*****
The next morning, I drove Gianna to school again. Eating the breakfast burritos Julie made us, we waited in my car in the parking lot for Josh to arrive. When he did, last night’s efforts proved to be well worth it. Everyone who caught the show laughed along with us. Josh exited his truck, still obviously clueless. He had a bewildered look on his face until he rounded the back of his truck to the other side where a crowd was gathering.
Since my car windows were rolled down his, “Who the fuck did this?” was loud and clear.
Written along the side of his truck was his first and last name, but that wasn’t all. For each letter of his name, coming down from that letter, Gianna and I had added a word to describe the wonderfulness that was Josh Larsen.
Jackass
Obsessive
Shithead
Hater
Limp-dick
Asshole
Rapist
Sleaze
Evil
Necrophiliac
We’d run out of room on the last word, but he’d get the gist of it. I was itching to go over there and beat the shit out of him for hurting Gianna, but I realized he would know then Gianna and I had vandalized his truck. I didn’t want him going after her for it. A target on my back wouldn’t have bothered me, but Gianna couldn’t fight back. I still owed him a beating. First chance I got, he’d meet my fists. Until then, I’d keep a close eye on Gianna at school.
Still sitting in my car, I warned her, “Gianna, I want you to be careful at school from now on. Go everywhere with at least one other person and wait at your locker for me after school. I’ll drive you to and from school for awhile.”
Shifting in her seat, she looked worried. “Okay, I guess.” Then with an impish smile, she added, “Do you think we should offer him the can of black spray paint we didn’t use to cover it up?” She laughed so I knew she wasn’t serious.
Picking up her backpack along with mine, I said, “Come on, princess, I’ll walk you to first next class.”
I had second and fourth periods with Gianna and I actually found myself eager to get to them. Last week she ignored me like a stranger, but this week she smiled at me when I came into class. I always sat in the back of my classes, so my view was of the back of her head in second period and her profile in fourth. I was so pathetic, acting like all the other guys at this school who worshipped Gianna.
I definitely needed to get laid on Friday night. That’d clear my head of her. During fourth period, I browsed through the contacts in my phone to figure out my date’s name on Friday. Desiree was her name. Such a gentleman, making sure I knew the name of the girl I’d be screwing. Gianna would be proud.
Catching up with Gianna at the end of fourth period, I took her backpack off her shoulder and carried it. “Princess, we’re going to work on number eleven now.”
She looked at me quizzically. “Number eleven?”
“Yep, make new friends.”
“I can’t do that,” she breathed out.
“Why the hell not?”
“Because I belong with the popular group. The other kids always treat me weird, like I’m so above them. They won’t have a real conversation with me or anything. They just agree with whatever I say and stare at me.” Her face was so sad I couldn’t resist putting my arm around her and bringing her close. The situation was ridiculous and it just showed how silly kids my age could be.
“Well, that’s where I come in.” Confidence mixed with humility always worked.
“What do you mean?” she asked suspiciously. As if I’d ever steered her wrong!
I smiled knowingly at her. “You’ll see.”
We went through the lunch line. “So, being brave, where’d you like to sit?”
She scanned the lunchroom before her blue eyes settled on a table. “Do you see those people over there?”
Following her gaze, I spotted a group of guys and girls near the windows. “Yeah, why them?”
“Well, I was friends with a couple of them in elementary school. Do you see how they don’t all dress the same? From looking at them, you wouldn’t even think they had a lot in common, but they’re friends. That tells me they all accept each other for who they are, not for what they look like or what they wear. I’ve always thought it’d be cool to hang out with them.” From her pink cheeks, she was embarrassed about opening up about something she’d obviously given a lot of thought to.
Not wanting to discourage her, I ignored her embarrassment. “Wise choice, let’s go introduce ourselves.”
Her nervousness was cute as we walked to their table. It was funny that the most popular girl in the school was afraid of not being accepted by what looked like a group of misfits. I liked them for that alone. Taking an empty seat at their table, I pulled Gianna down onto the seat next to mine.
I start eating my food as if sitting with them was an everyday occurrence, but Gianna sat there looking down at her food. Swallowing my food, I glanced around the group of shocked faces. “What?”
A petite Asian girl with red streaks in her hair whispered shyly, “Why are you guys sitting here? Shouldn’t you be over there, with your friends?”
“And what if we want to sit here?” I challenged her, taking another bite.
A guy with a face pierced like a pincushion said, “That’d be cool, I guess,” but he was looking at Gianna as he said it. That, I hadn’t anticipated. If he hit on her, perhaps we’d find a new group of potential real friends.
My eyes met Gianna’s to see her staring nervously back at me. Breaking the ice apparently wasn’t her forte. “I’m Caleb, I started here last week. Do you guys all know my stepsister, Gianna?”
A kid with spiked blonde hair and black Buddy Holly glasses answered for the table, “Everybody knows who Gianna is. She’s like a celebrity here.” His sarcasm wasn’t appreciated.
Gianna stiffened next to me and I sensed her disappointment. I quickly blurted out, “Celebrity?” and laughed derisively. “That’s ridiculous! Besides, she’s sitting right here, so you shouldn’t speak as if she isn’t here.”
“Sorry,” the blonde kid mumbled.
I nudged Gianna and she finally spoke to the Asian girl, “Hey, Kara, do you remember when we used to walk home from school together in elementary school?”
“Yeah, I remember,” Kara answered shyly. Then she laughed abruptly. “Do you remember that one time we raced and you fell into a puddle of mud in that dirt field?”
Gianna joined her laughter. “I remember that. My mom was so mad at me for ripping a hole in my jeans.”
The rest of lunch was more relaxed and we got to know the other kids at the table. They were actually pretty cool. Definitely cooler and less fake than the friends Gianna had before. The entire lunch period, I saw kids from other tables staring and whispering. Thankfully Gianna was oblivious to it. It was the first time I’d seen her like this at school, happy. By the end of lunch, Gianna had talked about tattoos with a guy whose brother was a tattoo artist and she’d invited all of them to come watch her and her crew on Saturday at a battle. They were pretty surprised to find out Gianna was a breaker.
Leaving the lunchroom, Gianna spontaneously hugged me. “Thanks, Caleb.” I watched her walking to her locker, feeling good I’d had a hand in her joy. As much as I appreciated her gratitude, when she hugged me, I couldn’t help thinking about how hot her body against mine.
After school, I waited for her by her locker. As she dumped some books in it, she said, “I missed cheerleading practice yesterday. I can’t miss today or they’re gonna bitch.”
“Well that’d be number seven on the to-do list. Quit cheerleading,” I stated unbendingly.
That brought a frown to her face. “My mom would be so mad. She loves cheerleading.”
“That’s been established, but do you love cheerleading?”
“Well, at first I loved it, especially the dance routines, but after a while, my mom made me feel like it was a duty. Since then, I’ve sort of resented
it. She would seriously freak if I quit, Caleb.”
“How about this then, you quit temporarily. Just to show to your mom it’s your choice to make. Then, if you want to go back to it for the fun of it, you can.”
She bit her lip, considering my suggestion. “Um, okay. I guess I could try that. But, I’ll have to stop by practice to let them know I won’t be there for awhile.”
“Fine, but I’ll go with you,” I told her, thinking Josh could be waiting around practice to try and get her alone again.
We entered the gym and Gianna approached the squad to let them know what was up. A couple of them looked kind of pissed, but I wasn’t concerned. What I was worried about was Josh, who stood off to the side as if he’d been waiting for Gianna to show up. He stared Gianna’s way with an intense expression on his face. Lucky for him, he didn’t try confronting her, probably because I was there.
Taking the opportunity, I stalked over to him. “Do you remember what happened Friday night?”
He scowled back at me and bit out, “Yeah.”
“Now that you two are broken up, I’ll expect you to stay away from her.”
“And if I don’t?” he asked, his eyes darting around.
“I already owe you a beat down for hurting her yesterday which believe me is still coming your way. If you do it again, I’ll put you in the hospital while I’m at it.” With that parting line, I walked to where Gianna waited for me, shifting nervously from one foot to the other.
She gave me a questioning look and I offered her a reassuring smile as we left the gym. Now, if only I could threaten every other guy who was interested in Gianna, I’d feel much better. Starting with Jared and Seth.
Gianna had a mischievous gleam in her eyes as we got in my car. “Since I’m not going to practice, I know what we can do!”
Reaching over to buckle her in, I asked. “What’s that?”
“We can go shopping for the lingerie and outfit I’ll be wearing on Saturday when I lose my virginity!”