Part 10 (1/2)

”What?” His jaw clenches and his face darkens as he towers over me. ”Who called you that?”

”Your friends,” I spit out. ”Kara and Arianna. They've been going around saying that I was the one who cheated on you. So now everyone hates me.”

”s.h.i.+t!” Johnny rubs a hand over his face. He is coldly furious. ”I'm so sorry, Teeny. I'll take care of it, I promise. Anyone who says anything bad about you again will have to deal with me.”

I can tell he's really p.i.s.sed by the uneven way he's breathing. He starts pacing a little, running his hands hands through his wavy blonde hair, and cursing under his breath. Finally, he stops, and turns to look at me, eyes glinting in the dark.

”I really screwed up, huh?”

”Yeah,” I snap, refusing to look at him. You did.”

There is a tension-filled silence. My body aches with the absence of his. All of a sudden I want him to crowd me, the way he always does-even when I'm so p.i.s.sed at him I can't see straight. I want him to just grab me, and force me to forgive him. Yeah, it's messed up, but at this moment, I can't think of anything worse than never being in his arms again.

”I swore I'd never be like him.”

Johnny's voice startles me out of my pitiful thoughts. I look up at him, my expression wary. ”Who?”

His face is fierce as he glares up at the darkened sky. ”The a.s.shole drunk who cheated on my mother and treated her like s.h.i.+t. He made her cry more times than I can count. He beat her down and broke her spirit, destroyed her confidence so that she thinks a p.r.i.c.k like the one's she's currently married to is the best she can do.”

Johnny sighs harshly and closes his eyes for a brief second. ”h.e.l.l, I saw firsthand how badly he hurt her. And here I am, following in his cheating d.i.c.khead footsteps.”

I swallow against the lump in my throat. ”You're not like him,” I say with conviction.

”Aren't I?” His eyes raise bleakly to mine. ”Then why did I push away the one person in this world that I actually give a s.h.i.+t about?”

I stare at him helplessly. ”If you're looking to me to give you excuses for what you did, you're out of luck.”

”There is no excuse for what I did, I know that.” He grabs my hand, and pulls me toward him. ”I'm not asking you for your forgiveness, I just-just please don't ask me to give up on us.” His expression turns pleading. ”I don't know how to.”

Emotion clogs the back of my throat-it taste like angry. ”I can't do this now,” I say coldly, backing away. ”I have to go...I have to get back to work.”

Johnny reaches for me. ”Juliet.” His voice is husky.

”I can't!”

I half-expect him to grab me from behind and pull me back-because that's Johnny's way. But he doesn't. I run away from him, and he lets me. I don't know what that means. I only know it hurts.

I go back in to the rec, and I do the Hokey Pokey like my life depends on shaking it all about. It gets weird, and I scare the kids a little. I guess the lesson here is never play angry.

Also, never let them see you cry. Even though holding back your tears makes you look constipated, and causes concerned kids to ask you if you have to go potty.

Having Johnny back at school makes all the difference in the world. No one is mean to me, and a few girls even say hi in the hallways. Does he really hold that much power over the students of Leclare? I don't know why I' m surprised. Even at Jefferson, they talked about Johnny Parker with awe. It used to make me feel so smug to be his girlfriend. I had power by a.s.sociation-and you better believe I used it.

No, I didn't. Not really.

I'm putting my Physics book in my locker when I'm accosted by that girl from Biology cla.s.s. I wanna say her name is Evil Tree, but I know that can't be right.

”Juliet!” she greets me in a way that lets me know she's been looking for me.

”Oh, hi...you,” I say weakly, slamming my locker shut. Her scary hair is slicked back and tamed into a ponytail today.

She points an accusing finger at me. ”Why didn't you tell me you were going out with Johnny Parker?” she demands in an injured tone of voice.

Uh, because I just met you yesterday and we barely exchanged three sentences?

”We're not together, anymore,” I mutter. I start walking away, hoping she gets the hint.

She doesn't. ”I know, everyone's talking about you guys,” she says eagerly, keeping pace beside me.

”Everyone?”

”Uh, yeah! I'm pretty low on the gossip chain, and I heard all about it.” Cecily! No-it's Tanya. Her dark eyes widen. ”Johnny's telling everybody that the break up was all his fault, and you're the one that dumped him. Is that true? What happened?”

I close my eyes briefly, ignoring her intrusive questions. I hate that everyone knows our business! ”It's not that big a deal,” I say, trying to keep the anger out of my voice.

Tanya b.u.mps into me as she hitches her backpack up on one shoulder. She's willfully oblivious to my darkening mood. ”He's also spreading the word that you aren't to be messed with, and any guy who tries to ask you out will end up in the hospital.”

I stop so abruptly that the two guys walking behind me ram right into me, causing me to stagger forward.

”Sorry, sorry,” they apologize.

”He said what?!” I roar.

Tanya sighs enviously. ”It's so romantic!”

Romantic? That's like saying pain is s.e.xy. If that's true, I'm about to rock Johnny's world.

I already know Johnny looks hot in the preppy school uniform. It's kind of like a wolf in sheep's clothing. The crisp s.h.i.+rt and charcoal slacks only seem to emphasize that bad boy vibe. Maybe it's the way he wears it, the material clinging to the muscles in his chest and shoulders-and when he moves, his s.h.i.+rt lifts up a little, revealing a tantalizing strip of his tanned six pack abs. Or is it his hair-slightly tousled and stubbornly long, so he has to occasionally brush it out of his eyes in a familiar impatient gesture?

A better question would be, why am I checking out my ex-boyfriend while he's talking and laughing with the girl he cheated on me with-Miss Spin Cycle, herself?

I take in the scene before me in disbelief. The tall blonde girl has her back pressed against the locker next to Johnny's, looking wors.h.i.+pfully up at him. He's got one hand braced on the wall above her head, leaning over her in an intimate pose. Could have been worse, I suppose. He could have been grinding against her, with his tongue down her throat.

I hate how good they look together.

I stomp right up to them. Johnny finally notices me, quickly straightening. His blue eyes widen in-what? Worry, guilt, embarra.s.sment?

”I need to talk to you,” I grind out.

I turn on my heel, and start walking away, not bothering to see if he'll follow.

He does. I can sense his big warm body right behind me.

”It's not what you think,” he says immediately, catching up to me. ”I was just apologizing to her.”

I stop short, and stare at him incredulously. ”For what?!”

Johnny fidgets uncomfortably, looking at the ground. ”For leading her on at that party. I only...I made out with her because I was p.i.s.sed about you.”

”Are you serious?” I snap at him. ”First off, Miss...Thing knew you had a girlfriend, and tried to hook up with you, anyway-you said so yourself. b.i.t.c.h knew what she was doing. Secondly...ugh! Never mind! Did you really tell all the guys in school that they can't date me?”