The Bad Boy's Secret

-five-

Gabe

The text from Auntie Maria had me stressed even more than before. I don't know how I'm going to come up with five thousand for his surgery. I could barely help mom out with rent this month let alone set aside money for five grand. The last thing I wanted to do was get back into the drug crowd. 

"You doing alright?" Kale asked, clapping a hand on my shoulder as he walked up to me. We both were standing a few feet away from the high school's main entrance. Desiree Allan, a childhood friend/neighbor , came sauntering up to the two of us looking as beautiful as ever. No, I'm not attracted to her, she's basically my cousin and we've been through so much family shit together there's no way we could ever have anything like a relationship.

"Family issues man," I shrugged, Kale didn't need to know about anymore of my families drama than he already did. Desiree gave me a sympathetic look, knowing exactly what I was talking about.

"You let me know if you need anything," We fist bumped before Kale started heading in for class. "By the way, if Macy Stone catches you, you're dead," 

"Macy Stone huh? Already pissing off Ms. President," Desiree rolled her eyes.

The smirk was involuntary when it came to the mention of my smart-ass, sexy English partner. The popular Ms. Stone, miss president, miss perfect. And she was my partner for the whole year. I wonder how much it's still bothering her that we're stuck together. 

"Get to class brat," Desiree got up to leave. "or I'll tell your mama!"

I waited for the third bell which meant classes had started and you were officially late before settling down on one of the concrete benches out front and grabbing a cigarette. 

Yeah it was a nasty habit but I blame my Ma, whenever stress comes around I know I can find her on the back porch, huddling in the corner to make sure the younger siblings didn't catch her. I hadn't had the chance to make it home last night, I had crashed on my buddies couch while working on his rig for some extra cash. Hopefully she made it to work on time and got the kids to school. 

I leaned my head back, the cigarette pinched between my lips, and took a long drag, shutting my eyes gently. One day I'll be able to help my Mom out the way she deserves. 

Suddenly my cigarette was being plucked out of my mouth by none other than my English partner. 

"Shouldn't you be in class?" I asked, exhaling the smoke in the opposite direction of Macy. She held the still smoking cigarette daintily with her thumb and pointer finger. I saw her become more irritated with my attitude. "Smoking is bad for you, you know?"

"I'm going to explain this to you one time and one time only," Macy leaned forward, placing a hand daringly on my thigh, close to my knee and stuffing out the cigarette next to where I was sitting on the bench. Her face was inches away from mine and I could smell her fresh lotion, her eyes were sparkling but dangerous. I couldn't help but be captivated. 

"If you keep skipping out of class not only are you going to fail but I am going to fail as well. I understand you may not have any plans for your future but I do and I'll be damned if some gangster wannabe is going to screw up my chances for scholarships," Macy took a deep breath, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Do you understand or do I need to write it down?"

For a moment I only stared up at Macy not knowing exactly what to do. I had never met a girl who could hide her feisty side so well before. I reached forward and placed my hand on top of Macy's, so she couldn't move it away from my thigh. 

"If you decide to write it down gorgeous just remember, I can't read cursive," I winked and leaned forward to plant a kiss on her delicious lips but she reeled back and scoffed at me. 

"You're infuriating," Macy growled and I stood up, now towering over the petite athlete. "Can you ever think of anyone other than yourself?"

Ouch. I wish this girl could have a glimpse into my life for a day. Maybe then she would understand why I wasn't in class yesterday. She didn't need to know anything about me though, besides she had already made up her mind. She hates me and it would be weird if she didn't, it wouldn't be as much fun if she liked me. 

"I definitely think about you," I said looking Macy up and down, earning a harsh shove against the chest and a disgusted look. 

"Look, Mrs. Walker announced yesterday that we'll be graded together for assignments and quizzes and stuff. So if one of us isn't there then both of us end up failing," Okay, so she had a valid reason to be upset with me. She had a bright future ahead of her anyway. 

"Alright, alright, I hear you," I held up my hands in defeat but Macy continued to glare at me and cross her arms. "I pinky promise," 

I reached out my right hand, holding out my pinky for Macy to grab with hers. For what seemed like a solid minute Macy glanced between my hand and my eyes. Finally she sighed and reached out her hand, locking our pinkies together. 

"This does not mean we're friends," She snapped, turning on her heels to stomp back into the school. "Come on, you need to get to class," 

I grabbed my backpack and let my gaze linger on Macy as she swayed away from me and grabbed the door. 

"You have a bit of drool there," She smirked, opening the door into the school and waving me inside. 

"So does this mean I can't sit with you at lunch?" I asked, letting my hand brush against her hip as I walked past her and into the high school. 

"Keep dreaming," 

Maybe this was going to be a better year than I thought.