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“How could you?” Bow was shaking, her little fists balled. She stamped one of her Mary Janes to the ground. “Why would you do that, huh? You’re such a jerk, Wells!”
My head shot to Wells, along with the rest of the table, and Wells’s glare only cut deeper in Bow’s direction.
Bow came around to him, like a good solid two feet under him, but that didn’t stop her from shooting a finger in his face. “Mr. Shapiro told me what you did, and it was so out of line.”
“Hey.” Thatcher put a hand out, which kept Wells from making a stride distinctly in Bow’s direction. The guy was still blinking down chocolate milk, and his face had shot up about three shades in color. Thatcher faced Bow. “What are you talking about?”
“Talk to your jerk friend,” she snapped, making me snap back. I’d never seen Bow talk this way about anyone. She shook her head. “Mr. Shapiro said I can’t eat lunch in his classroom anymore because my brother’s friend is an overbearing jerk who said I have to eat in the lunchroom here with you guys.”
“Call me a jerk one more time, Rainbow.” Wells’s chest touched Thatcher’s hand, the boy snarling. I’d never seen him this way either. He was normally the laid-back one out of the crew. He pointed a finger at her. “And you will eat lunch in here with us because that’s where you belong.”
Bow’s laughter was manic, and at this point, Dorian, Ares, and I had made our way to that side of the table. I didn’t know what the fuck this was, but I noticed the boys weren’t breaking this up. People even had their phones out, an audience gathering. Around the time some of the few security staff around here started to approach our table, Rainbow Reed did the craziest thing. She raised her empty bottle of milk, then proceeded to throw it. Actually, she launched that shit.
It hit its intended target.
The bottle ricocheted off Wells’s milk-stained chest, his white dress shirt clinging to him at this point. His head shot up, and I watched what could only be described as an animal rise inside him. A growl and he shoved his way forward, pushing Thatcher clear out of the way, who was easily twice his size. He cut in front of Bow, but Dorian and Ares blocked his strides. They literally made a man wall in front of her, which gave Thatcher enough time to gain his bearings and lock his arms under Wells.
“You’re taking a walk,” Thatcher gritted at him, forcing him when he bucked. It took some maneuvering, but Thatcher got him to walk away with him while Dorian and Ares calmed the rest of the lunchroom down. People were up, talking, and snapping pictures, but they stopped at one bark from the dark prince.
“Show’s fucking over,” he ground out about the same time I noticed Bow escape. Bracing her arms, she left the room through the doors on the other side of the lunchroom. I started to go after her around the same time Ares and Dorian decided to go after Thatcher and Wells. They said as much as they walked away, but I caught Dorian’s eyes before they did.
He tipped his chin at me, a mutual exchange there. He was going to handle his friend while I handled mine, and we said as much with a single look. The two of us got each other.
Not focusing on that, I went after Bow, still fucking confused about what had just happened. All this was super weird, and I did find Bow right away.
She was pacing.
Her fists to her mouth, she was on her way to running a fire trail through the floor when I entered the girl’s bathroom. Seeing me, her head snapped up, but she didn’t stop pacing.
“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God,” she gasped, panicked, shaking. She hugged her arms. “Oh my God. I shouldn’t have done that.”
My head popping back again, I approached her. “What?”
“I shouldn’t have done that. I shouldn’t have…” Her lips moved, opened and closed like a panicky fish. “I need to apologize. If I don’t, it’ll make things so much worse.”
She cut around me, but I grabbed her.
“Apologize? To who? Wells?”
Her nod incessant, she attempted to move again, but I wasn’t letting go.
“Um, little rabbit. He should be apologizing to you.” He had no right to tell her who she could eat lunch with. I braced my arms. “And why does he think he can tell you who you can eat lunch with?”
“Because he’s a bully,” she said, shocking me. I mean, were we talking about the same Wells? The guy was more than laid-back, happy-go-lucky. Sure, I’d seen his dark side, Thatcher’s too, but things back when I first got here had been complicated. His or Thatcher’s behavior hadn’t been justified then, but I did get it. Her tiny fingers gripped her arms. “He’s controlling and overbearing just like the rest of the guys. You know how him and Legacy throw their weight around here.”
I did, but this was crazy. I mean, Bow was Legacy, and the kid sister of the group. “Yeah, but that doesn’t make it okay.”
“I’m not saying it does, but that’s who he is, and I need to apologize because I don’t do things like that.” She stamped her feet. “He just made me so mad.”
God, how was this girl even cute angry? I didn’t mean to laugh, but I did. I put a hand on her arm. “One, you’re not apologizing. He was a jerk, and two, what were you talking about when you said it’d make things worse if you didn’t?”
“I just meant I overreacted so if I don’t apologize, it’ll make the situation worse,” she said, but she definitely was flustered while she said it. She really looked like she was going to cry, and I decided to get her a paper towel before she did. She blew into it. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” I stated, meaning that. I still felt a little confused by all this and even what she said just now. I felt like I might be missing something here, but right now, the little rabbit seemed like she needed a hug more than anything.
I gave that to her, and she laughed. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” I repeated, laughing too. She settled down a little, and when I pulled away, I wiped the running mascara away from under her eyes. This caused her to thank me again and made us both chuckle.
