“I said it for a reason, Isaiah.” He went back to his breakfast, downplaying the intensity of our conversation. “Wake up. That’s what I’m here for. To tell you to wake the fuck up.”
Cade slipped into the seat beside me. “Thought that was my job. We all know I’m the favorite.”
Brantley flicked his eyes up to him over the br
im of his cup. “You can’t be trusted with this anymore. You’ve been on both sides of the coin. After Jou—”
“Do not say her fucking name.” The dining hall grew quiet, and I shifted my gaze back and forth between my two best friends. Shiner caught my eye across the table and sent a silent warning, as if I didn’t see what was unfolding right in front of me. It wasn’t unusual for us to argue from time to time, and even though I was technically Brantley and Cade’s leader in and outside of St. Mary’s, I usually let them hash it out themselves. Aggression faded when you hit shit. At least for people like us.
An annoyed sigh came from my mouth as I placed my hands on the table, watching Cade and Brantley glare at one another. The rest of the dining hall was pretending not to watch, but their attention eventually flickered over to us, one by one. “Guys…” I warned, seeing that a few SMC members were in the dining hall, grabbing breakfast along with some other teachers who had the pleasure of breakfast duty.
The sway of a chestnut-colored ponytail caught my eye, and three girls who were completely unaware of the fight seconds from happening began to walk past us, and my arm lashed out, and I snagged Gemma by the waist.
Her breath hitched, and she whipped her head down to mine, those bright eyes widening.
“Sit with us,” I demanded, my voice a little harsher than usual. “I have some questions on my homework that I think I need my tutor for.”
Gemma’s soft voice pulled Brantley and Cade’s attention. “Um…there are no seats.”
I looked to Cade, and his shoulders lowered with the crack of his neck. Welcome back, fuckwad. “You can have my seat.” He began to scoot down after nodding to a few lacrosse players. They quickly stood up and moved down the bench too, making room.
Sloane rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to sit beside you, Cade.” She glanced at Mercedes who was fiddling with a curly piece of hair. “Will you sit beside Cade so I don’t accidentally stab him with my fork?”
Shiner threw his head back and laughed, trying to lighten the mood, but we all knew that Sloane’s insult was like pouring salt in Cade’s wound, especially after the spat with Brantley.
Mercedes gave her a look that could only be described as sad and said, “Sure, Sloane.” She slid in first, and then Sloane, although Sloane acted like she would rather lick the floor than sit down beside us, and then Gemma went to move next.
Once they had their trays in front of them, Gemma snuck a tentative peek up at me. “What did you need help with, Isaiah?”
Nothing. Not a single thing. My fingers drummed against the hard slab of wood of the table so loudly that Gemma looked down at them. A devilish smirk curved itself on my lips, and I couldn’t stop myself from completely veering from anything homework related. “This is a nice table, isn’t it?”
Gemma’s brows pinched, and her pouty mouth that I couldn’t stop glancing at straightened. “That’s what you wanted to talk about? The tab—” Her gaze popped up once more, her ponytail swishing with the motion. Her cheeks blushed deeply, and I winked, which only caused her already red face to deepen.
“Why is the table nice?” Mercedes asked, glancing from Gemma to me and then to the rest of our group.
Brantley sighed disapprovingly as he threw his napkin onto his tray. I hadn’t told them about what we did on the table, but Brantley wasn’t dense. He knew something had happened by the tone of my voice, no doubt.
“Why is that table nice, Isaiah?” My entire spine stiffened as Bain’s voice came to a screeching halt at my backside. My head slowly rose from Brantley’s wadded up napkin, and I locked eyes with him as he slowly put his glass of orange juice down. “Is this where you and Gemma ran off to the other night after…you know. Did you fuck her here too?”
Was he insinuating that he knew we’d followed him? That didn’t sit well with me. Not at all.
My chest began tightening as my fist clenched on top of the table. I couldn’t even look Gemma in the face because I honestly didn’t want to see the utter embarrassment and shame that would be there. It would only strengthen the immediate rage that was billowing in my body. I also did not want her to see the anger that was surfacing. I knew for a fact that the Rebels could feel it. In fact, given my reputation, the entire school was probably waiting for me to wrap my hand around Bain’s neck and slam him to the ground.
Bain and I had never physically fought before, and the only reason for that was because of my father’s instructions, but hearing Gemma’s name roll off his tongue sent me to a dark place.
It was likely the fact that he’d already threatened her once and had that photo of her in his room, plus everything I’d just found out about her, that was mixing things in my head and twisting them in unfathomable ways, but either way, I was going to throttle him across the fucking room. Consequences no longer lived in my head. I’d quickly snapped my fingers and banished them right the fuck out.
For a split second, my thoughts went to my mother. I thought about how my father let down his guard once and caused a chain reaction of hurt and despair. I thought about how someone as equally as fucked up as my father thought they could harm the woman he claimed to love because of something he’d done. They had misjudged his love for her, but that didn’t deter my father from revenge. An act of betrayal against him was forbidden in his world.
But make no mistake. We may have been blood, but I would never stand by as someone disrespected Gemma like that. This had nothing to do with the fact that Bain was disrespecting me in front of all of St. Mary’s and everything to do with the fact that he was disrespecting her.
Bain’s voice came back into earshot, and I cracked my knuckles with my back still to him. “Wait a second. She still has that virgin vibe to her. All sunshiny and cute as fuck. I mean, if Isaiah won’t fuck the virgin out of you, then I will gladly do it for him.”
That’s it.
Something snapped inside of me, and every last thought fizzled right out of my head and evaporated into thin air.
My hand tapped the table twice before I stood up. It was so quiet in the dining hall you could hear a pin drop. I could feel the eyes on us. Even the SMC’s. But my target was Bain and only Bain.