His hand reached out, gently caressing my cheek. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
“No, you shouldn’t blame yourself for their actions,” I said, shaking my head.
“But he should blame himself for not leashing his little fan girls sooner,” came another familiar voice next to me.
I felt an arm drape itself across my shoulders. Looking up, I saw Hip standing next to me, his eyes trained on Jason. That easy smile he normally had was tight and eyes narrowed slightly with malice.
“This has nothing to do with you, Clark.” Jason growled.
“Oh, I think it does, seeing as I was the one who had to clean up your mess and make sure that your fan squad didn't retaliate against Atalanta,” Hip shot back.
I watched as Jason deflated, his anger seeping out like a balloon as his shoulders drooped.
I reached out for him, taking his hand in mine. “I don't blame you, it’s okay.”
“He’s right though. I should have known something like this would happen. The girls at this school can be like vipers and I should have done something to stop them sooner. You're not the only one who’s been pushed around just because I spoke to them for all of five seconds,” his voice rose, loud enough for everyone in the always to hear. “And as the student council president, I will not tolerate bullying in my school.”
Heads turned in our direction and I watched as a few girls looked as though they had just been slapped in the face. Wounded. Though a few of them still glared daggers at me because I was still holding Jason’s hand.
I would say I was in a precarious position as Hip stood closely at my side, his arm over my shoulder warming me slowly while my hand held Jason’s. Strangely, I didn’t really feel like I was doing anything wrong. While both boys had shown their interest, they had no actual claim on me. And while those girls glared a hole into my skull, and I received curious eyes from the boys, I had no desire to let go of that hand.
“Let’s go to lunch,” I said, nudging the two towards the doors.
“I need to go buy my lunch,” Hip replied, halting us.
I turned and looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. "You’ll come join us, though?”
I could tell they weren’t very comfortable right now, the tension between them still sparking in the air. A smart woman wouldn’t have the two guys that had feelings for her, one of which she kissed, eating lunch together. Well, I was a selfish woman. I didn’t want Hip to leave my side, as I felt safe with him close to me like this. After yesterday I was on edge, if a little jumpy. The moment Hip had arrived I felt myself relax for the first time since he dropped me off at home yesterday.
Jason, on the other hand, clearly needed my presence as he felt responsible for my injuries, and probably wanted to go all caveman-protector on me. It was probably smarter to just give him what he wanted.
Those ever-changing eyes, which appeared to be blue in this light, stared into me, the malice I had seen before lessening. With a smile, Hip nodded and walked away.
I turned back to Jason. His expression landed somewhere between curiosity and confusion.
“I don’t know what to make of him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that hostile before. He’s always been more of a jokester.”
I shrugged. “He’s one of those types with many layers, I think.”
“Are we still on for this Saturday?” He asked.
I felt heat rise into my cheeks.
“I mean…I am if you still want to.”
He squeezed my hand, his smile warm. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
We made our way outside, where Davie and Margo were already sitting at the bench, swapping their lunches like the sickly cute couple they were. When they glanced up from each other, they shared similar frowns.
“What happened to you?” Margo asked, pointing to my cheek.
We sat down across from them and Jason pulled out that water bottle and his lunch. He really did love those tuna sandwiches, didn't he?
“You haven’t heard the rumors?” I asked, trying not to look longingly at the food in front of me.
She shook her head. “I don't pay attention to the ramblings of these immature plebs.”
“I had a run-in with some of Jason’s admirers,” I said, giving her a wry smile.
Their eyes went wide, and poor Jason deflated further. I leaned against his shoulder.
“And they just attacked you?” Davie asked.
“Technically yes, though it probably wouldn’t have broken out into a brawl had I just let them have their way and not nearly break one of the girls’ wrists when she tried to pull my pants down.”
There was a plethora of different reactions. Margo and Davie seeming impressed by my self-defense, calling me a ninja and a badass while Jason nearly shot up out of the chair in his anger, cursing up a storm.
“I want these girls names!” Jason demanded.
I shook my head. “I don't know their names, I just know they are in my gym class.”
“I’ll have a talk with the coach. They can’t get away with harassing you into a corner to the point that you have to defend yourself.” Jason’s face was turning so red that I thought steam might start coming out of his ears at any moment.
“Hip said he took care of it already. I haven’t seen them in the halls and I haven’t been called to the principal’s office,” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down.
“Hip? That clumsy kid whose parents run the apple farm?” Margo asked, completely ignoring the fuming Jason.
“Yep, that Hip,” I replied, continuing to rub Jason’s arm hoping to calm him off the ledge.
“Someone gossiping about me?”
Hip walked up to us, a tray piled high with food in his hands. Nonchalantly, he slid down on my other side, completely ignoring the looks of confusion from Jason’s friends and the irritation from Jason himself. With a smile, he unwrapped a sandwich from his tray and began to eat it with gusto.
The group was uncomfortably quiet while Hip sat there, eating his sandwich. I watched Margo and Davie share questioning looks with Jason, but he only shook his head at them and slowly began to eat his own sandwich, finally calmed down. All eyes but mine watched Hip as everyone slowly began to eat their lunch.
Suddenly, something green and polished was placed in front of me. When my eyes came back into focus, in front of me was a small green apple. I blinked when moments later a plate of pasta piled with meat sauce slid into view. Following the hand that placed it there, I found Hip, who continued to munch on his sandwich. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye before picking up a can off his tray and putting it down in front of me with the other food.
“Eat your lunch during study hall again?” Jason asked as he also noticed Hip’s odd gifts.
“Y-yeah,” I lied and picked up the fork from the pasta and shoved a bite in my mouth.
“I wish I could eat as much as you and be that skinny,” Margo said, her voice hinting at envy.
I felt a hand squeeze my left knee. I don’t know how he had known, but I didn’t take Hip’s gesture lightly. Holding back my tears, I happily ate the food.
Somehow the tension faded, and the five of us broke into easy conversation through the rest of the lunch hour. Jason and Hip had discovered their similar love for video games and chatted about it through most of lunch. It only got bad when Hip had suddenly offered to drive me to work, which had opened up an argument between him and Jason. Jason claimed that he should drive me since he would be at the library after school anyway, and that motorcycles were too dangerous. Hip, of course, didn’t take too kindly to his motorcycle being called dangerous. Jason won in the end though, since I didn’t want Hip to be making the trip if he didn’t have to.