Elle knew he was right, although that didn’t mean she liked the truth.
She looked over at Chloe. “He’s right, Elle.”
Elle let out a sigh. “Fine, let’s go.”
Elle tried to walk forward, but Nero kept her still. “We’re going to do things my way now. Amo is in health class with Chloe, so he is going to take her to class and bring her back to you in Art. Got it?”
“No freaking way.” Elle started shaking her head violently back and forth.
“This isn’t a discussion anymore, Elle. Chloe, is he in your class?”
“Um, yes.” Chloe looked down at the floor.
“Good. Now, Amo will take you to and from class for now.” Nero looked at Elle’s pissed face. “Only for the last class of the day, and he will sit beside you in class. Are you okay with that?”
“No, she’s not.” Elle watched Chloe closely. She better say no.
When Chloe looked up at her, she knew what she was going to say.
“Y-Yeah.” Chloe quickly looked back down at the ground and started wringing her hands.
“All right. Go on, Chloe. You’ll be safe with Amo.”
Nero gave Elle’s hand a little squeeze. She had forgotten he was holding her hand; however, she hated his guts right now and didn’t want him touching her. She tried to pull her hand away, but he held it close. She heard Vincent laugh and stopped trying to free her hand.
“Come on, Chloe.” Amo started walking and Chloe fell in behind him. She looked afraid, but Elle didn’t know if it was because she was afraid to look Elle in the face, or from having to go along with the biggest guy in the whole school. Elle saw his stature in front of Chloe’s tiny body. Probably both.
Elle looked Nero in the eyes. “I hope you’re happy.”
Nero smiled. “Not yet, but I will be when I get my kiss later.”
“You’re seriously stupid if you think I’m going—”
“Now, Elle, what did I tell you about lying?”
Elle rolled her eyes.
“Come on; let’s go.”
Elle was surprised when he went in the same direction as Chloe and Amo, considering their class was in the opposite direction. They kept a few feet behind them. Elle could see them the whole time as it wasn’t hard pointing out Amo from the small hallway filled with other students. Everyone parted like the red sea for him to get through. She assumed that was why he had walked in front of them earlier.
Elle tried not to smile. She didn’t want Nero to know she appreciated him letting her follow Chloe to make sure she was safe. I still don’t like him.
She tried to free her hand from his again, but he pulled her to walk closer to him. She heard Vincent’s laugh again and turned her head to scowl at him. He kept laughing.
Elle watched Amo open the classroom door. Chloe stood there, waiting for him to go in first. She saw him mouth the word go when she clearly wasn’t going to head in. Chloe stomped in and Amo walked in behind her, shaking his head as he shut the door.
She’s safe. Elle didn’t want to admit she was probably safer with Amo than she ever had been with her.
“Can we go to class now, or do you want to miss it by staring at the door all day?” When Elle kept staring at the door, he grabbed her chin to look at him. “Elle, she’ll be fine, I promise.”
Elle nodded and they both walked hand in hand to art class.
“Thank you for letting me watch her go to class.” She didn’t want to say thank you, but she had to for that.
A smile touched Nero’s lips. “Oh, now you thank me. So now I know to do nice things for Chloe, not you. Have you both always been inseparable?”
Elle thought about the memory she’d had just a little bit ago. “No, we met here.”
“Really? What made you so close that quickly? Because I remember you both freshman year, and back then, you were always standing in front of Chloe.”
Elle shrugged and kept her eyes forward. “I guess we could relate to each other.”
She could feel Nero’s eyes look at her and knew he was trying to get something from her face; as a result, she made sure to reveal nothing.
They were about halfway to class when Elle really noticed what was going on. It became surreal to her that she was walking down the hallway, her hand locked in Nero’s while all the students could only stare. She heard them whispering, and most of the girls were throwing her dirty looks. Elle decided not to care. It wasn’t as if they could possibly torture her more than she already had been. She thought she should at least enjoy the moment of a boy holding her hand for the first time.
Nero’s hand felt nice in hers, like it was a perfect fit. At least what I think is perfect.
His hand was strong. It wasn’t too soft or too rough. Her fingertips rested on his knuckles, which felt big and bony. He probably cracks his fingers too much.
She slightly moved her fingertips and could feel a scrape on his middle knuckle, thinking he seemed like the type that would punch walls.
They reached their art class and Nero nodded his goodbye to Vincent, who had followed them the whole way there, walking a few steps behind.
Elle decided to pose the same question. “Have you three always been inseparable?” Elle asked as they took their seats.
Nero laughed. “Yeah, pretty much. Our fathers are all friends, so we were basically forced to like each other when we were young. Now we’re one big family.”
“Aww, that’s actually really cute and ador—”