“All this hiding things from your mom is really getting on my nerves,” I mumbled. “Maybe we should just lay it all out. She’s a big girl and she has to find out eventually.”
“You can’t do that!”
I narrowed my eyes at her. Was this about more than me being her stepbrother? Would her mom think I wasn’t good enough for her precious angel? We weren’t really related! Julie would have to be delusional to protest for that reason.
“Fine,” I said. “What about school? Are we going to hide it there also?”
“I’ll let you decide. I don’t care either way,” she conceded.
“Well, that makes me feel good, you not caring either way.” I turned back to the sketch, touching it up.
She wrapped her arms around my neck from behind and kissed me on the cheek. “I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t care because there’s no one there that’s important enough to me.”
“What about the misfits?” I asked, mostly forgiving her.
“The what?”
“Our new friends.”
“Oh yeah, we’ll tell them, of course, but I could care less what anyone else thinks.” When she nibbled on my ear she was completely forgiven.
“Now, about that cuddling we discussed earlier,” I reminded her, making her giggle in my ear.
*****
As was our new habit, I drove Gianna to school the next morning. I’d decided she’d be coming to and from school with me from now on. Things would be unpleasant when I gave Desiree the brush off today and let Seth know to back the fuck off. Josh had better not try any shit either.
I chose a spot far out in the parking lot. Before Gianna got out of the car, I grabbed her waist to pull her onto my lap. I’d miss her lips and wanted to get my fix before the faculty’s judging eyes killed the mood.
Breathless, she rested her head on my shoulder. “I’d be okay with skipping today.”
“Me too, but I think we should get this over with. Give a big screw you to anyone who has a problem with it.”
“You can give them a screw you attitude and I’ll give them a leave me the hell alone attitude,” she informed me.
“You do that, little badass. Come on, I’ll walk you to first period”
Holding hands as we walked through the parking lot, we drew stares and whispers right away. It was like being in a bad teen movie. Didn’t they have classes to get to? We passed by Seth and Josh where they were leaning against the back of Josh’s truck. Their dirty looks made my day. Perhaps Seth wasn’t such a nice guy after all, at least not when it came to me. My smart-ass grin didn’t help matters.
Gianna didn’t seem fazed by it all. My girlfriend was so beautiful and brave. Walking past people, she acted as if we weren’t the focus of their attention and conversations. But then, our classmates had gossiped about Gianna in the past.
We spotted Kara and the other misfits standing near the front doors. Kara greeted is with, “Hi,” then took in where our hands were joined and shouted, “Oh my god! I knew it! Didn’t I tell you guys?”
“How’d you know?” Gianna asked Kara while I wondered if they’d taken bets.
“Duh! By the way you two acted around each other,” Kara explained, clearly enjoying being right.
“You don’t think it’s weird?” I asked her, not beating around the bush.
“Why would it be weird? It’s not like you guys are blood-related.”
“Well, I think it’s sick!” a high-pitch voice sneered from behind us.
Desiree stood there, staring daggers at Gianna. I was about to give her a piece of my mind, but Gianna beat me to it. “Desiree, you’re just mad because you threw yourself at Caleb and he threw you back.”
The crowd forming around us laughed, mocking Desiree. “You bitch!” Desiree shrieked.
Gianna ignored her and turned to me. “Walk me to class, Caleb?” The sugar-sweet voice was a nice touch.
“Sure,” I replied, pulling her close as we entered the building. Outside her class, teachers be damned, I went in for another kiss. Let everyone see, the sooner they got used to it, the better. “Bye, princess. See you next period.”
“Bye,” Gianna sighed, leaving me to go in and take her seat. I traveled to my first class with a big grin on my face.
After first period was over, I hoofed it to my second class which I had with Gianna. She still hadn’t shown up yet when the final bell rang. Feeling that something wasn’t right, I grabbed my backpack and didn’t stop to let the teacher know where I was going. I stepped into the hallway calling her phone, but there was no answer. I didn’t even know where to begin to look. Maybe it was a girl emergency? If so, wouldn’t she at least text me to say she wasn’t coming to class?