“I like this place. How did you know to find me here yesterday?”
“Did I find you, or did you find me? Let’s go; it’s almost time for the bell.” He reached for my hand again, and it felt like the most natural thing in the world to slip my hand in his. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him about that text, but I’m not quite brave enough. Maybe later.
GIANNA
I spent the rest of the afternoon waffling between excitement and dread. Everything was finally settling in, and when I was called up to the desk just before the last bell where I was asked if I was prepared for my first tutoring session, it all became real. Even the teacher seemed a bit flustered since, from what I know, this is not how this is done.
I’ve never heard of anyone being chosen to tutor on such short notice, and especially not someone who hadn’t signed up for the task. But they all swear I had, that my name was on the list. This is one of the things that confuse and scare me. Victoria, for all that she’s scholastically challenged, will know as well that that’s the way tutors are made.
There’s no way she or her mother will believe I had nothing to do with this that I didn’t purposely put myself in the way of Gabriel Russo, who seems to be the new trophy on her to-do list. The thought of what she’d do once I return home had me on pins and needles, warring against the excitement of being close to Gabriel or even stepping foot in his home.
Then there’s the worry of me getting too close to him and his family. What would be the point? I’m bound to give away my slowly growing crush at some point, making a fool of myself, just so I could watch him walk away with Victoria somewhere down the line. By the time the school day was over, I was nothing more than a bundle of nerves wrapped in jelly.
True to his word, Gabriel was there waiting outside the door. He looked me up and down as if searching for something before taking my bag from my shoulder and putting it over his. “You ready?” I nodded my head like a ninny forcing myself to look him in the face. “Let’s go.” He took my hand and walked away, pulling me along behind him, totally ignoring the wall of kids who’d stopped to stare and watch.
My eyes followed the heel of his shoes because I was too afraid to look. I knew Victoria would be somewhere in that crowd and waited to feel her hands reach out and touch. His sharp “Move” had my head coming up to see what or who he was talking to, and just as I expected, she was there, blocking his path. If that wasn’t bad enough, her friends, most of them my one-time playmates, were here as well.
I got that feeling in the pit of my tummy that I always get when there’s about to be a confrontation. “Where are you taking her? I’m responsible for taking her home. Come on, Gia, mom, will be waiting for us.” She tried reaching around Gabriel to grab me.
“Didn’t I already warn you what would happen if you touched her again?” I felt the icy coldness of his tone as he pulled what looked like an actual gold phone from his pocket and hit the home screen button.
There were a lot of exclamations over the beauty of that thing; someone whispered, “are those real diamonds?” The home button looked to be just about three carats, and I’m not sure what all the little ones surrounding the perimeter added up to. He found what he was looking for, I guess, and held the screen out to Victoria. “Yep, it’s right here the warning I sent you.”
His voice had changed, getting even colder, but I was too chicken to look up at his face. I do know Victoria, though, and she’s not one to give in this easily. “She can’t….” She started to argue, but he just walked through her. I know that sounds weirdly dramatic, but I promise that’s what he did. As soon as she started to speak, it was as if he was done talking and couldn’t be bothered with any more niceties. She barely moved out of the way and only after he’d tried mowing her down.
“What’re you laughing at?” What? How does he know? I didn’t release a sound though I was chuckling inside at the whole thing. It’s not every day I see Victoria being put in her place, plus I now know why he’d texted her. Funny, she’d made it sound like some grand romantic gesture, but it had been about me. Those butterflies were now trying out for the Olympics. Watch out, Gaby; I think I could back-flip my way to the parking lot off this feeling alone.