Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115590 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 578(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
“I don’t want your apology.”
Chase half-rolled his eyes. “Why are you always so stubborn?”
“Why are you such a prissy little bitch who listens to gossip?”
Zepp moved between us, shoulders squared and chin lifted. “Why the hell do you need to apologize to her?” He was like a massive, silverback gorilla beating his chest in the middle of Dayton’s hallway.
“None of your business, Hunt.”
Wolf leaped between Zepp and Chase, arms out like a starfish. “Dude, Zepp. He’s the receiver. Can you wait to pummel him until Sunday?”
Chase grabbed Wolf and yanked him to the side. “I don’t need your help, Brookes,” he snapped. God, he was an idiot.
Wolf dropped his chin on a laugh, then clasped a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “Trust me. You do.”
“Zepp.” My fingers threaded through his. “Come on.” I tugged on his hand, trying to move him away from the middle of the hallway while Wolf pushed Chase around a corner.
“Have you fucked him?” Zepp yanked his hand from mine, his brow creased.
My temper spiked instantly. “Fuck you.” I started toward class without a backward glance.
“Don’t get pissed at me. It’s a fair question.” He was right back beside me. And I wasn’t about to argue with him in the hall. I made a beeline to the girls’ restroom. The door had barely had a chance to close behind me before it swung back open, and Zepp barreled inside.
The two girls at the mirror hurried out.
“No. I have not fucked him.” I folded my arms over my chest, hating that I even dignified him with an answer; Chase was practically like a brother to me.
“He’s got a fucking nickname for you.”
“We’re friends.”
“Bullshit.” Zepp glared at me. “Guys are not friends with girls.”
“Well, we are.” I leaned against the sink, glaring at him. “Got a problem with that?”
“Yeah, I do.” He inched toward me, and I straightened. “Gotta problem with that.”
“You don’t own me, Zepp.”
His eyes narrowed. “What’s he apologizing for, Roe?”
“Nothing I can’t handle on my own.”
With every second that passed, the anger on Zepp’s face deepened. “Well, he did something.” He gave one curt nod, nostrils flaring like a psychotic bull. “That’s all I need,” he said, moving for the door.
“Wait. What?” I rushed after him. “What are you doing?”
He was already rounding the corner.
“Zepp, you fucking psycho.”
His long legs ate up the ground, and I got lost in a sea of students who didn’t part for me the way they did for him. By the time I found him, Chase was pinned against a locker, clutching a bloody lip while Zepp growled words in his face.
“I was a dick!” Chase said.
“Why?” Zepp banged Chase against the metal wall.
“I thought she had fucked Harford.” Chase’s eyes shifted to me. “I’m sorry, Moe. I didn’t mean—”
Zepp punched him again before stepping back. Chase slumped to the floor.
“The receiver, man!” Wolf clutched at his head. “Dammit, Zepp.”
Zepp grabbed my waist and dragged me down the hall.
I elbowed him in the ribs. “You’re a psycho, you know it?”
“You make me one.”
“Don’t blame me—”
“You think a friend would get pissed off because they think you fucked somebody?”
“I…” I didn’t have an answer for that.
A smug smirk shaped his lips. “Guys aren’t just friends with girls, Roe. Accept that.”
He kissed me before he walked off. He was wrong, though. Chase was just a friend.
* * *
I spent the next two periods thinking about how much of a lunatic Zepp was. I shouldn’t have liked it, and since part of me did, maybe that made me just as bad as him.
“Monroe James,” my name crackled over the intercom, pulling me out of my thoughts. “You’re needed in the office to check out.”
I hadn’t been checked out of school since I was in elementary school. I got up and slowly put away my books before heading to the office.
The secretary passed a check-out slip over the counter, a sympathetic frown on her face. “It’ll be okay, sweetheart.” She clasped her wrinkled hand over mine like someone had died. Maybe my mom had finally killed herself with that shit she put in her veins. “They said they’d pick you up out front.”
“Uh. Thanks?”
She buzzed me through the front entrance, and I stared out over the parking lot, looking for Jerry’s Camaro. Fear churned in my gut, because if she was dead, what would Jerry try to do?
Cigarette smoke wafted past. “My condolences,” Zepp said, stepping out from the side of the school.
“Is this you?” I waved the piece of paper around.
“What?” Smoke billowed from his lips. “You wanted to go to the pep rally instead?”
I rolled my eyes. “A little warning would’ve been nice. I thought my mom was dead.”
He said nothing.
“Wait, tell me you didn’t kill someone.”
“Actually, I paid a hooker five bucks to call in.” He chucked his smoke to the ground. “Old Betty at the front office knows my voice.”