The Bad Boy's Secret

-twenty five-

Gabe

Macy hadn't answered any of my phone calls or texts and to make things worse, when I walked into first period she wasn't there either. 

Instead I was greeted by Pepper who looked angrier than I had ever seen her before and Kale was by her side with a worried expression. 

"We need to talk," Pepper growled, grabbing my shirt by the collar and yanking me out of the classroom despite our teachers voice calling us back in. Pepper shoved me back hard with both hands planted on my chest and I stumbled back a few feet. 

"What the hell Pepper?" I yelled at her but she took another step and shoved me back harder than before. This time I fell back hard on my ass and groaned in pain. My whole body felt broken with the recent events and ass kickings I had taken. 

"If I ever find out you put Macy in that kind of situation again I'll make sure you never walk again, got it?" Pepper screamed, a few students had poked their heads out the doors to watch this unfold. Kale grabbed Pepper's arm to stop her from coming at me again but she wriggled out of his grip and bent down to my level, balling up my shirt with her fists. "You don't deserve Macy, that much is clear. Your life and her life are going in two very opposite directions and you need to let her move on from this, understand?"

"I can't do that," I whispered, feeling more defeated than I had in a long time. My heart was racing as I glanced up at Kale who looked as helpless as I felt. 

"Figure it out then, stay the hell away from her! Don't you think she's going through enough right now without your bullshit?" Pepper was absolutely furious and was showing no sign of calming down anytime soon. 

"Can't you guys take your drama somewhere else? So pathetic," Jasmine, Pepper and Macy's friend, snarled as she passed by to enter the classroom. Pepper immediately let go of my shirt and shot towards Jasmine, pinning her against the wall of lockers, causing Jasmine to let out a terrified shriek. 

"Do you have something you want to say to my face, Jasmine?" Pepper asked slowly but before Jasmine could say anything, Kale was wrapping his arms around Pepper's waist and yanking her away from our classmate. 

"What the fuck is your problem, bitch?" Jasmine yelled and in less than two seconds three teachers and the principal were in the hallway with us, standing in the middle of the chaos. 

"What is going on here? Why aren't you all in class?" The principal tried not to yell but you could tell he was well past his boiling point. 

I slowly stood up and straightened out my shirt, keeping my eyes on Kale and Pepper the whole time. Kale continued to stare at me with apologetic eyes while he tried to calm Pepper down more. It wasn't working. 

"Nothing, we were just heading to class," Kale muttered, trying to cover for all of us but you could tell the teachers weren't buying it. With some disgruntled mumbling, the teachers and principal gave us all one last glare before parting and going their separate ways. 

Pepper didn't say another word to me, she pushed Kale's arms off and headed into the classroom and Jasmine followed her quickly. 

"What the hell is going on man?" Kale asked me quietly, giving me an awkward hug to try and ease the tension surrounding us. 

"I had a run in with Jake and his shit head buddies with Macy the other night, she wasn't hurt or anything but obviously she's pretty upset about it," I muttered, looking down at my tattered shoes and feeling a huge wave of guilt wash over my body. As if I hadn't felt bad enough about what had happened. 

"Because you're peddling again, aren't you?" Kale asked, glaring at me now too and his tone had grown cold. "I thought you were done with that shit, Gabe," 

"I am done with it man, it's not like that. I needed to make some extra cash for Aunt Maria," 

"And you thought this would be the best way to do it? You wanna end up like my cousin or some shit dude?" Kale was angry now too. Hell everyone was angry with me right now. 

"Kale you know I'm not doing that shit anymore," Kale took a step away from me, shaking his head in disappointment. 

"I don't know what you're doing anymore Gabrio, you fucked up," With that being said Kale turned and walked into the classroom as well, closing the door behind him and leaving me standing alone in the hallway. 

The money I had gotten from the drugs wasn't worth it. Well, it was but it definitely wasn't worth this drama that's for sure. If I had known all of this was going to happen I wouldn't have grabbed the shit at all. I thought I would be helping out, not making things worse. 

As if she knew I was thinking about her, my phone started ringing. It was Aunt Maria.

"What's up Auntie?" I answered as I walked out of the school. No point in going to classes today. 

"Oh Gabrio, I didn't expect you to answer I thought you'd be in class," She mumbled, sounding out of breath. 

"Nah, skipping today," 

"You shouldn't skip too many classes hun, you need to graduate and get out of that house," Aunt Maria knew everything that happened with our family and she hated my dad since the day he knocked my mom up with me. Her loathing for him had only grown with every year that passes. 

"Are you doing okay? How's the squirt doing?" 

"Ah," She sighed loudly and I could hear the stress in her tone, "he's doing okay, we have another doctor appointment that we're heading to right now. I just wanted to thank you, I know the money came from you Gabe,"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I played dumb, like I always did with her and with mom whenever I helped out with bills or groceries. They had plenty of stress on their shoulders, the least I could do was help out with finances. 

"You are truly an angel Gabrio, I don't know how I'll ever repay you," Now I heard the sadness and guilt coming through as my Aunt praised me. I felt another stab of guilt. The money I had gotten was dirty and I hated the way I had to go about getting it, but it was also desperately needed. 

As I approached my bike I was surprised to see Macy leaning against it, arms crossed and frown on her pretty face. 

"I'll call you back Auntie, love you," I quickly said, hanging up the phone before she could reply and hurrying up to Macy. I went to wrap my arms around her but Macy's hand went straight into my chest and held me away from her. 

"You and I need to talk,"