“Yep, and Christa has a shit ton of friends waiting to meet some prep school guys tomorrow.”
Nero answered quickly, “Good. You, me, and Vince deserve a reward after these two.”
Amo thought he answered a little too quickly. I bet she’s giving him blue balls. He wasn’t quite sure if Nero even realized he was falling for the girl, but he wasn’t about to tell him.
“Yes, we do, man.”
The next part that came out of his mouth, he didn’t know why it mattered, but it was bothering him.
“Oh, that reminds me. When I met Chloe this morning, her car was still there. I figured her dad would have picked it up.”
“Yeah, me, too. Maybe he was too busy running the city.” Nero seemed as confused as he was about it.
Glancing inside to see Chloe gossiping with Elle, he thought better of it. “Or maybe he doesn’t like dealing with her crazy ass just as much as me.”
* * *
“Elle, I can’t deal with him. He’s crazy!” Chloe whispered, not wanting Amo to possibly hear her. Regardless, it was hard when she felt so strongly.
“Shh, I know, but you are here in one piece, untouched, right?” Elle looked concerned that maybe someone had hurt her.
“Barely! He tried to push me to walk beside him. All he had to do was tell me to.”
Elle laughed, clearly thankful that was all it was. “Chloe, you gotta start to get used to walking beside us. It’s okay as long as we’re with them. This is a good thing we got going now. I’m not as worried anymore. Are you?”
Dang it! Elle was right. She feared Amo when he had given her no reason so far, and Elle was getting protected. She was going to have to deal … for now.
“No, I’m not that scared when they are around.”
“See, Chloe. They can get us to survive the rest of the semester. Then, when we’re out, we won’t need them anymore.”
“Whatever. Fine.” She sighed, regretfully agreeing.
Elle tried to cheer her up. “Want to go shopping tomorrow? I got Friday off. I think we deserve it.”
“We sure do … surrounded by those three idiots.”
Twenty-Nine
The Sound of Sebastian Pissing Himself
“So, what do you girls want to eat?” Nero asked once they got in the lunchroom, unaware of what exactly that question meant to them.
Chloe looked at Elle, not knowing how to respond. And by the way Elle quickly dropped her hand from Nero’s, she didn’t know how to answer that question any better than her.
He then told them like they didn’t already know, “It’s either pizza or the same line that’s always been here of chicken patties and hamburgers.”
“I don’t care.”
“Yeah, uh, me, either.” Chloe went back to staring at the floor.
“Jesus, pick already. I’m fucking starving.” Amo was clearly still not in a better mood than he had been this morning.
“Chicken patties sound fine,” Elle answered after seeing no one was really in that line.
Vincent didn’t seem to approve of their choice. “Who the hell doesn’t choose pizza?”
“Elle, do you like pizza?” Nero asked.
“Yes,” she mumbled her response.
Amo crossed his arms over his chest. “Chloe, do you eat pizza?”
Not like you care, anyway. Chloe nodded only after she looked at Elle for approval.
“So, why the hell can’t I have pizza?” Vincent asked.
“Elle, why did you pick that line?”
Don’t answer. The looks on their faces were turning scary.
“We always pick the line that doesn’t have anyone in it.”
“And what happens if the lines are about the same?”
Elle, stop answering Nero’s questions! She couldn’t help wringing her hands, feeling the rage begin to radiate off them.
Leo popped up out of nowhere. “Hey, guys, what’s up?”
“Shut up, Leo. Answer the fucking question, Elle!” Amo roared, clearly already knowing the answer but wanting to hear it.
Chloe dug her nails into her skin when she felt Amo’s eyes move from Elle to her. Why does he care all of a sudden?
Elle stared at the ground, unable to meet their faces any longer. “If the lines are even, then we pick the line that has the least scary people in it.”
“Jesus Christ,” Nero voiced.
“For fuck’s sake,” Amo said more loudly.
“Motherfuckers,” Vincent somehow responded the loudest.
Leo’s eyes danced around the group. “Does that mean they don’t want piz—”
“Shut up, Leo!” the boys all said as one, scaring Elle and Chloe.
“From now on, you fucking eat what you want to. Do you both understand?” Nero told them.
Elle was quick to nod her head.
Chloe kept quiet, still a little frightened of the scary trio.
“Chloe, if you want fucking pizza, you eat fucking pizza, got it?”
Her eyes grew wide when Amo bellowed, demanding an answer.
Fiercely, she nodded her head, not wanting to make him even madder. He had looked mad enough about it, and she didn’t understand why.
The moment Elle took off for the pizza line, Chloe was right behind her. Hearing Vincent say, “Let’s fucking kill ’em,” made her scurry faster.