Page 2 of Mistaken Prejudice

I laughed as I slammed my hand on his shoulder. “All you need to remember is what you think about us. Not what they might think or say. Horosho?”

A slight grin appeared on his face. “Good.”

Grabbing our backpacks—no, let me rephrase that. Grabbing my backpack, since Diesel didn’t bring one, we got out of the truck. I made sure I locked it before walking away and joining Levi and Jess, who were standing near a new red sports car.

“Yo, Andrei, is this expensive?” Jess asked with a mouth full of bread while examining the car.

When did he manage to get a sandwich?

“Very. Where’d you get that from?” I asked, pointing at his sauce-dripping meal. He blinked his emeralds at me while licking what looked like mayo off his fingers. The point is, he was a pure Jessie mess.

“Well, you and Mr. Grumpy took forever, and you know how hungry I am all the time. Oh!” He snapped his sticky fingers and looked at Levi, who seemed immune to his boyfriend’s nonsense. “Remember when we went on that trip to…”

“Palm Beach?” Levi offered, and Jess snapped his fingers again.

“Yeah! Palm Beach. Mhmm.” He stopped his train of thought to take another bite and was about to continue talking when Levi poked his side.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full!”

“Sorry.”

“You just did it again.” He looked slightly irritated, and Jess had the expression of a sad puppy. Especially with sauce smeared all over his cheek. Levi licked his thumb and then used it to clean Jess’s face as if it was the most natural thing to do.

“Thanks, babydoll.” A soft smile spread on Levi’s face, but he quickly brushed it off. He wasn’t one to show emotions in public unless they were related to Jess.

Standing there and watching the Live Comedy show of Jess and Levi, a whole day could go by without you noticing. Considering we had a little less than fifteen minutes until the first period started, I repeated my question.

“Jess.”

“What?” He shifted his head to the side as if trying to figure out where he was. That’s probably the case. Jess was a bit… scattered.

“Where did you get your sandwich from?”

“Oh, from there.” He pointed toward a coffee truck at the end of the parking lot, surrounded by students holding cups of iced coffee and whatnot.

“Can you believe they charge twenty dollars for a sandwich?”

Diesel, silent until now, decided to join in. “You paid twenty dollars for a fucking sandwich?”

“What? Fuck no! It’s broad daylight theft.” Jess’s voice cracked. “You think I’m an idiot? I stole it.”

Diesel smirked, and I knew what he was about to say: yes, I think you’re an idiot, but we didn’t have time for that. Trust my boys to make a mess before school even started.

“What the hell, Jess? What did we talk about five minutes ago? Not causing trouble, and here you are stealing a freaking sandwich.” I spoke as quietly as possible while ensuring he got that I was angry.

“I didn’t steal a sandwich.” He spoke while holding the so-called theft close to his chest. “I’m not a selfish fucker. I stole four. You guys need to eat too.”

I facepalmed as Diesel burst into laughter and wrapped his arm around Jess, who pulled out of his bag the three extra sandwiches, all wrapped in a paper bag. He then handed one to Levi, Diesel, and me.

“Mine’s vegan?” Diesel asked.

“All tofu, my man.” Jessie grinned.

I didn’t want to take the stolen goods, but assuming I’d get hungry later during the day, and all that “what’s done is done” bullshit, I took the stupid sandwich and shoved it deep inside my backpack. Giving the three of them a stern look, I pointed toward the building entrance. “We’ll talk about this later. Now move.” As all four of us made our way toward the doors, almost blending in with the crowd, I thought, what’s the worst that could happen?

Chapter 2

Andrei