Hell's Love

Chapter 2

    Monday morning, I walked to my locker and put my books away before lunch. The hall was empty. I could hear the chatter of students from the tiny cafeteria. As I shut my locker, a strong hand wrapped around my waist. I faced Declan and grinned up at him. 

    "Hi, love."
    "Hi, beautiful." He said with bright eyes that could light up the countryside on the darkest night and kissed my forehead. I leaned up and draped my arms around his neck. I could smell the scent of mint gum on his breath.
    "How do you feel about getting lunch?" I asked.

    "Sounds good to me. I'm starving." He replied. We walked to the cafeteria and picked up a couple of trays. After filling our plates, we went to find a place to sit in the loud, crowded cafeteria. We found our friends at a table near the far exit.
     "Where is he from?" Kaiya Carrillo asked. Kaiya was a sweet redhead with a big heart. She was the person in the group that was always in a good mood. She gave us the most jubilant smile as we approached the table.
    "Apparently, he is from a town not too far away from here. He moved from his father's house to his mother's." Natasha Burke filled them in. Natasha was a gorgeous brunette with a strong personality. She was the kind of person that would tell you the truth about anything. Next to Natasha was Declan's closest guy friend, Aidan Brewer. He was the quietest one of the group but was also extremely smart. He could analyze the people around him and understand them very well. He knew his friends better than they knew themselves.
    "Does it really matter where he's from?" Chester Webb said, unamused with their conversation. Chester was the guy that made everyone laugh. He had a quirky sense of humor and was never afraid to speak his mind. "When you live in a small town, new people are the targets of the school."
   "Who are you talking about?" I asked and glanced around the table.
   "Dominic Bowman. He enrolled in school this morning." Natasha replied and stared down at her plate.
   "Have you had a class with him?" Chester asked her and crossed his arms.
    Natasha glared at him. "No, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about."
   "Of course not," Chester smirked. "You probably already know that he's from New Hamilton. His mother is an insurance agent and he was formerly on the track team at his old school."
   "Wow Ches, that's a little creepy," Kaiya said and stared over at the blonde headed boy. Her blue eyes trailed down his face. When he made eye contact with Kaiya, her cheeks flushed and she quickly turned her attention elsewhere.

   "He's in my history class. We were partners for a group activity. He's a nice guy and he would probably answer all your questions if you asked him." Chester replied and looked pointedly at Natasha. She rolled her eyes and frowned at him.
   "So Kaiya. Ava. How about we have a movie night at my house this weekend?"
   Kaiya's face brightened. "Yes! That sounds awesome!"
  "Sounds good to me," I replied, not even beginning to meet Kaiya's level of enthusiasm.
  "What about us?" Chester whined, teasingly.

  "What about you?" Natasha asked with a frown and crossed her arms.
  "We might want to join your movie night. Right, guys?" He stated and turned to Declan and Aidan for backup.

   "What are you watching?" Declan asked and looked over at Natasha. Her expression changed in that moment. She seemed to relax and she stared back at him in a more than friendly way.
  "We haven't really decided."
  "It would be nice if we were all together." I put in. Chester turned to me and grinned.
  "You rock, Ava."
  "It would be fun." Aidan agreed and bumped fists with, Chester.
  "I guess we can all be there." Natasha sighed. All of a sudden, the doors of the cafeteria opened and Dominic walked in. His dark hair was gelled back. He wore a green v-neck and a pair of jeans. Kaiya and Natasha swooned.
  "He's gorgeous." Kaiya squealed.
  "He looks good in those jeans," Natasha added and gawked at the new boy walking through the lunchroom.
  "Some people are trying to eat." Chester gagged and picked up his pizza.
  "What do you think of him, Ava?" Natasha asked and looked at me for the first time since we arrived.
   "I don't really know him," I mumbled, not meeting her eyes.
   "Is he the guy you two met at the restaurant the other night?" Aidan asked. Declan must have mentioned that night to him.
   "That's him," Declan responded and stared down at his uneaten lunch.
   "You already met him?" Kaiya gasped. She tore her eyes away from Dominic and returned her attention to our conversation.
   "Yeah," Declan answered her and opened his sandwich.
   "Did he do something to annoy you?" Chester asked. He glanced over at Dominic and then back at Declan. Declan shrugged and put some more mustard on his sandwich.
   "He asked Ava out." Aidan supplied.
   "He didn't know I have a boyfriend." I defended him. "It was an honest mistake."
   "Well, that means that he's single. Someone should invite him to our movie night. We could totally make friends with him." Kaiya's suggested and her eyes searched the table, pleadingly.
   "What if we don't want to be friends?" Chester scoffed and peaked over again at Dominic.
   "The things I want to do with him are more than friendly," Natasha said and winked at Kaiya. I almost choked on my lunch as she spoke.
   "That's more than I needed to know." Aidan cringed and slid his textbook back into his backpack.
  "Why don't we invite him to the movie night?" Natasha asked, excitedly.
  "I don't know..." Chester said.
  "How would you feel if you were at a new school and had no friends yet?"
  "Please, guys." Kaiya piped in.
  "It's fine with me." Aidan agreed and glanced at Declan. "People aren't always nice to the new kid."
 "I guess I'm in." Chester agreed and got up to dump his tray.
  I looked at Declan. "Looks like we're outnumbered."
  "Alright." Declan gave in and Kaiya ran around the table to give him a hug.
  "Thank you!"
  "Who wants to go ask him?" Aidan asked.
  "Why don't you, Ava?" Natasha asked and tilted her head at me, sounding almost innocent. "He seemed to like you."

  "You're the one that's interested in him, though," I replied and tried to match her tone.
  "Please, will one of you just do it?" Kaiya begged. Natasha's eyes were on me, daring me to say no.
  "I'll do it." I stood and walked over to Dominic's table. He saw me coming and smiled. I sucked in a breath when I realized how much his smile added to his looks. He was attractive. His eyes a humbling green. There was a mix of a faint brightness and pain. 
  I want to get to know him. I thought. It wasn't because he was attractive or I wanted a relationship with him. I loved Declan and nothing would change that. He just seemed like someone I couldn't let pass by.
 "Hey, Ava."
 "Hey." I greeted him. "How's your first day?"
 "Pretty good. Everyone's very friendly."
 "Some more than others," I said and gestured back over to the table with my friends. Kaiya and Natasha were staring at him like he was a sale at one of their favorite stores. He blushed and waved at them.
  "They're friendly." He stated with a smile.
 "Would you like to join us for a movie this weekend?" I asked him. He stared at me in silence for a minute. 
 "All of you?" I nodded. "Sure. Sounds fun."
 "Awesome. You're making a couple of girls very happy." I replied and felt a flare of excitement.
 "Sadly, neither of them are you." He said with a small smile. I took a step back and pointed to my table.
   "I should really finish lunch. See you this weekend."
  "See you, Ava." I hurried back to the table. Not looking back to where he was sitting. Kaiya and Natasha were on me the second I sat down.
 "What did he say?"
 "He's coming," Kaiya squealed and jumped up from the table.
 "Thank you so much, Ava. See you guys later." Kaiya said and she went to dump her tray, leaving me, Declan, Aidan, and Natasha at the table.
 "Did he say anything else?" Natasha raised her eyebrows.
 "Nothing really." I lied and picked up my tray. "You ready?"

 "Yeah." Declan stood, smiling. As we left the table, he pulled me close to him and kissed my cheek. "I'm sorry about my mood. I was just-"
 "Jealous." I finished for him.
 "Wouldn't you be?" I kissed him, putting my arms around his shoulders.
 "You're my boyfriend, Declan. I love you." I told him. I placed his hand against my heart and looked up at him. "You're everything to me. My heart."
  "I love you too. I'm sorry I overreacted." We walked towards the cafeteria door and as we were about to leave, I noticed something about Dominic. He was now one of the few left in the cafeteria, sitting alone away from the other students. He held something in his arms. A brown book with a worn cover. At first, I thought it might have been a Bible, but the way he gripped it in his hand seemed like he couldn't put it down. His eyes glazed over it as if it was something gravely important. It was like the book held a secret that could ruin his life.