The whoosh from the bathroom door opening had her snapping her head back to see Amo barreling in.
His voice went dark, staring down the two girls who almost had Chloe in their grasp. “What the fuck did you just call her?”
Both girls went pale.
“We’re … sorry … Amo,” Stephanie managed to get out.
“I don’t want to hear you tell me sorry. You tell Chloe how fucking sorry you are,” he growled at them.
“I-it’s okay, Amo. Let’s get back to—”
“Now!” he roared over Chloe’s voice, ignoring her.
Quickly, the two spat out the words over each other, “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, who?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, Chloe,” they each told her in unison.
“Get the fuck out of here,” he spoke coldly.
Never had she seen fear in those girls’ faces, but that was all she saw now as they quickly excited the bathroom with their tails between their legs.
Chloe was somewhat envious. She wanted to dart out of there herself. Amo looked and sounded scarier than ever.
When he continued to stand there and stare at her, she wished she had taken her chances with the girls. She had to turn her face so he couldn’t see how scared she was.
“W-why aren’t you in class?”
“I remembered Stacy and Cassandra bragging about ditching Art.” His voice was still dark.
Chloe had to lick her dry lips. “Oh …”
“Hurry up before Mrs. Saylor comes looking for us.”
Not until the door slid closed behind him, leaving her alone, did her breath let go.
*
Amo clenched his fists, wanting to go after those fucking sluts who had been five seconds away from putting their hands all over Chloe. It had taken all the control he had possessed to stay in the bathroom for another minute, knowing if he came out and saw them running down the hallway, he would break their necks in half like he had so desperately wanted to days ago …
“Nero, you didn’t tell us we were going to have a party!” The girls bounced up and down the moment Amo and Vincent joined them on Nero’s balcony at his house.
Stephanie twirled herself around Amo. “Do we finally get to fuck you?”
He slowly backed her up until her back hit the railing while Vincent was doing the exact thing to Stacy.
As soon as Nero closed the door to the balcony, Amo slid his hand to the back of her head, taking a huge pile of hair in his hands. Suddenly, he jerked down, hearing her neck pop in the process.
Screams, beautiful screams, filled the air …
Wanting to know everyone who had ever laid a hand on Chloe and Elle, they had tricked the two bitches into coming over so they could question them. Not one person was giving out real information about the hell they had put Chloe and Elle through. Stacy and Stephanie had lamely said to ask Chloe, hinting that she had been a part in it, which he didn’t believe.
I should have snapped their fucking necks then.
Taking a slow, deep breath, he tried to calm himself. He was trying to change his persona with Chloe, and he had been doing a good job of it until he had walked in on that. After seeing her frightened in there, he could tell he had damage control to do.
Yeah, thanks to those sluts. Let’s just hope I can fucking repair it.
*
Chloe didn’t waste time before using the restroom and washing her hands. Amo was leaning against the wall as she came out the door, though she tried her best to avoid eye contact with him.
“Ready?” Amo asked, sounding … Chipper?
She couldn’t help looking at him now to see him perfectly fine, like he had been back in the classroom.
She nodded, heading back to class.
“I’m sorry if I scared you. I was just trying to scare them enough so they wouldn’t touch you if they ever got you alone again.”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I-it’s okay.”
Amo’s voice turned sad again. “Everyone just thinks I’m more violent than I actually am.”
“You have to be joking.” Chloe couldn’t help busting out in laughter.
“No.” He stopped walking, clearly not liking her laughing at him. “What reason have I given you to think I’m such a mean person?”
Does he have brain damage from all the fights he’s been in? An image of him dangling a teenage boy by their neck flashed before her from when Elle and she had caught them at Poison in a fight.
“Um, how about when you were choking that guy Friday?”
“First off, Vincent was the one who started that fight, and I was keeping him from double teaming on Nero. He wasn’t trying to play fair, and I didn’t want Nero to get hurt.”
Chloe blinked at him, trying to process what he had just said.
Crossing her arms, she had another instance come to her. “Okay, then, I saw Sebastian with the black eye as we went home the first day you all sat and ate lunch with us. I’m sure that was you.”
“Wow,” Amo told her like she had just shot him. “Nero was the one who gave him that black eye, not me.”