For The Love Of A Bad Boy

XVIII

I was grounded for a week on Tuesday. I was fine with it, because I could at least see Mike at school.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked me after homeroom.

I nodded, "I'm okay. Why?"

"You look distracted."

"I'm....thinking."

"About what?"

"It's stupid. You don't want to hear it."

"Don't do that," He wrapped his arms around my waist, bringing me closer, "whatever you have to say is not stupid."

"Yes, it is."

He kissed my temple, "Come on, tell me."

"I'm afraid of...some people seeing us together."

"Are you talking about Anthony? He can't do
anything to you, don't worry about it."

"What if he does?"

"He won't. Listen to me, nothing will happen to you as long as you're with me."

Mike kissed me, a blush creeping onto my cheeks.

"Sorry about your neck..."
He said as I traced circles into his stomach through his shirt.

"It's fine," I smiled, "it was worth it."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the very last thing I wanted to see. Anthony, watching Mike and I.

"Mike," I said surprisingly calm, "have you ever had a nightmare, but realized it was real life when you woke up?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"Because I think I'm having one of those moments right now."

"Sam, what are you-"

Mike followed my eyes to Anthony, turning to look at him.

"I don't like the way he's staring at you." Mike said.
Anthony's eyes felt as if I was being stabbed by a thousand tiny knives.

"Neither do I,"

"He's not over you."

"That's probably not it."

"And if it is?"

"Then he'll have to steal me from you. Anthony means nothing to me, okay?"

"How do you do that?" He laced his fingers through mine, putting our foreheads together.

"Do what?" I whispered.

"Make me believe every word you say."

"I don't know....must be because I care about you so much."

He kissed me, "Is he still looking at you?"

I glimpsed to the left, where Anthony was leaning against a locker watching us.

"Yeah,"

Anthony continued to stand there, like he was waiting for something. He crossed his arms, turning his head in the opposite direction.

"I have to go to class, but I don't want you talking to him without me around."

"Trust me, I won't."
As soon as Mike walked away, Anthony came up to me.

"You're going out with Mike?" He asked as I put my books in my locker.

"I'm not supposed to talk to you," I answered simply.

"Let me guess, your boyfriend told you that you couldn't speak to me?"

"No, Mike has nothing to do with it," I half-lied, "I just don't want to have anything to do with you."

"Oh, you get a new boyfriend and suddenly I don't matter anymore? You throw away everything we had because of that idiot?"

"If anyone's an idiot it's you," I shot back, looking him dead in the eyes, "and don't you dare talk to me about throwing away our relationship like you're innocent. You threw us away, Anthony. You. I wanted to work it out, but you acted like I didn't exist."

"You are so good at blaming other people. If you had just kept my secret like you promised, we'd still be together."

"I said I was sorry! What else was I supposed to do? It was your choice to hate me."

"I reacted like any normal person would. You can't turn this around on me, Sam."

Then he sauntered off, leaving me in a daze.

~

I got home and dumped my stuff on the floor.

Jeremy would be working until one in the morning, so he and Noah rescheduled for Wednesday.

I didn't have any homework. All that was left to do was be grounded.

I sat at the kitchen table, strumming my fingers on the table. My mind wandered back to homeroom that morning.

~*~

"Look," Mike said, "there's a heart by my name in your contacts."

"Cute," I smiled as I took my phone back.

"Now you can call me when you miss me."

"Thank you."

He kissed my cheek, wrapping an arm around my waist.

"No, thank you." He said.

"For what?"

"For making me happy."

"I didn't know I was."

"That's the best part."

~*~

"Do you ever feel like you want to quit?" Mike asked, rubbing circles into my waist. We were in my room, sitting in the window seat.

"Sometimes," I said, "what are you trying to quit?"

"I don't know...football. I'm tired of it...I think."

"Why?"

"I don't care about it anymore...and if I can't put all my effort into it, what's the point?"

"If it's not what you want to do anymore, then give it up." I said, hoping Mike didn't notice what had just happened.

"But that's not what I want either."

"Take a break and come back to it."

"I'm afraid I'll forget why I love it if I do that."

"You can't forget about what you love. You never loved it in the first place if you forget."

Mike kissed my temple, "Thank you."

"Sam..." Mike trailed off, his tone uncertain.

"Yeah?"

"I think....I might love you."

"As a friend?" I smiled.

"No," He kissed me softly, "as more than a friend."

"Then in that case, I might love you too."