The Bad Boy's Sleepover

Chapter 8

"What do need to talk to me about?" Damien eyed Lola suspiciously and she shifted on her seat, knowing that her time was running out. 

Soon Nalini and Eva's match would be over and people would notice her talking to him and that was the last thing she wanted. 

"Look it will only take a minute. I can't say here. It's private," Lola pressed urgently. 

"Only a minute. Private?" Damien repeated her words and Tyrone smirked. The two guys exchanged looks, sharing some kind of unspoken conversation and then Damien nodded. 

He stood up and walked past the rows of benches with Lola in tow. She followed him soundlessly and her heart skipped a beat when she noticed he was taking her to the back of the school, near the boys locker rooms. 

They walked through the lonely hallway, the sun from outside barely illuminating the bare walls around them. Damien turned a corner at a place Lola didn't even know existed and lead her to a small door.

He opened it and walked into the dark room leaving Lola alone outside. 

"Are you coming in or not?" He asked and she stared at him blankly wondering if it was necessary to talk in such a secluded place. And how did he know of such places to begin with?

"Umm yeah," Lola muttered and then she trudged into the dark room slowly. It was the size of a closet with brooms and mops hanging from all four walls. This must be the janitor's room but it was also dusty and reeked of stale air, Lola wondered if this room had been abandoned a long time ago.

"To be honest, I don't do this very often but I've been feeling like crap ever since they cancelled all our games this week so I'm seriously down for anything," Damien said and then he started to pull up his shirt. 

Even though the lighting in the closet was dim, Lola could see Damien's chiseled abs so clearly and it caught her off guard. What the hell was he talking about?

The moment she came to her senses she grabbed his hands to stop him from taking off his shirt. 

"What are you doing? I said I wanted to talk, remember?" 

Damien stared at her in shock when she pulled his shirt back down and took two steps away from him. She was staring at him like he was the biggest weirdo and that wasn't the usual reaction he got. 

"Yeah, isn't that usually code for I want to make out?" He crossed his arms over his chest feeling ashamed for some reason. 

Lola frowned at his insinuation and made a note to tell Julian his friend was an idiot once she got back home. The moment she thought of Julian she felt her nerves ignite and a wave of worry washed over her. She hoped he was doing okay.

"No, I would never do something so absurd. I need to tell you something urgent, something I'm hoping I can trust you with because I have no one else to turn to," She quickly said. 

"Woah, okay hold it for a second. I'm not a therapist and I don't think I can help you with whatever issue you have. We don't even know each other," Damien reiterated and shrugged his shoulders. He turned to the door and proceeded to leave but Lola's words stopped him in his tracks.

"It's about Julian."

Damien backtracked and faced her once again, his face serious and somewhat defensive. "What about him? And this better not be a prank or I swear to God-"

"He needs a place to stay for a few days," Lola cut him off. "I can't explain why but I think he might be innocent and he needs a place to hide till he figures out what to do next."

Damien's eyes narrowed to slits as he stared at Lola skeptically. "And you know this how?" 

"Let's just say I've met him and he told me to pass on the message to you," She said and then she shifted on her feet, praying that he will not rat her out. She didn't know him as well as Julian did and that just made her trust him less. 

"But why do you know this? Does Julian even know you?" His tone was so condescending, it made Lola want to forget this whole plan and leave, maybe slap him first but she forced herself to stay put.

For Julian's sake. 

"Look I'm here to ask for your help, okay? If you don't trust me or think I'm too lowly to be associated with your kind then you can just leave. Just know that I have no reason to lie to you," She snapped.

"Fuck," He exhaled and ran a hand across his face. "So he's, okay? He's not hurt or anything?"

"No, he's fine. But he's practically still on the run and needs a place to stay for the time being." Lola leaned against the wall out of habit and the brooms behind her rattled loudly. She jumped upright and glanced at the door nervously. Hopefully no one heard that.

"I knew he was innocent," Damien muttered. "I always knew it, fucking adults never believed me. My pool house isn't in use, I guess I could hide him there for the time being. But we'll need to plan it out well. Where is he now?" 

"He's somewhere safe for now. Can we bring him over tonight?" Lola asked apprehensively. She sincerely hoped she was doing the right thing. One wrong move and Julian could get caught and sent to jail again. 

"Do you have a car?" Damien asked. 

"No, not yet." Lola had only just passed her driving test. It would be awhile till she got her license, let alone a car.

"I'll pick him up from your place but we have to do it after it get's dark. Give me you number," Damien pulled out his phone and Lola typed hers in.

"I'll text you and remember no one else should know about this. There are a lot of people here who believe he's guilty," He reinforced before reaching for the door. 

She just nodded in response, knowing how true his words were. It was Julian's pure luck that he had run into Lola that night and not some other student who would have not hesitated to turn him in.

The two of them exited the small dingy closet and headed back to the gym room. Lola was utterly grateful to find that the entire gym was still distracted with Nalini and Eva's match which had just finished. Judging by the ecstatic look on Eva's face, she guessed that her team had won while Nalini looked like she was ready to kill someone.

Lola looked around the room cautiously, everyone was staring at the main floor, everyone except Tyler. He was staring at her and Damien. 

Her cheeks burned in embarrassment and she hoped he wasn't thinking they had gone outside to hook up or something. She didn't want him to get the wrong idea. He caught her staring and immediately looked away.

Damien headed back to his place on the benches where Tyrone was smiling at him proudly and Lola snuck past the crowd of students to rush to her friends. She had to fill them in on everything.