Chapter 2

When I finally came back inside, my parents were laughing at me, but in a nice way. Teasing me that they thought for sure I was going to sleep in the car that night.

They weren’t half wrong either. It took me forever to get to sleep, thinking about what I had waiting outside for me.

The next morning I was up at the crack of dawn, and even made breakfast for my folks, much to their surprise. I figure it was just one of the many ways I was going to say thanks in the coming year.

Mom gave me a stack of paperwork to turn in, making sure I knew to go straight to the office when I arrived. I left an hour early, ignoring the rolling eyes of my parents, and took a leisurely drive around before stopping for breakfast.

There was a breakfast joint just a few blocks from school that some students liked. They had the best biscuits in town and some sausage gravy that was to die for. That there might have been one or two people I knew there, that I could show the car off to, had nothing to do with my decision.

Nope, not a thing.

I pulled in, driving slowly through the parking lot until I could find a spot where I would be able to see the car from inside. Pulling in, I gave the throttle a blip, delighting in the burble of the exhaust, then shut her down.

When I got out of the car, I had three guys who made a beeline for me, their eyes on the car, of course.

They looked vaguely familiar, so they probably went to my school, but I hadn’t a clue what their names were. That didn’t matter a lick though, since we only spoke car. I gave them a quick rundown on the mods, a peek under the hood, then begged off when my stomach started growling.

Inside, I ordered my food and was surprised to hear my name called as I entered the seating area.

“Leo! Over here!”

Jamie Crosby, sitting with three other girls that I recognized as cheerleaders, but not by name, and a guy who I thought was a basketball player.

I waved and walked over.

“Morning Jamie.”

“Don’t Morning Jamie me, sit down! I didn’t know you were coming back today. You are coming back, right?”

“Yeah, today is the first day. Kinda wondering what I am walking in to over there.” I admitted, taking only open seat next to the unnamed guy.

“Derek Mills.” he said, sticking out his hand.

I shook it, “Leo Hadrian.”

He grinned and said, “Yeah, I know. I think just about everyone know you.”

I must have looked startled, or maybe worried.

“You kind of have a rep now, Leo.” Jamie said with a laugh. “Not many people go through something like that, and now you are coming back to school looking as hunky as ever. People are going to talk even more.”

“Great, just what I needed.” I groaned, shaking my head. “Too late to change schools?” I asked, looking hopeful.

Jamie just shook her head. “Yep, too late. You are stuck with us.”

The other girls took the opening to introduce themselves.

The tallest of the three, a dusky beauty with skin the color of caramel spoke first.

“I’m Leanne Carpenter, and the blonde sitting to my right is Julie Delisle. On my other side is Anna Freeman, and we’re all cheerleaders with Jamie.”

Julie was the shortest by a large margin, barely five feet tall and built like a gymnast. Anna was a brunette, and build along the same delectable lines as Jamie, and had beautiful green eyes, with little flecks of gold that caught the light.

“Nice to meet all of you. I knew you were cheerleaders, of course, every guy in the school knows that, but since you ladies are probably seniors, I doubt we have ever actually been introduced.”

“Wait, if you are a Junior, why are you in a couple of classes with Jamie?” Anna asked, looking back and forth between Jamie and I.

“I took Junior AP English, Calculus and AP Chemistry my sophomore year, so I am taking senior English, Trig and Biology this year.” I explained.

“So you are a body building brain? Isn’t that supposed to be an oxymoron?” Leanne Julie chipped in.

“I supposed, but the same could be said for nice cheerleaders, and you all seem very nice to me.” I said with a straight face.

The levels of shock displayed across the table varied by person, but the hilarity on my side of the table, with Derek chuckling and Jamie snickering, was about equal.

“I thought you said he was a nice guy! Why do I think he is going to be trouble, Jamie?” Leanne asked, scowling at me.

“Don’t look at me! I don’t set him up for lines like that so I have never had to be on the receiving end!” Jaime said, sticking her tongue out at her friend.

“Huh, some friend you are!” she snarked, then smiled and shook her head.

It was quiet for a few minutes as I dug into my biscuits and gravy, with some chatter going back and forth about game schedules and the like.

Sitting here, eating and chatting, felt really nice. I know it sounds strange, but it wasn’t like I had taken many opportunities to do things like this, and it gave me a warm feeling

When I finished the last bite and drained my glass of orange juice, I stood to clear my mess, explaining that I had to get there a few minutes early to fill out paperwork.

The others decided that they might as well leave too, so we all trooped out together. When I split off from the group, who were all riding together in what looked like Jamie’s car, they stopped to watch as I unlocked the door on my new ride.

“Leo, when did you get that? I’ve never seen it at school.” Anna called over. “It’s gorgeous!”

“Yesterday, early birthday present from my folks.” I called back with a grin, giving them a wave.

They were still standing there watching when I started it up and backed out of my parking spot, so I gave them another wave and eased her out into traffic. A blip of the throttle and I was gone.

Arriving at school was a repeat of the diner, with half a dozen guys, only one of whom I actually knew, coming over to check out the car.

I was halfway up the front steps to the school when I noticed three big dudes move from where they were leaning on the wall, to a position that mostly blocked the steps. Obviously members of the football team, they all had grim expressions on their faces and just the sight of them made my ribs hurt.

I wasn’t about to back down, so I kept my face calm and continued walking, coming to a stop just out of arm’s reach. That was when Jamie and her friends arrived. Jamie brushed past me like I wasn’t even there while I felt two hands come down on my shoulders. A quick glance to either side showed Anna on one side, Leanne on the other and, somehow, Julie had managed to slide in front of me, between me and the jocks.

Jamie was the biggest surprise though or, rather, her actions.

She got right in the face of the largest of the three waiting jocks and her voice was hard and very, very angry.

“If you think for one minute that we will allow a repeat of what happened two months ago, you have another think coming. I will personally boot your butts down these steps and testify in court if you touch...”

Oh christ!

“Jamie!” I called, interrupting her diatribe. She flashed me a look, but turned back to the players again, her finger in the leader’s face.

“JAMIE!” This time I yelled loud enough to really get her attention. Shrugging off the hands on my shoulders and side-stepping the diminutive Julie, I laid my hand on Jamie’s shoulder.

When she turned her shocked face to me, I said, softly, “What good does it for me to come back to school if I end up hiding behind your skirts? I really appreciate that you were willing to jump in here, that you wanted to defend me, but I have to do this.”

Her face went through the most amazing set of emotions. Anger, surprise, fear, sadness and, finally acceptance. She nodded and stepped back.

By this time, we had quite the crowd around us. I just shook my head, put the watchers out of my mind, and turned to face the players who were still blocking the steps.

“Look, Hadrian, this is not what Jamie thinks.” the largest of the three said, rubbing his face and looking tired. “We just wanted to tell you that we had no part in what happened. We would not have allowed it to happen if we had known. Not because of you, we don’t know you, but because it would have been wrong and it would have really screwed up the team.”

The other two, still silent, nodded their agreement.

“We will probably never be friends, especially since this thing tanked the entire season. I know that sounds messed up, but I am a senior and this was my shot to show college recruiters what I could do. Still, that isn’t your fault, I know that.” He paused, obviously mulling over what else he wanted to say. “You shouldn’t have any issue with anyone else on the team. Whatever problem you had with those guys, well, it was with them, not with the rest of us, okay?”

He held out his hand, offering it to me and, a little shocked, I accepted. After shaking hands with all three, they turned to head into the school and the rest of the crowd just melted away.

Jamie laid her hand on my shoulder, getting my attention.

“I’m sorry, Leo. I shouldn’t have done that, but we saw those guys and we thought ... well, you know what we thought.”

I just had to smile.

“Jamie, I understood why you did it, but you have to understand why I didn’t want you to. If I hide behind anyone, they still win. Besides, I was standing here with four of the most beautiful girls in school ready to defend me against guys who could juggle any three. How is that a bad thing for me?”

There was a chorus of groans, followed by a couple of giggles, and I got kissed on the cheek from all four before we headed inside.

All in all, one of my better school days ever.

I turned my paperwork into the secretary with no issues, and made it to my locker and first period on time.

Bill entered right after me and took his seat. He was giving me the once-over, and seemed relieved that most of the evidence of the beat down was gone, healed up.

“Dude, some of the pics they posted? Brutal.” he said by way of greeting.

“I still haven’t seen any of the papers. My Mom said that she threw them all away, and that she didn’t think I really wanted to keep them anyway.” I shrugged. I was curious, but reluctant too, and hadn’t pushed the point.

“You have got to come over to the house. I have every article and I even taped some of the new broadcast!” Bill said, a big smile on his face.

“Umm ... why?”

“Shit man, you were bigtime news! You are the only person I know who has ever been in the paper or on TV. Well, beside my uncle Bill’s obituary in the Gazette.”

I just shook my head at him. “You are one odd duck. But sure, I am kinda curious.”

“Besides, you have to show me the car, man! When you texted me last night, I gotta admit, I was kinda bummed about the Camry.”

When Bill had been given his father’s old car on his sixteenth birthday, we were convinced it was the best thing ever. Not the coolest car in the world, but it was in good shape and it was WHEELS! Next to getting laid, and sometimes even ahead of getting laid, a set of wheels was every boy’s dream.

“Oh man, dude, it is awesome! My parents, I mean, I know it was partly like parental guilt or something, but they nailed it. I could not have asked for a better car.”

We were interrupted by two girls taking seats in front of us and turning, at the same time, to say something. It was kind of comical, in a bizarre way, as they both realized that the other was going to speak. They turned to face each other, the obvious head to toe scan performed in perfect sync.

One was Jamie, who had always sat with her friends at the front of the class, and the other was the new girl, the punk rocker chick who had talked to me the day I had returned from suspension.

By the expressions on their faces, I could tell that neither one was exactly happy, and I wasn’t sure if there were a cat fight in the offing or if they would just ignore each other. What actually happened was even stranger.

“Hi! I’m Jamie Crosby. I don’t think we have ever been introduced.” Jamie said with a warm smile holding out her hand to the other girl.

The punker girl, whose name I still didn’t know, stuck out her own hand, complete with fingerless gloves, and shook Jamie’s, a smile on her face. “Stacy Winters, future dropout.”

“Good morning, Ladies!” Bill chimed in, a big grin on his face. “Jamie I know, because everyone knows Jamie, but Stacy, I am very happy to meet you.”

Stacy raised an eyebrow and gave Bill a very obvious once over, then shrugged before holding out her hand. It might have been insulting if she hadn’t grinned at him, but Bill was nothing if not an optimist.

“So, Bill is it? Bill, are you a friend of the punching bag here?” she asked, flicking her eyes my way with another grin.

“Friend? I am his best friend in whole world. We grew up together. We learned to ride bikes together, took swimming lessons together, tried out for little league together.” he paused, a mournful expression on his face. “I even tried to teach him how to defend himself, but he never quite took to the lesson that it is not good strategy to beat up the other guy’s fist using your face.”

I just rolled my eyes while Jamie giggled.

“Really? He looks pretty white bread to me, too white, in his chinos and button down shirts, to have a black stud like you for a bestie.” Stacy said, a gleam in her eye.

I looked left in horror, grabbing Bill’s hand and pretending to examine his skin carefully. “Oh. My. God. Why did no one ever tell me he was black?” I asked in a shocked voice, slumping in my chair.

Bill just laughed. “Someone had to teach white boy here how to dance.”

The teacher arrived and put a stop to the clowning around, but it felt really good and left me with a smile for the rest of the period.

I got in a parting shot as we all filed out of class.

“Hey Bill ... does your mom know you are black? If not, you should break it to her gently, her being a shy and timid woman.”

Bill, his mouth open wide, couldn’t speak for several minutes as the rest of us walked off. About a minute later I heard him yelling down the hall at my back, “I’m going to tell her you said that, Theophilus!”

I described to Stacy the woman in question, Bill’s mother, was a tough as nails Prosecutor, known throughout the neighborhood, and the court system, as a woman with a fiery temper and a voice that was rumored to be capable of shattering windows.

The morning flew by, and I was hard put to keep up with the classes, having missed so much time, and I was happy to have a breather. Of course, nothing in quite that simple.

I walked into an ambush in the lunchroom. No, I am not being dramatic, they were lying in wait for me! Okay, not lying, but standing, but they were waiting for me.

Anna, Julie and Leanne, the cheerleaders I met at breakfast that morning, were waiting by the entrance to the lunchroom when I walked in and they immediately formed a human wall in front of me. Leanne, the tallest, was in the center and she was flanked by the two shorter girls.

I had been looking down at the assignment list in my hand an almost walked right into them, stopped only by Leanne’s hand in the middle of my chest.

“Hi Leo.” she said, her voice low and breathy.

“Hi Leo!” mimicked the others.

“Um ... hi?” I looked back and forth between the girls, wondering why they had stopped me. “Is something wrong?”

“Not at all.” Leanne said with a smile, a predatory grin on her face. “We want you to eat lunch with us, outside. We want to talk to you.” Anna and Julie were nodding agreement.

“Okay. Sure, I guess that would be okay. Let me grab a burger. Um ... out by the big tree? Can I bring you anything?”

There were a lot of trees in the quad outside, but one was an ancient oak and it had long been a favorite spot of mine to just relax when I needed some peace.

“A soda would be nice, but we already ate. See you out there!” Leanne said, running her hand up my chest and across my shoulder as she brushed past. Anna, a matching grin on her face, ran her hand down my chest and towards my belt while Julie, not to be outdone, let her fingertips trail along my hip and then, with a giggle smacked me on the ass before running to catch up with the others.

Stunned, I wasn’t sure what the hell that was about and I probably would have stood there, staring after them, for the whole lunch hour if someone hadn’t bumped into me as they passed into the cafeteria.

Outside, the three were sitting in a semi-circle, facing the tree. When I got there, Leanne patted a spot where she obviously wanted me to sit. I sat down, my back against the trunk, and facing the three cheerleaders, feeling more than a little out of sorts.

“So ... you wanted to talk?” I asked nervously, handing out the sodas and slowly unwrapping my burger.

“Leo, I was drafted as spokeswoman because these two, and a couple of others, don’t have the nerve.” Leanne said, casting a glare at the other two. Anna and Julie blushed, but didn’t look away.

I didn’t say anything, taking a big bite of my burger.

“The rumors going around are mostly bullshit, but the one that seems to have the most staying power, and the one that your best bud Bill won’t discuss at all, is that you are hung like a horse.” Leanne said softly, blushing in spite of her earlier bravado.

I didn’t mean to. In fact, if you would have asked me earlier, the absolute last thing I would have wanted, when talking with three cute cheerleaders, was to spit a mouthful of half-chewed hamburger all over the place. It was either that or choke to death.

Luckily, for me anyway, very little of it actually hit them, most of it ending up in my lap since I had been looking down, reaching for my soda.

Once I finished choking, and Julie had quit walloping me on the back, I turned my bright red face towards Leanne again and asked, “Um ... what?”

BRILLIANT!

“Well? Is it true? I know guys like to lie about stuff, well, when it comes to their own shortcomings, but I have never heard a guy talk about another guy’s equipment, so I ... we, want to know if it is true.” Leanne said, regaining her composure.

“Why does it matter?” I asked, warily, not at all comfortable with the conversation. Inside, my insecurities were gnawing at my gut and the burger, barely started, suddenly didn’t look so appetizing.

The three girls exchanged looks, all of them looking like they were at a loss to explain.

“Leo, it’s just that, well...” Julie started, then bit off what she was going to say, hiding her face in her hands.

“Girls talk!” Anna blurted, and seemed to take strength from her sudden outburst. “And no girl we could find has ever, well, seen it. You don’t seem to date, and we could tell that you aren’t gay, or you are gay and have a weird fascination with girl’s butts and boobs.”

The other two girls giggled, Leanne bringing her elbows in close to her side, forcing her boobs inward and upward before shaking them side to side.

My eyes followed the movement, of course, what guy wouldn’t look?

“See? I don’t think a gay guy would be staring at Leanne’s boobs.” Julie chimed in. Her face was still a little red, but she was meeting my gaze finally, almost defiantly.

“Again, why does it matter?” I asked, trying to figure a way out of this. Faking a heart attack probably wouldn’t work, but I was almost desperate enough to try.

“You are kidding, right? You know how magazines say that size doesn’t matter? That is so much bullshit. Women like to check out butts and packages the way guys like butts and boobs. Now, we all have boyfriends so we three are just curious, but since we walked into school together this morning, a couple of the other cheerleaders asked us if we knew. We kinda, um, volunteered to ask.”

“Who? And why wouldn’t they ask me themselves? You know what, forget I asked, this is not something I am comfortable talking about!”

I managed to get my soda open without spilling it, and held up my hand to keep them from saying something that would cause me to spray this as well. After a couple of swallows, I lowered my hand, knowing it wouldn’t stop them forever.

“Geeze, Leo. Most guys are ready and willing to talk about it.” Leanne said, rolling her eyes.

“Leanne, if I walked up and asked you what your bra size was, or maybe if you shave downstairs, what would your reaction be?” I asked, hoping to make her think, or maybe even feel insulted, that would work too.

Leanne looked at me for a moment, her head tilting to one side. “If it was you asking, I’ll tell you that I wear a 34B and I trim, but some other guy? I’d probably smack the shit out of him.”

The other two broke out in gales of laughter.

“I’m only a 32A but I shave completely, Leo!” Anna said, laughing even louder.

“34C and I have a landing strip. Charlie likes it that way.” Julie added, her smile growing wider as my face grew redder.

The warning bell rang, making all three of us look towards the school building. The relief I felt was as great as if I had been facing a firing squad and the governor had granted me a pardon as they aimed their rifles.

“Well, gotta go. Can’t be late for class after so many days out.” I said quickly, easing myself up from the ground with a groan.

“Leo wait! LEO!” they called from behind and I could hear rapid footsteps as they ran to catch up.

“This isn’t over, Leo.” Leanne said, slapping me on the butt as we walked back into the building.

I ignored her and hurried to my locker to get my books for the next class.

At my locker, it took me a minute to find the piece of paper I had written the new combination on, since my old locker had been condemned.

Opening the door, a half a dozen sheets of paper, most of them folded once or twice, spilled out onto the floor. Inside there were another dozen at least, and I had a sinking feeling.

I scrambled to recover the fallen paper, only to find that one was in the hands of another student. Stacy.

Crap.

“Call me, big boy, if the rumors are true. I want to see the monster for myself. 555-8783 - Monica” she read off out loud, her eyebrows seemingly trying to climb up into her hairline. She looked over the piece of paper at me, and I could see her eyes tracking southward, almost as if she couldn’t help herself.

I snatched the paper out of her hand, surprising her before she got too far, crammed the ones I had recovered back into my locker and slammed the door shut.

“Leo, what the hell was that? It looked like there were a lot more too.” Stacy asked curiously, leaning on the locker next to mine.

“It was nothing, a prank, probably.” I muttered, stalking off down the hall. I didn’t turn back to look because I could feel her eyes on the back of my neck.

I was excused from gym class for another couple of weeks at least, and spent the last period in the library, hiding back in the periodical section that was almost always empty. I pretended to read a book I had chosen at random on my way in, but found myself jumping at every little noise. When the final bell rang, it was the sweetest sound in the world.

I stopped by my locker just long enough to grab all the notes and stuff them in my pocket before almost running out to my car. If I could just get off the campus before...

Slowing to a walk, I could see a half-dozen people around my car, and only two of them were guys who were actually looking at the Mustang.

The four girls were standing by the rear of the car, looking around the parking lot. A mini-van, someone’s mother probably since there were two smaller, elementary age kids in the back, drove between me and the Mustang. Without even thinking, I turned and jogged alongside, keeping it between me and them.

When we got closer to the entrance, I peeled off and started walking back, casually keeping other parked cars between me and the mini crowd at my Mustang, and watched to see what would happen.

The guys talked for a minute, then peeled off and headed towards a new model Mustang a few cars away. I waited, not very patiently, and was rewarded when three of the girls threw up their hands and walked away too. Now there was only one, and that seemed a lot more doable.

Pulling my keys out, I walked as nonchalantly as possible along the line of the cars, coming up to mine on the front end while the lone remaining girl was at the rear, looking back towards the school. Slipping up next to my driver’s door, I realized that there was no way I could disarm the alarm, much less back out of my spot, without the girl knowing I was there.

Besides, there were more notes on my windshield.

Angry now, I grabbed the notes from underneath the wipers and crumbled them into a ball in my fist. The waiting girl, hearing or maybe just sensing something behind her, turned an spotted me, a smile lighting up her face.

She was cute. A couple of inches over five feet, with a lean, trim body and a beautiful smile, her shoulder length blonde hair was caught up in a pony tail. She seemed genuinely glad to see me, but all I could think about was the cheerleaders at lunch and the damn notes.

“Can I help you with something?” I asked, suddenly feeling tired. It was as if someone had just let the air out of me. The anger was gone, but the frustration remained, and I just didn’t want to deal with any more today.

The girl looked startled, her smile faltering.

“Leo Hadrian, right?” she asked quietly, her eyes searching my face.

I just nodded, waiting to see how this one was going to embarrass me.

She looked hesitant, her eyes darting back and forth, like she was suddenly afraid to meet my gaze.

“I am sorry if it looks like I was stalking you or something, but I was just so surprised. I guess I expected you to look, um, more beat up or something. The papers said you were pretty badly hurt by ... those guys.”

What was that pause? She was going to say something, but stopped. My mind clicked back to that voicemail message, the one where the girl sounded upset and was apologizing for not warning me.

“It was you, wasn’t it? You left me a voicemail?”

She looked frightened, fidgeting and wringing her hands. When she looked up at me, her eyes were moist, as if she were fighting off tears.

“Andy and David are my cousins.” she said softly. Then, as if getting that out gave her strength, she held her head up and stepped closer. “My parents and I were over there, a few days before ... before. I overheard them talking about how they were going to get even with you for punching Andy. I honestly thought it was all talk, you know? They are assholes, but mostly just blow-hards. Or they used to be.” her voice trailed off.

“When I heard, I freaked. I called my Mom right away, but those are her sister’s sons, her nephews, and she asked me not to say anything until she could talk to Aunt Becca. I didn’t know what to do, Leo. If I would have said something, maybe...”

I let out a big sigh. What was I going to do, be pissed at her? I could have curled her one handed, and so could any of the five guys who attacked me.

“Look, I don’t blame you. You didn’t know they were serious. Don’t worry, okay? It’s not a big deal.” I just wanted to leave.

“It is a big deal!” She snapped, fire in her eyes now. “I could have prevented it. I could have stopped them from ... from attacking. I could have saved you, and maybe even saved my cousins. I don’t like them, but it has caused a massive rift between my parents and theirs.”

“Ah. Well. I can understand being concerned about your cousins.” I said, anger evident in my voice. “Family is important. Now, if you will excuse me, I have places to be.”

“Leo wait! I’m sorry, that came out all wrong. I was more worried about the kid they attacked, about you, than I was about them. I was heartbroken when I heard about how badly they hurt you. Yes, I would have preferred them not to do that and cause problems with my family, but that was secondary.” She paused, looking miserable, and shrugged her shoulders.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I won’t bother you anymore.” she said, dejected, her shoulders hunched. She turned and started to walk away and now I felt bad.

“Hey!” I called out. When she turned around, “I don’t even know your name.”

“Stephanie Anderson.”

“Stephanie, I am sorry if I seemed ... well, if I was a jerk. I have had a very weird day, and this whole thing is still a big mess, personally, so if I seem touchy, I am sorry. It was nice of you to come and talk to me.”

Her face brightened a bit, and she nodded.

“Look, I want to get off campus, but if you need ... if you want to talk more, maybe I could give you a ride?” I offered, feeling like I should do or say something more.

Stephanie seemed to consider it for a moment, then nodded.

“I’d like that. I just need to tell my friend that I won’t need a ride, okay? I’ll be right back!” She turned and darted off between the cars, stopping at a colorful import with a huge wing on the back. She leaned down and said something to the person in the driver’s seat, then recoiled like she had been slapped, a scowl on her face.