The Burn - High School Bully Romance

Mackenzie

AFTER ORDERING CHEESECAKE, I watched Gus try to eat both his meal and mine. He actually put down almost everything.

"Wow, impressive," I said, when he set his fork down.

"I'm stuffed, though." He looked over toward the restrooms. "I'll be back. I'm going to the men's room."

"Okay."

As soon as he left, I pulled out the small vial of magnesium citrate Kara and I had gotten from the drugstore earlier. I looked around and then poured it into his strawberry lemonade. The laxative was supposed to work fairly quickly, although I'd never used it before. I quickly mixed it with the straw, grateful the waiter had just refilled his glass.

"Feeling better?" I asked when Gus sat back down at the table.

He smiled. "Yeah."

"Good."

The waiter returned with my cheesecake. I grabbed my fork, took a bite, and made a face.

"What's wrong?"

"It tastes funny."

He frowned.

"Try it," I said. "You'll see what I mean."

Gus took a fork and tasted it. He looked at me like I was crazy. "You can't be serious? It's delicious."

I tried again and shuddered. "Sorry, but it definitely has a weird aftertaste."

He sighed.

I put my fork down and pushed the plate away. "I can't eat this." I let out a ragged sigh. "I knew I should have ordered the chocolate cake. Dang it." I looked over at Gus.

Sighing, he motioned for the waiter, who arrived quickly.

"Yes, sir?" the man asked.

"Can we order a piece of chocolate cake?" he asked unenthusiastically.

The waiter smiled. "With or without ice cream?"

"With," I said quickly.

"What she said," Gus said.

OF COURSE I didn't want to overdo it, so I ate most of the cake and thanked Gus for being so nice.

"I feel so bad that I ordered all of that and didn't eat hardly any of it. And it was so expensive," I added.

His smile seemed forced. "It's fine."

I blotted my mouth with the napkin and stood up. "I really need to use the bathroom. I'll be right back."

He picked up his glass of lemonade. "I'll be waiting."

I smiled again and headed to the ladies' room. Once inside, I opened up Gus's wallet and found that he had eleven one-hundred dollar bills inside. I thought it was odd that he carried so much cash, but knew he was a gambler.

He probably has some side-bets going on for tonight, I thought in disgust.

In any case, I didn't have the heart to throw the money away. It deserved to go to a worthy cause.

Like a charity?

Grinning, I took the cash out and dropped the wallet into the trash bin. I then returned to the table.

"Are you okay?" I asked, noticing that he was looking a little uncomfortable.

He shifted in his seat. "I'm fine. I think I just ate a little too much."