Page 67 of No Romeo
The door clicked open, and Smith turned from the white board, her gaze widening when it dropped to my shirt. “Oh, uh-uh, Jeffrey Dahmer. You stop your killing-spree butt right there!”
She capped her marker and went to her desk. “Like I’m gonna let you sit in here all covered in Lord only knows whose blood. Ripped shirt.” She shook her head before crossing the room. “Get on down to the nurse’s office and clean that mess off of you. Probably need to go ahead and send up some prayers for forgiveness, ‘cause your ass is surely on its way to hell.”
I snatched the pass from her outstretched hand and left the room. I was not in the mood to argue with that batshit-crazy woman today.
Halfway down the empty hall, footsteps came from behind me. “Hendrix!”
Of course, Lola would come after me. Up the hill, down the hill. Loop de loop.
Clenching my jaw, I turned around just before her Converse skidded to a stop in front of me.
Her panicked gaze moved from my blood-splattered shirt to my busted hand and finally my untouched face. “Are you okay?”
I was so tired of her acting like she cared.I miss you. We’re just friends. Fuck me, Hendrix. Don’t fuck me.No. I was tired of wanting her to care.
My gaze dropped from the eyes I used to lose myself in to lips I used to kiss without needing to ask permission. Like Lola-Fucking-Stevens had a right to give a crap if I was okay.
I wasn’t.
I hadn't been. Because of her. All because when it came to her, I had zero control over my anger, my want, my dignity. “Oh, is today one of the days you give a shit?” My tone was harsh, the same shithead tone I took with girls I didn’t care about.
She frowned. “I’ve nevernotgiven a shit about you. And you know it.”
I had to place a hand on one of the lockers to steady myself and laugh at that one. Because that was bullshit. I would never betray someone I cared about. “Yeah,” I said, turning my back to her. “It’s been absolutely crystal clear, punk.”
That time, the echo of her footfalls didn’t follow behind me.
Chapter23
LOLA
Whispers bounced off the walls of Dayton High for the rest of the morning. By the time I’d grabbed my lunch and dropped to the crowded table, I’d pieced together a vague image of what had transpired earlier that day.
Barrington being assholes was nothing new. What threw me off was the rumor that Hendrixhadn’tpunched Ethan because he’d sure as hell beaten the crap out of someone. My gaze drifted across the lunchroom to Hendrix.
I had my own problems to worry about, though. Namely, how the hell I was going to pay my rent after next week. I had a total of one hundred and twenty bucks saved up and a slew of rejection emails from most of the jobs I’d applied for over the weekend. And during these “desperate End Times”, sometimes we had to resort to desperate measures. At least Church Boy was right about one thing…
I spooned the school’s instant mashed potatoes into my mouth, swallowed, then turned my attention to Kyle. “Can you take me somewhere tonight?”
Kyle paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. “Sure. Where?”
“Church.”
He made a weird choking sound, and Robert whacked him on the back. “Church?”
“They’re gonna have pizza.” And donations. I speared an overboiled green bean and waved it in his direction. “Maybe even your favorite. Disgusting ham and pineapple.” It really was the worst combination ever.
“Butyouwant to go tochurch?” he said.
“Why do I feel like you’re judging me, Kyle?”
His cheeks turned red. “I’m not.”
I snorted, and it was only when a beat of silence passed between us that I noticed Robert and his friends had stopped arguing over which Marvel hero had the best powers. In fact, the entire cafeteria was quieter than normal.
A palpable tension hung in the air as though everyone was afraid to speak or breathe too loudly. And fear in this place usually stemmed from one person…
My gaze drifted back to Hendrix’s table and the vacuum of space around it, vacant of the usual girls trying to cozy up to Dayton’s bad boys.
