CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6

I search more angrily than usual for my math book inside my locker.

"Hello, Mouse."

I jump when the voice of the unwanted one reaches my ears. Two strong arms appear on either side of my body, cornering me.

"Mouse your grandmother" I turn angrily to look at him and, for the first time, I am not stunned by his proximity. "You're... you're... you're... you're an unbalanced fool."

James looks at me with mock seriousness, I say mock because I know him well enough to know that he's having the time of his life, big time with me!"

"What happened to you, honey?"

"Go tell honey to your... to your... To your filthy, tattooed ass!" I look from side to side to make sure no one sees us and, when I'm sure of it, I take my long hair off my neck to expose it to his eyes. "Do you know what this is?" I ask him, pointing to the huge hickey that still hasn't disappeared.

He nods and looks as amused as he always looks when he pisses me off.

"It's a hickey" he says with a slight shrug. Then he moves his hand closer to the hickey, dragging his thumb back and forth across my skin. "Does it hurt?"

I shake his hand hard, ignoring the goose bumps from his touch.

"Do you know where I have another one?" I point to my chest with my index finger and growl in frustration when his very happy eyes, fall in my direction.

James looks from side to side as if he's also making sure no one sees us and then, as if it's the most normal thing in the world, he brings his hand to my shirt and pulls it down a little to try and look at my chest!

"What are you doing!" I grope his hand again and then put my T-shirt back in place.

"I just wanted to see the other hickey," he says innocently, "to make sure you're not lying."

"Ahhh!" I yell, frustrated. "You should be thankful my hair is long enough to cover it up, do you know how much trouble I would have been in if my parents had seen it?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was sorry?"

Holy Macarena, why doesn't that sound like an apology?!

"No, I wouldn't believe you."

He sighs with relief.

"That's lucky, Mouse, because I wasn't planning on saying it."

And, again, that arrogant smile appears on his face, a smile that I want to erase with a strong punch, of course, if I had enough strength to knock him down, because with my great strength I probably wouldn't be able to hurt him even a little bit, too....

I snap out of my reverie when his cold fingers move my hair away from my shoulder, exposing my neck.

"Don't hide it, I didn't make it for that, Thea," he murmurs, running his thumb over my sensitive reddish skin, his eyes very focused on that patch of my skin.

"Did you do it on purpose?" I ask incredulously, ignoring the goose bumps settling on the back of my neck.

"This one I did do on purpose" he puts a little more pressure on the skin of my neck, pointing to his spot. "Not the one on your chest, that wasn't planned. I just lost control with you."

"Oh, wow" I clear my throat as my voice comes out shaky. "That's very good to know... What are you, a caveman who has to mark his woman?"

A beaming smile forms on his lips and I review my last words for what might have been funny to him.

God, Thea... why are you such a fool?

"So you're my woman?" A single dimple appears in his left cheek as his smile spreads. "Now that's really good to know."

"No... I... I... I mean..." loud guffaws erupt from his lips and all I can do is blush and get angry... to great levels.

Before I can use my super powers to take him down, Diane and Ben make their presence known.

Even though it's been a few days since James has sat at lunch with us, it still seems strange to me to see him and Ben getting along. I mean, Ben is Mathew's best friend and Mathew totally unlike James, so they shouldn't get along? Bah, maybe I'm just too crazy with my super thinking head.

Ben and James talk about some of those things that men talk about that will never make sense to women. Meanwhile, Diane opens her locker and takes out the books we'll need for today.

"Are you all right?" I ask her when I see that she is very quiet, something that never happens because she talks like... always!

"Shhh, I'm rehearsing my words" she says without looking at me. She repeats a few barely understandable things under her breath, concentrating on what seems to be something very important. She nods, shakes her head to one side and whispers a soft: "Ready."

"Huh?"

But before I can ask her to explain further, my unbalanced best friend grabs James' shirt and shakes him a little to get his attention.

"Look, man, I see you screaming at Thea again like you did yesterday and I'll cut your balls off" James looks at her motionless with his green eyes wide as plates. "You may be hot as hell and have the best ass on the planet, but Thea is my best friend and I'm not going to let any guy, aunt, dog, slut, or shellfish raise their voice to her, got it?"

He nods as, next to him, Ben is doing his best to hold back his loud giggles. I, the only thing I choose to do, is to stare motionless at the comical situation of this Amazonian girl in front of me.

"Yeah, I don't..." James starts to speak, but Diane shuts him up with a stern look.

"Shut up, I'm not finished yet" she thinks about it for a moment, nods and continues talking. Has she really learned her words by heart?. "That being clear, you have my permission to stick your penis in her virginal vagina..."

"Diane!" I scream, totally shocked.

What's wrong with her?!

In any case, she ignores me.

"...But you have to be very careful because I'm not lying if I tell you that the only place that Mathew's asshole kissed Thea, was her lips. So, you know, you have to go slow and stick it in her carefully because..."

"Ben!" I look at him, totally embarrassed, "Control your girlfriend!"

"Hey, Thea!" He throws up his hands as he looks at me with his eyes narrowed from laughing. "I'm just letting my girlfriend have that free speech shit!"

"Diane!" I pull her hair to get her away from James and yell in her ear: "What Macarenas are you doing!"

"I've seen the hickey on your neck, Thea" she stops looking at James to look at me. "I have to make sure your first time is as orgasmic as mine."

I see Ben proudly patting his chest as he says to a perplexed James: "I had her first time, asshole."

"Get out!" I yell loud enough for some of the students to turn and look at me. "You guys are... are... are... top-notch perverts!" I look at James who, as I imagined, has snapped out of his bewilderment as soon as he saw me getting angry and is now laughing. "And you stop laughing every time I get angry!"

"She's so cute, isn't she?" Diane whispers with a smile on her lips, looking at me.

I'll kill her!

I pull the book out of my locker and throw it at her without hesitation.

Ben continues to laugh and, before I can send a second object at them, he grabs Diane's hand and drags her running down the hallway toward the classroom.

"Here" James holds out the book that seconds before was on the floor. "Calm down, Mouse" but the amused smile on his face doesn't get me to calm down.

My best friend has asked him to put his penis in me slowly! Who does that happen to besides me?! Nobody! Nobody!

"I'll kill her," I whisper, closing the locker tightly as I hold the books I need against my chest. "I'll kill her, I swear."

"I like her" he says, gently tousling the hair that falls in my face. "Although I can't deny that she's a little crazy."

"And you get a kick out of what she says."

He shrugs, not denying it, as we walk to the classroom.

"I'll take her advice," he says, looking straight ahead.

And me? I stop in my tracks halfway down the hall.

"What advice will you take?" I ask him as he retraces the steps he had taken without me.

He shoves his hands in his pockets and lets go: "Those tips about going slow when you and I do it for the first time."

How many years can I spend in jail for murder? For double murder, of course, because another one has already been added to Thea's blacklist. Whatever the time, it will be worth it. I'll have to ask mom to bake more chocolate chip cookies because if I'm going to spend a few years in jail, I have to enjoy the pleasures of life to the fullest the time I'm free...

I startle as James' fingers return to tuck my hair behind my shoulder, that's when I notice we're still standing in the middle of the aisle.

"Don't hide it, Mouse" before I can protest, he reaches up to place a soft, almost imperceptible kiss on my neck, right where I know his hickey is.

I stare at him open-mouthed in surprise, but he just winks at me before continuing on his way. And me? I stand there like a fool, watching his back disappear as he crosses the hallway to enter the classroom. When I've been able to snap out of my daze, I enter the classroom to continue what appears to be a bad day. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have nice, fun math classes first period.

I advance to the last seat where I sit with James, but again I stop dead in my tracks when I see a particular blonde sitting in my seat.

Is this some kind of déjà vu I'm experiencing?

"That's my seat" I tell Ariana with my best bully face.

"Oh, you can sit with Mathew again" she says, smiling at me with her very perfect white teeth. "I've decided that, from now on, I'm going to sit with James."

I look over my shoulder to see Mathew with a smile, pointing to the empty seat next to him and motioning for me to go sit there.

I shake my head.

"No" I say to Ariana and then look at James. He is watching me with an arched eyebrow, totally amused.

What's so funny!

Suddenly, I imagine taking off my shoe and smashing it hard in his face, would he still be laughing?

"Excuse me?" Ariana's smile drops a little. "Did you say no?"

I nod also with a smile, the most tender of all.

"Yes, I said no" she looks at me with what seems to be indignation. "That's my position and I'm not going to change it for you."

"James!" She squeals and looks at him with a totally childish pout. "Tell her it's me you want to sit with!"

James turns his amused gaze away from me to look at her. He looks pleased, the assho... cute.

"I'd tell her, there's just one tiny little problem, Amanda..."

"Ariana" she corrects him quietly, embarrassed.

"What?" He asks, confused.

"My name is Ariana, not Amanda."

James hits his head like when you've just remembered something you've forgotten.

"Oh, right! Aman... Ariana" he corrects at last. "As I've been telling you, there's one tiny little problem and that's that I don't lie."

"What does that mean?" She asks in a very high-pitched voice.

"That I can't tell Thea that I want to sit with you because I would be lying to her, do you understand?"

I bite my lip to suppress my laughter at Ariana's perplexed face.

"Are you preferring her?" The blonde asks incredulously.

James nods effusively, as if he were facing a person with some disability.

"Why would I prefer you?" He asks her when she remains motionless on the seat. "I don't know you and I don't want to. Have you seen Thea?" He points to me with his hand. "Have you seen yourself?" Now he looks at her. "Do you really think I'd choose you over her? Only an idiot would, darling, and I'm not one."

Well done, James!

I'd like to say I'm full of goodness enough not to laugh in a situation like this, but I can't because I do laugh. And I laugh a lot.

Ariana looks from James to me with a red face full of embarrassment. When she seems to have enough humiliation, she picks up her backpack and returns to her seat next to Mathew.

I sit next to James, trying to control my laughter.

"What a freak," he comments, pulling out his day planner. I wonder why he has one if he never uses it.

"I know," I say, referring to Ariana.

"And how jealous you are, Mouse" I drop my planner hard on the desk when I hear his words.

"What did you say?"

"How jealous of you, Mouse."

"I wasn't jealous" I retort, opening my diary sharply as I see the devil come in to start my hours of hell.

"Oh, of course you were" I stay silent because I don't want to start a fight with him when the devil is about to start class. "You look hot when you're jealous."

I kick his foot hard under the table, but an amused laugh is all I get from him.

How infuriating!

***

"You have to give me some of your fries because I gave them up for you, Mouse," James tells me as we walk to our table.

"It's not my fault they were the last ones," I tell him, sitting down next to Diane who is chatting with Ben.

"But since I preferred to give them to you, now you have to share them with me," he explains, sitting down across from me.

"I'm not going to give them to you" I deny while I pour them out of the sauces I want.

"That's unfair, you have..."

"You'll never guess what I've heard about!" I look at Diane with disinterest because I really don't care about that gossip. For the moment, I just want to enjoy the pleasures of life. One of those is eating these fries because, when I go to jail for murdering Diane and James, I will most likely no longer be able to eat this delicacy.

"What kind of gossip is that?" James asks Diane, but his eyes are on my fries, not hers.

"Mathew and Ariana have broken up. The blonde's infatuation with him only lasted a little over a month."

I grab James' hand when he tries to steal a chip from me.

"Hold it right there, delinquent!" I yell at him.

"Apparently, Ariana has a new whim" Diane continues talking while I do my best to protect my chips. "And that new whim is James."

James looks at her sideways for a moment, because his naughty cat eyes fall again on my chips.

"That's right, man," I hear Ben's voice, but I continue to concentrate on my chips so no one steals them. "She asked for your number, James."

"Did you give it to her?" I ask immediately, looking away from my chips for a second.

"No, of course I didn't."

"Don't give it to her," I say, waving a chip up and down in front of his face.

Ben nods like a soldier trained to obey my orders.

Wow, I should go to military school, I'd make great cadets!

"You potato thief!" I grab James' hand and stop him from eating the chip he stole from me. "That should be a life sentence! It's not fair!"

"I'm eating this disgusting salad because I gave in to giving the last burger and fries to you," James mutters with slumped shoulders. "This pandering to the girl you like sucks."

I shrug.

"Saying you like me won't make me share my fries with you," I bring one to my lips and chew it dramatically. "They're mine."

"Hell" he mumbles angrily.

He can say he loves me and he's even willing to give his life for me, but I wouldn't share my chips if I were crazy! They're mine!

"The potato chip issue aside," Ben says, catching our attention, "Mathew told me he wants you back, Thea."

James snorts, looking annoyed. I take advantage of the fact that he's sulking at Ben's words, so I neglect my fries for a second so I can eat my burger.

"The asshole is coming this way."

But I don't pay attention to Diane's words because James has taken advantage of my carelessness to steal a chip from me.

He looks like a hawk and my fries his prey!

I hold his hand with the evidence of his crime in it. I don't even think about it for a second to bring it to my mouth and bite down hard on his fingers.

"Fuuuuuck!"

"Thea?" I raise my eyes to Mathew who looks at me in confusion, my teeth still capturing James' fingers.

I slowly pull his fingers out of my mouth and smile like when my mom catches me stealing from her cookies.

"Yes?" I ask in my sweetest voice to Mathew.

"Can we talk?"

"Sure" I agree, waiting for him to say what he has to say.

"Alone" he clarifies after a second of what seems to be awkwardness.

"Whatever you have to say to my Mouse, you can say it right in front of me" that's James.

"Mou... what?" Mathew shakes his head with a frown and then looks at me with pleading in his eyes. "Please, Thea."

"I said not alone," James warns in a gruff voice.

I look down at my chips and decide that, if I stand up, James won't hesitate to steal them from me.

"I'm eating my chips, Mathew" I glance sideways at James to find him red with anger. "Can we talk some other time?"

"On the way out, is that okay?" I nod, finding no problem. He smiles back at me. "Talk to you later, Thea."

And he leaves as if he had just won a late-model car, totally happy.

I smile because I'll finally be able to finish eating my chips, but James' angry voice makes me raise my face to look at him.

"Are you going to talk to him?"

"Oh, oh. First marriage fight," Diane whispers to Ben. "Record it, love."

I ignore them.

"What's wrong with that?" I ask a very angry James.

What's his problem?

"How can you ask me what's wrong with it? That you can't be alone with an idiot like him!"

I frown, not understanding his outburst.

"Why wouldn't I? Before we were boyfriend and girlfriend, Mathew and I were best friends," I explain even though I'm under no obligation to do so. "I want my friend back."

"Oh, perfect!" He pushes the tray with his food, spilling some of the horrible salad on the table. "You are exactly like all the girls."

"Are you recording them?" Diane asks Ben as he records everything on his phone.

"Yes, all recorded."

I keep ignoring them because James is really pissing me off.

"What do you mean by that?"

He looks at me with his totally angry face.

"That you're exactly like those masochistic girls who go back to the guy who treated them like dirt" I clench my hands into fists when I hear his words. "You're going to talk to that asshole even though he dumped you for a girl who has more boobs than you!"

I look at him totally irate and he looks back at me even more angrily.

I look down at my potato chips and suddenly I don't crave them anymore.

"You're being a jerk," I tell him before standing up, totally pissed off.

I walk with big, jerky footsteps to get out of the dining room, but when I'm halfway there, a firm tug on my hand forces me to turn around. Soon, strong arms wrap around my waist, pressing me against a hard chest.

Then, warm lips are on mine.

James' strong hands give my waist a squeeze as mine lie motionless on his hard chest, but my lips don't stay still, they move in tandem with his, in a kiss so desperate that it manages to make me let out a soft moan, right in the middle of the school canteen.

He ignores the fact that more than half the students are watching us, ignores the fact that we are possibly going to be punished because kissing is forbidden at school. He ignores everything. He only concentrates on kissing my lips like an expert... and I only worry about kissing his.

I'd be lying if I said I don't feel the said butterflies in my stomach because, shamefully, I do, causing me this slight dizziness that makes me hold on to him tighter. My hands come up to tangle in his short locks of hair and soon I feel the warmth of his hand on my neck, exactly where his mark is.

First kisses are shy, aren't they? Well this kiss is not shy at all. Holy Macarena, his tongue is definitely not.

I open my eyes when he pulls away with a gentle tug of my bottom lip between his teeth. I blink my eyes to focus my gaze because his kiss has left me on another planet. When I manage to snap out of my state of stupidity, it's his cocky grin that's the first thing I see.

My breathing quickens again as he brings his face close to mine and whispers close to my ear: "Just to be clear, your tits are better."

Huh?

Before I can assimilate his words, he deposits a soft kiss on my neck and walks away, leaving me totally confused in the middle of a dining room full of prying eyes staring at me as if I were an alien.

What just happened?