"You look gloomier." Nick comments as he bites another piece of sandwiches. He pushes his raven hair back and starts examining me closely.
"I am not." I state with a roll of my eyes while biting my slice of cheesy pizza. I smile as the hot cheese starts melting in my mouth.
"Yeah, and I am the queen of England." Lucas rolls his eyes while stuffing his mouth with cookies. He has decided to only depend on sweeties, protesting the need of other food. Thus, today he is only eating cookies, yesterday it was chocolate and tomorrow he plans to eat only ice-cream. In the middle of the winter.
"But, I am really okay." I smile and take another bite. While chewing my mind drifts to the encounter I had a day before. My gaze unintentionally travels to Theo, my lips upturning into a visible smile as my eyes catch the glimpse of metallic orbs, dark locks and broody lips. Then my eyes drift to another table, circled with my friends, well, ex-friends.
"So, who do you like?" Nick's question throws me off guard. My eyes widen as I blush and look at the doofus next to me.
"No one." I mumble while chewing another bite of pizza, nearly throwing up.
"You have been staring at these two table for the past ten minutes." Lucas states with the roll of his eyes, showing how dramatic he can be. "So, I have been betting that it was one of them." He looks at the table of Serpents. "But, Nick believes that it's one of them." He looks at the table of The Wolves. "But, people keep avoiding you because of them." His voice becomes serious while staring in my eyes. "So, what's up?" He asks me and I know that he demands the truth.
Something inside of me flickers. I start eyeing both of them, studying every inch of their bodies, trying to understand who they really are.
Their appearance at school; the place where they came from, appearance of foreign gang in the area, who made problems between the two gangs and finally their strange appearance in my life in the perfect time.
"Who are you?" I whisper in a low voice, shivers running down my spine. They look at one another strangely and then at my as if I have grown a second head.
"What are you talking about?" Nick asks me confused. "Are you okay?" He asks me concerned and starts looking at me with worry inside his brown orbs. I swallow and slowly nod at him, angry at myself for making myself stupid in front of them.
"Yeah, I am sorry." I mumble and look down, looking at Sam from the corner of my eye, detecting his worried look. "It's just... painful subject, really." I whisper and close my eyes.
"It's okay." Lucas smiles gently at me and grins. "You don't have to tell, if you don't want." He adds and leans against his chair, eating his chocolate chip cookies.
I look down at my hands, frozen over the half eaten pizza. They are shaking a little, making me feel dizzy, while forcing my eyes to water up. I swallow the ball stuck in my throat and finally force myself to speak.
"No. I think it's okay to tell you." I whisper in a low voice and sigh. "But, instead I need a promise, that you will never tell a single soul." They nod, leaning forward to hear it better. "As you should already know, there are some gangs in the area." Their faces harden, but they nod. "The biggest ones are The Wolves and The Serpents." I state and they nod again. "They have this major fight between them, they can't settle and everyone knows about that. The rivalry has started the decades before any of the currents member were born." I whisper and close my eyes, thinking if I have gone too far into the past. "So, they can't really stand each other. I bet, you know who they are?" I ask and they nod again, looking at The Wolves and then at The Serpents. "Once, not long before you came around, I used to be in one of the gangs." Their eyes widen and they look at me surprised and confused. "But, I became friends with another gang as well. I have created some close bonds, that I shouldn't have created and it resulted with me leaving both of the gangs behind. They have left me alone, and I have never bothered them ever since."
When I finish telling the story, both of them keep looking at me with intensity in their orbs. Their gaze is staring deep in my soul, judging me without whispering a single word.
"Okay." Finally it's Nick who breaks the silence. His eyes travel on my face before sighing loudly and he takes another his miniature sandwiches from the tray. "Well, it explains a lot." He murmurs more for himself than for me to hear. I don't say anything, but sit there while the two brothers eye each other.
***
The day has ended fast. As the bell of the last lesson rang, I was the first one to run in the hallways. Now, I am slowly making my way towards my locker with steady steps in the middle of the crowd. From left and right, teenagers are talking among themselves, whispering and gossiping with each other. I have never realized before, how hard is it to be invisible.
Before meeting The Wolves, I was in the popular crowd, meaning that it was easier for me to walk. Then, I was in one of the deadliest gangs in the whole state, meaning that people pawed out when we came in the horizon.
And now, I am nobody, stuck in the middle of the sweaty bodies.
A weak smile appears on my face as I approach my locker. I lazily open it, putting my books inside and taking out my bag. The slowness of my actions is driving even me crazy, but I have learnt to be slow in order to be left alone in the once full hallways.
"You surely take your time." The voice behind me whispers and chuckles. I hurriedly turn around, surprised to see them here. Nick is grinning at me, while Lucas is still eating.
"What are you doing here?" I ask them surprised. They have never waited for me before. And the look on their faces tell me that something is off.
"Well..." Lucas starts with deep voice, swallowing his bite. He looks at me straight in the eyes and continues. "You have told us the truth..."
"So, we decided to do the same." Nick finishes for him and looks at Lucas. "Come with us. We have a lot to discuss."