Tongue Kiss the Chocolate off my Stomach

Clio

I'm definitely not completely oblivious to Jace staring at me. Or the STD-ridden, red-haired, rumor-spreading bitch talking about me. I roll my eyes at Kayla, turning to Lai Jeffries, my best friend since, oh, we could crawl and start trouble together basically. "So... How's life with Kendrick?"

She sighs, caramel face turning slightly red. "Well, he's been REALLY good to me." She fingers the golden chain at her throat. "He doesn't have much to give, but, hell, I'll take his love if that's all he wants to give me."

I grin. Kendrick is--was--one of the boys at the house, and he was one of the few we had received who was local. He was horrible when he first came here, but I noticed he house a crush on Lai, so it wasn't hard to hook them up--and correct his misbehavior once I said I was gonna help him score Lai if he got his stuff right. "I'm pretty sure he's lookin' for a way to give you the world in the next few years."

She tries to hide a grin, but I catch it anyway.

"Somebody's in loo-ooo-veee," I sing as a sweaty Kendrick sits down at our table. Immediately, his foot touches mines. "Um, Kenny, that's definitely MY foot."

Kendrick, unperturbed as usual, just laughs it off. "Sorry, Smudge."

Smudge. That dreadful nickname. I'm not dark by any means, but when Kendrick stayed with us, we had about eight other guys that were extremely light-skinned. Top that with Mama being caramel colored, and suddenly the name "Smudge" stuck.

I roll my eyes, waving to Vic as he enters the cafeteria. Kayla flips me off.

It's no secret she wants Vic. It's also not a secret he wants absolutely nothing to do with her. He won't go near her, even though she started plenty of rumors. First, she claimed he got her pregnant. When that fell through, she almost got him arrested by saying he raped her (HUGE court case), and now she's to the point where she's trying to fight every girl that comes through and looks at Vic. And it seems to piss her off that I am close to him.

"Use protection," I mouth, as Vic heads my way. He takes the open seat in front of me, handing me my usual--French fries, a piece of cake, and a bottle of water to balance it all out. "Don't look now, but the love of your life is watchin' you."

He frowns. "I thought you said she had her eyes on White Boy out there?"

"I dunno. They obviously did IT, but he left her high and dry a few minutes ago. Must not have been that good."

"It isn't. That's why I left her after one time. She's looser than a forty year old woman after eighteen kids."

I shudder. "Gross." I take a bite of my food. Losing my appetite rarely happens. There's only so many surprises you can get from guys after living with them your whole life. "So, movies tomorrow? Or tonight?"

Kendrick and Lai are way too into making googly-eyes at each other to even listen to me, so I turn to Vic, who shrugs, wiping ketchup off his face. The mama in me takes over and grab my napkin, lean over, and wipe the rest of it off. He shakes his head. "Thanks, Mom," he says sarcastically.

I grin, eating the rest of my fries in a hurry. "So, what's up with Dantay? Why was he sent to the office?" Concern and worry automatically sets into my stomach. Despite not having a personal relationship with each boy, I still care for them. It's hard not to. You can't just live with someone for more than eight weeks without forming some sort of bond.

Vic shakes his head, eyes flashing. "He's gonna get suspended. Again. He told Ms. Lina that he'd do some dirty thangs to her in her room in the middle of the night."

I heave my shoulders. "He needs help. Or some special attention. Because that mouth has him in trouble all the time."

Vic nods. "Who better to love him than you? You can control everybody, mostly."

Except Jace. But I don't dwell on that. Jace doesn't seem to be able to control himself. Especially when it comes to keeping his labido in his pants. "Yeah, but I dunno, Vic. I'm not that good."

"Lies." He grabs my last fry, eating me.

I shake my head. "Whatever you say."