Page 27 of Mistaken Prejudice

“That’s good to know. Thank you, Jessie.” The smile on Jessie’s face was priceless, and I had a feeling that despite his overall goofy personality, he wanted to be taken seriously. His thoughts may be all over the place, and it was hard for him to filter them, but he still wanted them to be heard and respected.

I turned from Jessie to find Andrei looking at me. I would have said he looked proud if I didn’t know any better. All I wanted to do at this moment was to take the step separating us and kiss him.

“Is the mean kid going to be there?” Jessie’s question cut off my train of thought and made me want to laugh. It was out of context, like most of his questions, but I knew exactly who he was talking about.

“Well, Ty, the one hosting the party, is on the football team, so yeah, Shay-Lee will be there.” I tapped Jessie’s shoulder. “But don’t worry, I’ll be there, so Shay-Lee will stay away from you.”

“Yeah, sure,” Diesel mumbled right when the bell rang, telling us the break was over.

Chapter 10

Andrei

Friday came sooner than expected. When you’re a senior working two jobs, time goes faster than you think. Especially when trying to squeeze some sleep between studying, working, and helping around the house however I could.

Growing up, I barely went to school. My mom was too busy being high or fucking her temporary boyfriend to send me there. Surprisingly, I made up for the lost time in juvie. Chief was also a big help. From the moment he got me home, he helped me with school, so much that he even hired some private tutors to help the guys and me catch up. I always cared about my education and fought for it because I knew it was my ticket away from how I grew up. I’d been a quick learner since I was four years old and my mom taught me how to cook her heroin. So learning for a test about the French Revolution? A piece of cake.

Thankfully, what they taught us in school had nothing to do with drugs. People with my background didn’t easily achieve things. I knew that. Growing up the way I did, all you needed to do was to look around. Refusing to settle into this life was my faith. To do better. So, I decided to do everything I could to change my future, and the key to that was my education.

I was pulling my books out of my locker when someone slammed his body on the one beside me.

“You can’t smoke in here.” I rolled my eyes at Diesel before shutting my locker.

“Says who?” He pulled his shoulders up while he used his lighter to light up the cigarette he had between his lips.

“The sign.” I pointed over to the “No Smoking” sign hanging above us before pulling my phone out of my jeans pocket. I had a new text from Miles, so I slid it open.

Miles: So when do you want to meet?

Apart from Saturday, we still hadn’t seen each other outside of school. Miles’s schedule was even crazier than my own. My original plan was to spend the whole afternoon with him before the party, but one of the girls at work got sick, and I agreed to take her shift. As I typed him my reply, I took comfort in the thought we agreed to meet tomorrow for our promised tutoring and a home-cooked meal.

Me: I finish work at 10:00 p.m., so 10:30?

As soon as I sent the text, the dots showing he was typing appeared on my screen, and his reply came shortly after.

Miles: Cool.

“Who’s that?” Diesel asked as soon as I slid my phone back into my pocket.

“Miles,” I answered shortly, leaving no room for any side comments. “Are we waiting for Jess and Levi?” I looked around as we started to go down the fancy hallway that led to the parking lot.

“Na. They already left an hour ago. Those fuckers finish early on Fridays.”

“Right,” I hummed back.

It was hard to miss how other students looked at us as we walked past them in the halls. As if we’d just landed from Mars. Fuck that. I bet an actual alien wouldn’t get half the attention we got here. To them, we were much more dangerous and bizarre creatures, poor delinquents who invaded their rich kingdom. The rumors of our past spread like wildfire. As of last week, Jess and Levi were drug dealers while I was a gang member, and Diesel escaped from prison after he murdered three people with a spoon. This gossip kept most students at arm’s length, and we were fine with it. We didn’t come here to make new friends but to graduate high school.

The lawns outside the school were rather empty. I blamed it on the late hour. Most classes end early on Fridays, but Diesel and I had Spanish. You can already assume why he took it. I also remembered today was the first football game of the season. I assumed that also had something to do with where everyone went.

“I’m finishing work early tomorrow. Since you took a day off, wanna go surfing?” Diesel asked before we stopped to let a car pass.

“Sorry, man, but I’ve got plans with Miles. Maybe on Sunday?” I wanted to say something else, when I noticed the three large SUVs parked on either side of our truck, blocking us entirely in.

“What the actual fuck?” Diesel growled from my side while I took another moment to examine the couple who were making out on the hood of our truck. I recognized the girl seated on my hood from my biology class. I didn’t often like to use this word, but she was a real bitch. I once dared to ask her for a pen; in return, she twisted her nose with disgust and pretended she couldn’t hear me, but not before uttering the word pathetic for the whole class to hear. The guy who was standing between her legs while fucking her mouth with his tongue was none other than Shay-Lee. Even though he was with his back to me, you couldn’t mistake his wide back and shoulder-length gold hair for anyone else at school.

As we approached our truck, two out of the four guys standing there came to block the way. The twins. I still had no idea what their names were, nor did I care, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t notice them before. Not only did they follow Shay-Lee everywhere like his own personal bodyguards, but it was sort of hard to miss the six-foot-five giants. They might have had Shay-Lee’s impressive physique, but they definitely didn’t have his good looks. In fact, their faces looked as if they were constantly sucking on something nasty and were disgusted by the poor taste.

As I tried to pass them, the one on the right, who had a deep scar on his cheek, stopped me with his hand on my chest.