Bizarre Love Triangle // New Order

I'm standing at the front entrance of the school, the morning after... Damn I wish. It's the morning after the bomb went off, when my life was forever changed by the girl who will always be my goddess. Hell, this girl got me to the front door. Nothing brings me to this part of the school anymore. But I'll gladly stand here for a glimpse of sunshine every day of the week.

I parked in the third row next to douche bag Matt's Audi and Pete's red Beemer. Freaking imports. I endured the eyes of the student body, which have claimed the front lot for those with the means for the imports, the status vehicles. Cars I loathe simply because they are no fun to work on.

I'm leaning against a post at the end of a covered walkway. It's a high school version of the red carpet with plantings on either side of the pathway and complete with a few underclass groupies. Of course my presence has scared them all away. Fine by me. I don't nod or smile. I don't even smirk. My eyes are glued on the lot, the entry drive, waiting patiently.

I don't need to glance at the time to know this girl is pushing her luck. The bell is about to ring. April is pretty much going to be late.

The satisfaction I experience when she does finally pull into the lot is worth everything else I've endured to be present for it. She barrels around the corner like a pro. The girl can handle a wheel, that's for sure. Fucking turn on. Black smoke streams behind her hunk like a tail, billowing over the onlookers who freeze in their paths to watch the show. But damn, has her muffler fallen off? The noise is off the charts and everyone winces or covers their ears. A couple of juniors lucky enough to score a lift with one of the import douches laugh at her car, the heap that it appears to be. I'm probably the only one here who sees through the car's appearance to its guts. And it has them. Just like April.

Dang it makes me want to rectify the problem immediately, climb under the body and tune her up, cherry her out, make that baby shine.

Now I'm not sure if I'm still talking about the car...or the girl.

Both, damn it.

I'm not interested in starting off the day with a fight. April seems determined to start one when I'm around. With the exception of the only vulnerable moment we shared in auto shop yesterday afternoon, when she admitted that her rep is messed up, that chick has it out for my balls. I like my balls. I don't want them injured. And I'm not in the mood for a brush off, or to look like a creep with the freaking pick up lines, so I walk away before the goddess comes face to face with me.

I also do something I haven't done in four years. I listen. I perk up the moment comments about the girl from Miller reach my ears. Rumors already. I'm intrigued by the fact that people are talking about her with such authority after only one day at this school. That's telling. Her reputation probably rivals mine. Although mine is a sure champion if we were in a competition over them.

I've been good at blocking out all of the rumors about myself, so good that when I do hear my name being linked to hers I almost don't realize its me that they are referring to. Couldn't be.

"Nico's got her in his sights. They deserve each other."

"Yeah, freaks."

This from two sophomores. At least they look like sophomores, but I don't take notes on this crap. I keep my head down and walk quietly through the hall, continuing to listen to the bullshit.

"I heard she gets paid."

What the hell? Who would believe that?

"Nico doesn't pay for shit. People just hand stuff to him so he'll leave them alone."

I scoff. That's basically true. One of the perks of being the school asshole.

The limit on my invisibility is almost up. There's only so long I can be in the shadows of the main hallway without getting some kind of attention. Before the strained silence occurs, because that's how I'm greeted—a silent parting of the red sea, no one getting within arms reach of me—I slip into my first period class. My seat in the front is no accident. None of Jefferson high wants to spend fifty minutes with their back to me. As if I would knock some heads during a class session.

I stretch my legs out, grateful for the extra space from being front and center, and wait silently for class to start. I'm a good student. I complete all of my work and never give the teacher a hard time. That's not the reason everyone thinks I'm an asshole.

"That April chick is a freaking nightmare. Too bad she got expelled from Miller. Now we've got to deal with her STDs."

The girl behind me speaks loud enough for me to hear every word. She must not have gotten the memo that I am now linked to the new nightmare. My fucking daydream is everyone's nightmare, something not lost on me in the slightest. I decide to break protocol and turn to face the latest rumor monger.

"Why would you have to deal with her STDs? Planning to tap some of that?" I smirk. It's a dirty question for a dirty rumor but I have a point to make.

The blondie behind me, a girl named Samantha, drops her jaw to the desktop. She doesn't look nervous that I'm speaking to her, more like shocked that I've spoken to anyone at all for any reason.

"Um...no." She answers with that tone girls use to make a guy feel like an idiot. Doesn't work on me.

"Did she show you her medical records?" Point number two.

"What?" Samantha looks confused.

"Did you attend a doctor's appointment with her?"

"Are you high?"

I laugh. "Maybe." I'm not. Don't touch the stuff.

Samantha nods and narrows her gaze. "Are you with her?"

I lean closer, rest my elbow on her desk and smirk. "Jealous?" What a fucking joke.

Now Samantha finally looks a little nervous. "No!"

I drop the smirk and create an affected glare. It's fake. I'm not offended that she wants nothing to do with me. I'm relieved. I eye her up and down; pink short shorts and a graphic tee paired with sandals. Her short blonde hair is in waves around her face. On the outside, she's cute, but her inner ugly ruins it.

"It's not nice to say shit about someone you don't know, Samantha." I tack on her name to drive home my last point. I do know her, and the shit I'd say wouldn't be some rumor. I let the glare linger for a second, taking sick pleasure in the way the color drains out of her face. No girl wants her name on my lips. Not since freshman year, anyway. And not because of the reputation I have with girls.

When two seniors jump a freshman in the bathroom, a freshman that happens to have a green-black belt in Jujitsu--the highest level for a fifteen year old, and those two seniors end up unconscious on said bathroom floor, no one wants to be associated with that kind of reputation. Instead of treating the seniors like the criminals they were, I was the one locked up. Being from the wrong side of this town was evidence enough against me. Didn't matter that my dad was a cop. Didn't matter that it was self defense. The only thing that mattered was the seniors' football glory and family trust fund. That was their proof of innocence.

I turn back around to face the front of class. I hear the mummers now making their way like wildfire across the room. I just hope that when the rumor I just basically confirmed, the one that states we're together by not denying it, gets to April, she takes mercy on my balls.

***

Lunch is always a drag. I eat school food, if one can categorize it as food, in the back lot with the rest of humanity. The front lot designees have claimed the tables and benches within the school boundaries and the rest of us escape out here. No seats or benches, but there's sections of grass between rows of cars and a line of trees where the park meets the school that also offers shady seating. Most kids sit in their cars with the windows down or the doors open. That's what I usually do, but today, like a genius, I parked out front.

There are a couple of guys back here that will give me the time of day. Problem is, these are the guys with a reputation that matches reality. They do get in fights and find new ways to break the law. I'm not afraid of them, and hanging with them wouldn't do much to my reputation anyway. It would probably give theirs another layer of badass. But I've steered clear of them. I don't know, it seems like a hassle to hang out. I'd always be telling them to put their weapons away or actually study or some crap like that. I honestly don't have the energy.

"Yo, Nico! What gives? Your truck's not running?"

Speak of the devil... Danny, Jordan and Angel call out as they approach me by the tree line.

"Nah, it's good. Parked in the front today."

This declaration is met with a round of back smacks and throw down threats, as if I just suckered the rich crowd.

"Ho! They so pissed you took their spot!" Danny says it like I pulled the best punk of the year by parking out front.

I've got to get out of high school.

"Heard you hooked up with the new girl." Angel lifts his chin. "She all that?"

This is why I keep to myself. Now I've got to interact with these aholes.

"No hooking up has occurred. A couple of convo's but that's it." I shut my mouth about the details because that's my business. However, I hate the idea of rumors about April already floating, already ugly, and she doesn't have a clue what being linked to me will do to her.

These three jerks are just the beginning.

"Aw, dog, you can do better than that. That girl is smokin'." Angel has his eyes locked on something behind me so I take the bait and look.

The goddess in all of her glory has arrived.

If she were in the main quad, April would have been greeted by stone silence and harsh glares. But here in the lot it's pretty close to a non-event for half of the bodies that continue to nosh on their lunch. The male population currently watching her step into our territory with tongues wagging in appreciation is another story.

"Keep it in your pants, jeez." I scoff as I lean against a tree and much on an apple. I don't know how its possible to fuck up an apple, but the school lunch crew figured it out. Tastes like sand.

I watch April walking with Emily. Somehow April linked up with the one girl at Jefferson who wouldn't give a crap about the rep that followed her here. Emily is tough. Most guys here would cry like little bitches if she looked at them wrong. She's also the only girl who rides a motorcycle. Even I cringe when I see her take the hard turns, her body leaning all the way over. The road rash if she ever loses control will be a nightmare.

Emily drags April to a spot with a few other girls, all with the ability to hold their own against anyone here. I relax for the first time since hearing her name being whispered. She's got backup now.

"Damn. Too bad she's like that." Danny mutters as he turns away from the show.

His words grab my attention.

"Like what? What are you talking about?"

"You heard this morning when Samantha jawed with you." He shrugs. Shrugs off the fact that he's already convicted April without ever talking to her.

"What the hell is wrong with people?" My voice is gruff because now I'm pissed.

"Bro, you don't gotta go nuclear over her. Thought you didn't hook up." Danny gets a little closer to me. It's the first time in a long time that anyone challenged me in any way, so I'm surprised I don't react with a fist. Maybe I've gained some self-control.

"Does that really matter? Would you talk shit if I had? Something tells me you'd still look down on her, Danny. You don't even know her. Why would you let someone else make up your mind for you?" Disgusted, I throw the apple into the tree line. Then I push off the tree and walk away. I fucking hate high school.

"I see how it is. Message received, Nico. I won't mess with what you've pissed all over." Danny calls out to me. The strange thing is his tone is respectful while his words are anything but.

Once again I have no plan. I find my feet moving in her direction without a thought in my head other than, she deserves better. Apparently, I've just accepted the position of protector. I just hope she doesn't beat the crap out of me for it.

Like I said, I like my balls intact. As I approach April and her group, my hand instinctively covers my junk when she looks up at me.

"Wanna get out of here?" I ask, hand still over my balls just in case.

To my surprise, April smiles. Then cocks her head. That's when I realize her smile is the evil variety so I take a step back.

"Why, do I have a doctor's appointment you'd like to join in on?"

And that's when she throws a rock at my head.

Well, that escalated quickly...what is April thinking?!? Haha, next week will pick up right here from April's POV so you'll find out exactly what she has planned for Nico. I have such a crush on him! I don't know how she can resist his charms, lol! 

FYI my writing time has been seriously nill. Nada. Ziltch. I've got nothing. Luckily I have a few chapters mostly ready so our Friday Feel Fest should be on schedule for the next couple of weeks. I'm pretty confident there will be no interruption in our flow.

Thanks so much for reading! I appreciate you so much!!

https://youtu.be/dF_8KH5Ft9g