"I am good at two things. Murder and sex."
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Xavier Visconti expected one thing on December 3rd. And that was getting his money back from a spineless woman he had taken pity on. What he didn't expect, though, was to meet his damsel-in-distress.
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A few days after her sixteenth birthday, her aunt manufacturedAthaprine 494. She'd only received a small dose and yet it made her sick as a dog, unable to attend school or do anything other than lay in bed miserably.
Lydia managed to get herself up after two weeks. She was still sick but if the school decided to investigate her prolonged absence, she didn't want to think what her aunt would do to her.
He saw her before she could go to his locker. Lydia always felt uncomfortable going to him because his friends were not a friendly bunch. If it wasn't for him, she'd be one of their victims. Before she she knew it, his lips were on hers. For the first time in two weeks, she felt herself smile.
"I missed you," he murmured into her hair, holding her tightly even as his friends in the back teased mercilessly.
"I'm sorry," she leaned back a little so she could look at him. Dark circles. Face a little sunken. He'd been worried. The thought made her heart flutter and sad at the same time. "I got a little sick."
He stared at her intensely. "You still look sick."
"That's what every girl wants to hear," a new voice called from behind, making her laugh.
Even though Alexis was a part of his clique—the elite who'd gotten into Upper Midlands Grammar School by having world class tuition—she did not behave that way. Although, she couldn't say the same for his other friends. She was certain they disliked her more than they let on.
But it wasn't like she could do anything about it. She'd received a scholarship to study here and she wasn't going to let people who she was never going to see after school finished get too much of her attention. She had other matters that were of more significance.
"Happy birthday, Lexi."
She gave her a wide smile, laughing quietly at the balloons tied to her wrist.
"Thank you! So, are you coming to my birthday party?" Alexis asked excitedly, pushing him away from Lydia so she could throw an arm around her.
"I'll try," she held up a hand as Alexis pouted, "I'll feel absolutely awful if I came in and started throwing up everywhere. Trust me, you don't want to see that on your birthday. No one does. But," she smiled inwardly, knowing this was going to cheer her up, "I have your present if you want it now."
Alexis' squeal made at least ten people stop and look at her strangely.
"You didn't have to," she blushed, still grinning as Lydia opened her backpack and took out a small velvet box.
She'd never spent that much money on anything before. But if Lydia knew one thing, it was that she had to give her only friend in his clique a decent birthday present.
