that." He praised me, scratching the back of his neck while talking. I actually smiled a little because he seemed nervous while talking to me.
"Thanks." I smiled and he smiled back.
"Look, would you go o--"
"Dylan! There you are girl! I was looking all over for you!" Taylor's voice rang through the hall as she reached me, scowling. Then she looked at the boy in front of me and raised a brow. "Who's your friend, Dee?"
"This is Jason." I told her, looking at him with an apologetic look. He grinned, unconcerned about her.
"Well, I'm Taylor and we're late so... bye bye." She said, quite rudely before pulling me with her.
Trying to keep up with her strides, we finally entered the stuffed cafeteria and she led me to our usual table. I was about to ask her what the hell was that scene earlier when all she needed was to sit down and take a deep breath. Then she started shrieking. Everyone covered her ears and when she looked mischievously at me, I knew what she was about to do.
'Don't you dare!' I mouthed angrily but she smiled, cleared her throat and started digging my grave.
"Who was the hottie?" Taylor asked eagerly, grabbing the attention of everyone in the table.
"Say what now?" Jodie questioned, looking at me, smilling.
"I told you I was going to look after her, right? Well, I found her talking with a cute boy... What was his name again? John, Joe,...?"
"Jason." I answered and immediately bit my tongue as she smiled at me. I had fallen into her trap.
"That's it! Well, Jason was totally flirting with her!"
"He was not!"
"He was so."
"No, he wasn't."
"Yes, he was."
"He was just being nice after Kayla..." And it was then I bit my tongue for the second time. Looking away from Taylor, I watched every and each one of them stiffen in their chairs.
"Kayla what?" Ven asked, in a cold, hard voice. He was not happy and, after hearing a can being crushed, Gabriel was not either. Stupidly, my heart started to beat faster and a warm and fuzzy feeling heated my body just with the possibility of Gabriel still care, even just a little, about me. "What happened, Dylan?"
"S-she was just t-trying to get on my n-nerves..." I stuttered a little, nervously playing with my fingers because of the four pairs of eyes trained on me. "You know her, guys, she just wants to see how much she can push someone until she gets a reaction." I explained, trying to reason with them but the stony faces did not budge and, quite probably, didn't believe in a single word that had left my mouth.
"And that guy, Jason, helped you?" Jodie asked, intrigued.
"No, I was walking away from Kayla when he introduced himself." I told her, avoiding eye contact with all of them and playing with my food instead.
"Oh yeah, don't forget the part when he was about to ask you out when I appeared." Taylor snickered but the smile quickly left her face when Gabriel got up so fast that his chair fell backwards and caused such a strong crash that every student in the cafeteria became silent. Everyone's eyes were on his big form as he walked out of the room.
"Oh shit." Ven cursed before he started gathering his things as fast as he could.
"What?" I asked looking at him.
"What do you think he's going to do, Dylan? Honestly, you can be a little blind sometimes." He lectured me, quite harshly, making cringe in my seat. When he saw my confused look, he sighed heavily. "He's going after the guy, D, and he's seriously pissed off so I have to make sure he's not going to kill him." Seeing my pale face, Ven leaned and kissed my forehead softly. "Don't worry, I'll stop him." And then he took off.
I got up, intending to follow them but both Jodie and Taylor grabbed my arms and pulled me down. Wiggling my arms, I tried to free myself but they only hold on to me tighter.
"Let Ven handle it. Your presence will only make him all worked up, and you know it, so sit down and finish your lunch." Taylor sternly told me.
Sighing in defeat, I continued to eat my lunch silently, paying little attention to the whispers and murmurs that surrounded us. The lunch hour passed quickly and, as we were heading towards our afternoon classes, my phone vibrated on my pocket. Curiously, I quickly grabbed my phone and read Ven's text.
He has calmed down but he's still a little pissed off. Your 'new friend' probably just got the scare of his life but he's unharmed...at least phisically, he probably will never forget Gabe... but what's important is that everything is fine ;) Who's your hero, honey?
- Ven
Laughing quietly, I released a relieved breath and smiled to my two friends who were looking at me with confused expressions.
"Their fine, all of them."
"Thank God..." Jodie whispered, wiping her forehead in a mocking relief gesture that made both Taylor and me smile. Shaking my head, I started replying to Ven, eager to know what happened.
I'm glad nothing happened, thank you so much! And yes, you're my hero x) Where are you? How's Gabriel?
- Me
We reached our classroom and quickly sat down on our assigned seats, however, when the class started and Ven was a no show, I started to get a little anxious. I wanted Ven there so he could tell me what the hell had happened. I only hoped he could take care of Gabriel and not let him go to the Arena... When he was mad, he tended to release the steam by fighting and that was the last thing I wanted.
It took a few more seconds for my phone finally vibrate again and, gingerly so the teacher wouldn't catch me, I read the new text.
D, I didn't say that nothing happened, only that nobody got hurt. And we're probably going to your house and not even bother to say no because we know your parents are out AND how to break in without break the lock so...no worries :D
- Ven
I think it was about the first sentence that the air stopped going in my lungs. I groaned and let my head hit my book. What the hell had happened? And why the hell would they go to my house?
Since when did my house became the 'hang out' spot? And for the love of God, tell me what happened!
- Me
The class continued and I couldn't pay attention to anything. My foot was insistently tapping on the floor and I kept tugging at the sleeves of my burgundy colored long sleeved shirt. Jodie kicked my foot softly and I looked up to see her mouthing me 'What's wrong?'. Shrugging, I mouthed back 'Don't know yet'. Giving me a supportive smile, Jodie focused, once more, her attention on the teacher and I worked hard on paying attention to the lesson but it was no use. When the seconds turned into minutes, I started tapping my foot so fast that Taylor scowled at me. However, I only stopped when my phone vibrated.
Sorry for the wait but if Gabriel notices that I'm texting you it will be hell because he's trying really hard to not do it himself. Oh you know what happened, it was the usual, curses, a few shoves and a good dose of raw intimidation. And we're in your house just because we like it so shut it.
- Ven
Fine...just don't break anything, I'll see you guys later. And Jason better not have bruises on his face or be in a hospital bed!
- Me
Tell Gabriel that and you'll see how fast the cemetery will have a new grave.
- Ven
Huffing, I put away my phone and didn't touched it for the rest of the lesson. When it was time to go home, I noticed that I didn't have a ride so Taylor offered to drive me home. The drive was relatively quiet and Taylor and Jodie were undecided about staying in my house or go home, however, knowing Gabriel, they opted to go home. They were smart women.
Saying that I was nervous was an understandement. I was pratically shaking in my low heeled boots. I waved the girls goodbye and started walking towards my door. I was about to knock when I remebered that was MY house and I didn't need to knock. Yes, I was nervous like that.
I inserted that key and, breathing in deeply, I walked in.