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“We can’t leave you standing here alone, right?” Noah says, taking a seat on the concrete steps and looking at his friend, who nods in agreement.
“Aren’t you guys going to get in trouble for ditching school?” I ask curiously.
“Nah. I’m Mason, by the way.” He smiles and helps me sit down on the step. “And you’ve met Noah. You are?”
“Amelia,” I reply.
The ache in my chest hasn’t let up, and although I don’t want to admit it, I’m kind of glad they’re keeping me company.
“You know,” Noah starts hesitantly, glancing at me with pale-green eyes, “Aiden’s really not a bad guy. He didn’t know he’d hurt you.”
“If he knew you were healing from broken ribs already, he wouldn’t have picked you up. It’s just guys fooling around, you know? He’d never intentionally hurt anyone, especially not someone smaller than him.”
I really wish they hadn’t heard me talking to myself in the hall.
“He seemed perfectly fine tearing an innocent girl to shreds verbally. And from what I can tell, it seems like it’s not the first time,” I reply.
“He doesn’t do it often—he’s easily aggravated and having a rough time right now. Plus, he was in a really bad mood this morning, so naturally he snapped at the first thing that gave him a reason—you,” Noah says, as if this is a perfectly acceptable excuse.
“Besides, you handled yourself amazingly. Watching you tell him off was by far the best thing I’ve ever seen.” Mason smiles.
“Really?” I ask cautiously.
“Seriously. The drawing him a map to hell? Priceless! And did you see his face when you told him how to fix his problems?” Noah laughs.
“My personal favorite part was when she told him where his dick belongs.” Mason winks at me.
“You guys aren’t mad at me for what I said?”
“What? The comment about how we’re walking skyscrapers that bulldoze down the halls and destroy everything in our path?” Noah asks with a cute smirk.
“Something like that,” I murmur.
“Nah, it was funny, plus totally worth seeing someone other than us rip on Aiden. Especially a teensy little girl like you,” Mason replies with a chuckle.
“I was getting sick of listening to his bullshit,” I say.
“He isn’t a bad guy, really.” Noah chuckles. “And he’d feel horrible if he knew he’s the reason you’re going to the hospital right now.”
“It’s not his fault, I’m not mad at him. Annoyed by his attitude, sure, but I get that he didn’t mean to hurt me,” I confess. “If my ribs were normal, I would’ve just gotten up, gone to class, and called him a slew of bad words the next time I saw him in the hall.
“Plus, I’d rather this stay between us,” I tell the two gorgeous boys beside me. “No one needs to know about my injuries, okay?”
The boys share a look, and Noah studies me. “How did you break, what was it, three ribs? And bruise another three?”
“Broke three, bruised two,” I say, purposely not answering his question.
“Right, so how’d it happen? The classic singing in the shower and then slipping?” Mason jokes.
Memories of that dreadful night make me shiver, and I think about the dead, brown eyes that still haunt me—he’s the reason I had to move states, again.
“No, honestly, I’m just accident-prone,” I say, trying to get them to drop it.
“That must have been a pretty bad klutz moment,” Noah chuckles.
My mom pulls up in front of us, sparing me from having to respond. The disapproving look on her face makes me immediately tense. Crap, I should’ve fought harder to make these boys go to class. I’m going to get a lecture from my mother now. All five foot four of her gets out of the car, and she lifts her sunglasses to the top of her head, pushing back her shoulder-length brown hair as she glares at Mason and Noah. “Thanks for helping her, boys, but I can take it from here. Get back to class.”
They look at each other hesitantly, but I reassure them that I’m fine, and thank them for keeping me company.
