I’m not so sure. Whenever we start to feel comfortable is when Azazel has the best chance of turning one of the group against us.
“I guess not.” I looked at Chay sitting a few rows in front of me. His blue-green eyes bored into mine.
“You’re not so sure we don’t have anything to worry about when it comes to Azazel, are you?” I asked him after class.
“No.”
I waited for him to elaborate. He didn’t. I hated when he gave me a half answer. “And?” I waved my hand in the air for him to continue.
“We know he can get to anyone in the group. Jake, Steven, and the bitchy duo are proof of that. They jumped ship for Azazel’s side easily enough. Oh, and let’s not forget our old friend Jeff. He really duped the team. Played along like he was fighting with us right up until the very end… when he betrayed you to Azazel and nearly got you killed.”
“Yeah, I remember. Half our team went from fighting with us to fighting against us.”
Chay slung my book bag over the back of my chair in my history class. “He can get to any of us, Milayna. We don’t know who we can trust. Remember that and be careful.” He tugged gently on one of my red curls before he leaned down and placed his lips behind my ear. “You’re so beautiful.” He gave me a quick kiss before leaving for his class.
“I’m sorry if I freaked you out in chem class,” Xavier said behind me.
His voice was so close. It startled me, and I jumped. I turned around to face him. “Why would you think I was freaked out?”
“Asking about lunch. I didn’t mean… I can obviously see that you and Chay are… It’s just that I haven’t made many friends yet, and I just wanted someone to sit with.” He shrugged.
Oh, I should really keep my mouth shut.
“Chay and I sit with a group of friends at lunch. Look for us.”
I’m so stupid. Chay is going to flip a cork.
“Thanks.” Xavier reached out and pulled my chair out for me… just like Chay did. I hesitated slightly before sitting down. “See you at lunch.”
“You’re having lunch with him?” Jen asked with both amazement and accusation in her voice when Xavier walked away.
“No. We all are. I said he could sit with the group.”
“Why?”
I shrugged and opened my history book. “Because it’s only his second day and he doesn’t want to sit alone.”
“Chay’s gonna flip his shit. Whatever you do, don’t sit next to Xavier.”
“I wasn’t planning on it. I figured you and Muriel would help me out.”
“Hmm, yeah, I guess I could sit next to him for you. It’ll be a huge imposition, of course, but what are friends for?” Jen smiled.
I laughed out loud, earning a scowl from my history teacher who’d already started his lecture.
***
I probably should have warned Chay that Xavier was having lunch with us when I saw him in class the next hour. I thought about it, but I couldn’t find the right words. ‘Hey, you know the guy you think is flirting with me? Well, I invited him to have lunch with us’ just didn’t seem to fit.
The closer the clock inched to lunch period, the sweatier my hands became. My insides were like jelly, jiggling around.
I’m being silly. Chay will understand.
“Why the hell is he here?” Chay whispered in my ear when Xavier sat down at our table thirty minutes later.
“He didn’t have anyone to sit with.” I looked down at my lap so Xavier didn’t know we were talking about him.
“And that’s our problem because?”
“Because we’re nice people who want to make him feel welcome.”
Chay grunted in response. He didn’t talk to me the rest of the lunch period.
Even though he was irritated with me, he carried my books to each class like always, giving me a small kiss on the cheek before leaving for his class. He didn’t speak, and the peck on the cheek was a lot different from the full contact, warm, wet kisses he usually gave me. He was officially getting on my bitch nerve.
“Cut out the jealousy crap, Chay! I’m not some simpleminded twit who thinks it’s cute when you’re acting jealous and overbearing. You said you trusted me. If that’s true, it shouldn’t bother you if I sit next to Xavier in every one of my classes and have lunch with him every day,” I yelled on the drive home that afternoon.
“You sit with him in class?”
“Ugh, that’s what you heard? Out of all that, that’s what you heard? You can be a real idiot.”
He turned into a gas station parking lot so fast that his tires squealed. I had to hold on to the dashboard so I wasn’t thrown against him from the momentum. He screeched to a stop, causing the car, and us, to lurch forward. I looked at him in surprise.
What now?