The Rocker and the Realist

Chapter Seven

Thursday morning I was attacked as soon as I stepped into school. Jess pounced on me like a cat to a mouse.

“Ahhh!” My books fell from my hands as I screamed. “I think you gave me a heart attack.” I slapped at her before I stooped to pick up my books. Jess, who wasn’t bothered by the state of my recently threatened health, shifted impatiently.

“You brought this on yourself by not calling me back last night.”

“I had homework. Ever heard of it?”

She rolled her big eyes. “Whatever Ms. Academia. What happened with Mateus?”

“Nothing good.” I muttered and trudged to my locker, giving her no choice but to follow.

She slammed a hand into my locker door when I tried to open it. The guy next to me jumped from the noise. “Explain.” She commanded.

Suppressing a groan I abandoned my locker and faced her. “He took me to watch a motocross race with his friends. Afterward we went back to his place and played pool.”

She looked at me blankly. “I’m sorry, I must be missing something because that doesn’t sound too terrible. Were you betting on the race and lost big or something?”

I snorted and spun the combination on my locker. “You caught me. My bets didn’t pan out and now the mob is after me.”

“Italian?” She inquired as I pulled my books out.

“Chinese actually. With the economy down they are looking to expand their revenue options.”

She laughed as we narrowly avoided being trampled by the football team. We fell into step together again. “Now what really happened?”’

I glanced around before carefully lowering my scarf. Jess, being the picture of discreet elegance that she is, took this opportunity to scream, like a banshee. I slapped a hand over her mouth and quickly removed it before she could do something childish like lick me. “Would you shut up?”

“Would you explain why you have a hickey?” She countered.

The clock above her head said we had a few minutes before class started so I latched onto her arm and dragged her into the bathroom. “Mateus kissed me.”

“Yeah, I gathered that much, Sherlock.” She rolled her eyes. “I want details!”

I sighed and moved to the mirror to check that my scarf was back in place. “He kissed me while we were playing pool and then things… escalated. And before you freak out even more, I regret it and feel awful about the whole thing.”

She joined me in the mirror. “Why do you regret it? Because he’s a crap kisser or because of Colton?”

“He definitely was not a crap kisser.”

She pulled a cover stick out of her bag and moved my scarf out of the way. “So it’s because of Colton.”

“Yeah.” I murmured while she slowly covered the mark on my neck.

“Before you ask, no it isn’t that visible. I just don’t want you to worry about it or constantly move your scarf because that would look totally suspicious.”

“Thanks.” She gently put my scarf back in place as I replayed the kiss with Mateus. Was it really just Colton that tinted the kiss?

Jess led the way back to class and waited until the teacher gave us group work before continuing her inquisition. “What are you going to about tomorrow night?”

“What do you think I should do?” I asked as I opened my textbook so I could at least pretend I was working.

“Depends, honey, do you feel bad about the kiss because you committed to a date with Colton or do you feel bad because you really like Colton?”