I blushed again, but this time I turned away from Demetri. It wouldn’t go over well if I was caught blushing because of his brother.
“Let’s go.” Alec got into his car an unlocked the doors. The drive to school felt tense. I had no idea why but all I kept thinking was that I was somehow the reason for it. I looked between both guys and saw that neither of them looked happy.
Demetri’s cell phone ring jolted me enough to make me almost smack my head against the window.
“I’m sorry, what?” he roared. “How the hell did that happen?”
Lots of cursing followed and then he threw the phone to the floor of the car.
“How bad?” Alec asked quietly.
“Bad.”
“Atlanta bad?”
“Worse, man, so much worse.” Demetri turned around and bit his lip. “I don’t know how to say this, or even how to warn you.”
“Just say it,” Alec spat.
Demetri gave his brother a glare before reaching for my hand and kissing it. “The media’s cooked up a pretty ridiculous story. It’s not going to be an easy day.”
“What kind of story?”
My eyes flickered between the two of them. Alec’s hands were gripping the steering wheel so hard it looked like he was going to break it off.
Demetri cleared his throat. “One where you were seen kissing one brother one night, only to be seen almost kissing the other the next night.”
“So they labeled me a whore?”
Alec slammed on the breaks and put the car into park smack dab in the middle of the road. Luckily it was Seaside, so no traffic.
His eyes were furious. “Don’t you dare ever call yourself that. Do you understand?”
I nodded, suddenly scared. I hadn’t ever seen him this mad.
Demetri put his hand on Alec’s arm. He looked like a man possessed. I could see every muscle tense in his body. Finally, he turned back and we were on our way to school again.
“So what’s the plan?”
Demetri looked shocked. “How are you not more upset?”
I shrugged. “I missed breakfast and didn’t have my morning coffee. I have no energy to be upset.”
Alec cursed again and reached into the glove box pulling out a protein bar. “You gotta eat, Nat. You were sick this weekend.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say, Thanks, Mom, but something told me he wasn’t in the joking mood.
I nibbled on the bar as Demetri talked. “You’re my girlfriend, people know that. We’ll just have to do some damage control. And don’t be seen alone with Alec.”
“That won’t be a problem.” Alec put the car in park, turned off the ignition and jumped out.
“He feels responsible.” Demetri sighed. “He’s not mad at you.”
I nodded, tears suddenly clogging my throat.
“Nat, look at me.” I did.
Demetri placed his hands on either side of my face. “You have to be brave, okay?”
“Okay.” I bit my lip. “I can do that.”
“That’s my girl.” Demetri hopped out of the car and opened my door.
We walked hand in hand into the school amidst the awkward stares and whispers as we made our way down the hall.
Some students took pictures, others pointed and laughed. I wanted to die a thousand deaths. Within minutes a few giant men greeted me at my locker. They weren’t high schoolers, not unless we were suddenly putting steroids in the baseball team’s hot lunch.
One had a tattoo that covered most of his head. His neck was the size of my thigh, and I immediately decided that if I wanted someone killed, this is the dude I would hire for the job.
The other was a little shorter but by no means smaller. If anything his size was more intimidating. His arms protruded from his body as if his muscles were too big to be kept down. His eyes were a steely gray. A black goatee lined his mouth and chin.
They were both in jeans and black T-shirts.
“Security?” I asked, lamely hoping my voice didn’t sound as freaked out as I really was.
They both gave curt nods.
Demetri was busy texting. I nudged him.
“Sorry, guys, didn’t see you.”
Didn’t see them? NASA could see them! I rolled my eyes in annoyance as Demetri finally put his phone away and gave us his full attention.
“Bob.” He motioned to the guy with the tattoo on his head. Somehow the name Bob seemed out of place, call me crazy. “You’re going to shadow Nat for the remainder of the school year.”
The man nodded.
I felt sick.
“Why am I getting shadowed?” I pleaded.
“Because.” Demetri reached into his back pocket revealing his phone. He flipped through something then held it out to me. I took it in my hands and gasped nearly dropping the thing onto the ground.
The headline read, “Local Girl Bags AD2!”
My hands shook as I scrolled through the incriminating photos. The first one was of me and Demetri holding hands at dinner and kissing outside. It didn’t look so bad, but paired with the picture of Alec on my doorstep leaning in toward my face…
I really did look like a whore.
How they were able to make that picture look like more than it was, irritated and hurt me. Is this why Alec was so mad?
With fury I slammed the phone back into Demetri’s hand. He sighed. “Nat, it’s going to be fine. Even if it means I need to run through the streets screaming and drunk so they don’t focus on you.”
“Wouldn’t you do that normally?” I asked, not sure why I was joking with him after seeing my whole life crumble before me.
“Hilarious.” Demetri rolled his eyes. “Now, Bob has been instructed to keep tabs on you all day, especially when I can’t, oh and here…” He pulled out a sleek iPhone 5. “You’ll need this.”
“I have a phone.”
“You have a dinosaur. Take the phone, Nat.”
“Since when are PDA’s dinosaurs?”
“I thought you had computers here?” Demetri looked genuinely confused. “People don’t use crap PDAs anymore, not when they can have an iPhone. Don’t be mad, but I programmed some numbers in there in case of emergencies. You’ll have to add the ones you need too, and you’ll also have to text the friends you trust and give them your new number.”
I took the phone and nodded. It felt heavy in my hand as if I was taking some sort of bribe money from someone. But I knew they were just doing this to protect me.
I walked to class. Nobody talked to me. Crap, they didn’t even look at me. I blamed Bob.
I told him so, too.
He smiled, which actually gave me hope that he wouldn’t kill me when the brothers weren’t watching.
By the time the lunch bell rang, I was ready to scream. I walked into the bathroom. A girl nudged me and mumbled bitch under her breath. Naturally, Bob went into the bathroom with me, which helped considering he glared at the girl and gave me a look that said, “I’ll kill her if you want. Just say the word.” I shook my head, and once the bathroom was “clear,” whatever that meant, I was able to be left in peace. Great, as if high school wasn’t bad enough, now security had to check the stalls for crazy people.
I stood in line for a salad.
“So, life sucks?” Evan said next to me.
I shook my head. “Only today.”
“I’m sorry, Nat. If it makes you feel better. I don’t believe everything I see on TV, and even if I did, I’m most likely the type that would give you a fist pump or high five for managing to bag two of the biggest rock stars on the planet.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled. “I think.”
“It was a compliment.” Evan laughed and reached for an apple. “So, how long until you decide to homeschool?”
“Not funny.” I nudged him and pushed my tray forward. The lunch lady gave me a tiny bit of salad, enough to feed a small bunny, and put a carrot on top.
“Yum,” Evan whispered next to me.
I giggled again. I had forgotten how much Evan was able to cheer me up when I was feeling slightly emotional and irrational.
“How goes Hell day?” Demetri asked behind me.
Evan answered for me. “A girl called her a bitch behind her back, another called her a whore, and I could have sworn someone just pushed her.”
“Thanks, Evan.” I saluted him and rolled my eyes.
“He’s being dramatic.”
Evan lifted his eyebrows. “Me, dramatic?”
“See?” I pointed at him and gave Demetri a reassuring smile.
He didn’t smile back. If anything his scowl ran deeper. “Who do they think they are? They can’t treat you like that! You’re my girlfriend!”
“Yeah, I don’t think they really care.” I picked up my tray, balancing it with my water bottle. “And to answer your question, they’re high schoolers. Imagine Hollywood only the drugs are cheaper, the women are looser, the men are hornier, and everyone’s hormones are spiked like they’re high on ecstasy.”
“Wow, Nat,” Evan said behind me. “That was actually quite accurate. I’m impressed.”
I nodded my head.
Demetri still wasn’t smiling. “What can I do?”
“Other than threatening everyone in school?” I lifted my eyebrows. “Let it blow over. They’ll have to give up after a while.”
Bob followed me to the table. The other security guy, whose name I discovered was Lloyd, stood near the drinking fountain.
My eyes scanned the room until they landed on Alec.
He was smiling.
What the heck? Wasn’t he still pissed about this morning?
The girl sitting next to him was touching his arm. Jealousy was not something I was familiar with, but ever since meeting Alec, I was filled with it. And then I felt guilty because in that same instant, Demetri sat next to me and wrapped his arm around me forcing me into a hug. “I’m so sorry for all this, Babe.”
I pulled away and gave him a tight smile. “It’s fine.”
My breathing was labored as I looked down at my food then peeked through my hair back at Alec. He was still smiling. The girl was still touching.
I willed him to look at me.
When our eyes met I continued to glare.
His smile disappeared. He whispered in the girl’s ear and walked off, leaving her pouting alone at the table.
A surge of guilt washed over me as I drank some water and watched him exit the cafeteria completely. “I, uh… I’ll be right back. Need to use the restroom.”
I pried myself from Demetri’s grasp and ran out into the hall.
My eyes darted from left to right. Where did he go?
And then a hand came from behind and covered my mouth, pulling me into the janitor’s closet.
“Don’t scream, it’s just me.” Alec’s warm breath was on my neck. He released me and gently turned me to face him. I had the strongest urge to jump into his arms and cry.
“What was that about, Nat?”
“What do you mean?” I played dumb.
“Don’t play dumb,” he said, as if reading my thoughts again.
Biting my lip, I sighed.