All the food I’d forced down rebelled and started to climb into the back of my throat.Without thinking, I reached out blindly, grabbing the first cold drink my fingers grazed, and I began to chug the bottle of water in hopes of keeping the contents of my stomach from making a reappearance.
“You good?”Evan asked, giving me a weird look as I finally lowered the bottle and wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
Heartbeat thundering, stomach tossing, I shifted my gaze away from my friend and did my best not to look back in the direction of those eyes.
No.Please no.For once in my life, I didn’t want to be right about something.But I was.I knew I was.There was no use denying it any longer.
A text pinged on my phone.Fingers shaking, I glanced down at the screen.So did Evan.I snatched it up before he could read the message, tilting the device toward me.
Unknown: You look beautiful today.
More texts came in quicker than I could delete them.
Unknown: I want an up-close look at my favorite freckle.
Unknown: I can’t wait to taste it.
Unknown: See you in class.
Number one on my to-do list could be crossed off now, but instead of shortening the list, all it had done was make it longer.
Because now I had to figure out how to get Mr.Gaviria fired.
“Ali?”I yelped and nearly dropped my phone when Evan touched my arm.His aquamarine eyes narrowed, his dimples completely disappearing.“You look sick.”
“Yeah,” I said, my voice sounding weak to my ears.Sweat dotted my brow, my hands shook a little more than they had been moments before, and I was fighting not to puke in a big way.“I just want to go home.”
He glanced at the time on his phone.“Lunch will be over in ten minutes, but I can be late for my next class if you want me to drive you home.”
“Please,” I choked out, not caring that I was running away from the situation, still hiding from the reality of what was going on.But there was no way I could stay when I’d just confirmed that my teacher was the creeper who wouldn’t leave me alone.I wanted to go home, crawl into bed, and hold on to my pillow that still had Sixx’s hoodie covering it.
No, I wanted to hold on to Sixx.
That prickle of unease intensified, and like a magnet, my gaze was drawn back to Mr.Gaviria, who was standing by one of the exits.He didn’t normally have lunch duty, which meant he was there for only one reason I could think of.Me.
Evan stood, picking up his tray and my own.“Come on, Ali,” he said gently.
On shaking legs, I stood and followed him.When he dumped our trash and placed the tray in the return window, I grabbed hold of his polo shirt.All his clothes were tailored to fit his ever-growing, giant body.His brow scrunched at the action, but he put his hand on my back and guided me toward the exit.Walking beside him always made me feel like a doll.I was slightly above average in height, but compared to Evan, everyone was short.
Seeing the door, I almost jerked.Mr.Gaviria had moved in front of it, blocking our way.Fear and disgust were not a good combination when my stomach was already in distress.I clutched at my friend, the boy who was the closest thing I had to a brother, knowing he would protect me…
If he knew he needed to protect me.
Which he didn’t.
Fumbling with my phone, I deleted the four new texts that had come in while Evan was emptying our trays.Mr.Gaviria said something to Evan I didn’t hear because the blood was whooshing through my ears too loudly.I felt dizzy and nauseated, my vision barely clear enough to see where I was walking.
Keeping my head ducked while Evan laughed and answered whatever question his assistant basketball coach asked, I texted my boyfriend.
Me: Not feeling well.Going home early.I miss you so much.
A reply came instantly.
Sixx: I’m leaving now.
I didn’t argue about him skipping school, didn’t tell him that I was going to be okay.Instead, I held on to Evan’s shirt even tighter and tugged, silently begging him to end his chat and get me out of there.
“Catch you later, Coach,” Evan called, walking away with me close to his side.
