Forbidden Love

20

Luna

Monday morning comes too fast. I miss the weekend already even though I barely did anything—other than lie to my entire family and start helping "the enemy" as Corey would see it.

Speaking of Corey, he was mad last night. I was supposed to stay with Mom when he went to work, but since the whole Jaxon incident happened, I didn't show up. He had to text JJ to come from Kalani's house. The guilt of sleeping while my family needed me hasn't gone away yet. Corey was late to work, JJ was upset she had to leave her friend's house, and now Corey has barely spoken to me this entire morning.

Whenever he gets mad, he gets quiet.

"Can I drive us home today?" JJ asks as we walk up to the school.

"No," Joseph, Corey, and I say simultaneously.

"No fair," She complains. "My driving ban should be over by now. And Corey always drives."

"I'm the oldest," He says.

"And I'm the youngest. That means I should be treated like freakin' royalty." JJ folds her arms.

"Says who?" I challenge.

"Says Mom."

We all shut up and Joseph pushes JJ forward. Once inside the building, JJ nudges me out of her way.

"There's Mason!"

I watch as a smile forms on her face when she sees the blond headed senior. He barely gives her a second glance. It bothers me when she doesn't get the same energy that she gives to him. I don't know why she still tries at this point. It's been years.

If it were me, I would've given up. Actually, last year there was this exchange student, Sean. I had a small crush on him for about a week, but once he showed no interest after hearing the rumors about us, I gave up on that dream. He left the second semester, so our "love" wouldn't have lasted long anyway.

Still, it sucks what rumors do to people.

Corey and I walk in the opposite direction of JJ and Joseph. Sometimes I find myself wishing all four of us had more classes together, but Joseph and Corey are seniors and they're in a lot of advanced classes. JJ and I can't relate. My teachers have begged me to take better classes, but the workload doesn't make sense for me. I'm busy with life. School just doesn't seem all that important right now.

Maybe senior year.

Just as Corey and I turn a corner, we bump into three girls. Oh great. Julia, Maddi, and Britney. Because what better way to start a day than with the three musketeers?

Lovely.

Julia literally gasps when she sees us and starts to dig through her purse. We watch her take out perfume, spray the air a couple times, and choke us to death with her coconut scent.

"What's your problem?" I shake my head already fed up with her drama.

"Oh, sweetie, I don't have a problem," She smiles and then looks me up and down. "Well, aside from that horrendous outfit."

I glance at my outfit. "I'm wearing the same exact thing as you. It's a uniform. We all look horrible."

"I look perfect, thank you very much."

She's wearing a plaid uniform skirt—that should be illegal to wear in public because of how short it is on her—paired with the red blazer of school which is tightly buttoned over her white button up underneath. Every curve of her body is on full display and I'm reminded, once again, of her amazing genes.

Makeup isn't even caked on her face—she just looks good. Her lips are the perfect shade of pink to match her tanned skin, and her eyeliner is winged and sharp, but that's about the only makeup on her. Her hair is curly like mine, but she wears hers down and a pearled headband settled on top of it.

She does look perfect.

I hate it.

"Yeah, right." I fold my arms, deflecting.

"Hey," She grabs Jaxon's shades from my head before I can stop her. I don't know why I put them on this morning. "Jaxon complimented these yesterday, didn't he?"

"Nice of you to eavesdrop," I say dryly. The fact that I don't remember Julia even being there means I was really distracted by Jaxon and his staring—or I was just super tired.

Maddi glances at the shades in her best friend's hands and then her gaze briefly flies to me before landing on Julia again. "Come on. Let's go." She tugs on Julia's arm. "I can't be late to homeroom again."

"Me neither," Britney chimes in. "I'm always getting detention."

"In a minute," Julia responds before zeroing in on me. "Conozca su lugar."

Can I just add how annoying it is that she speaks a foreign language fluently? On top of the brain, looks, and wealth, she adds bilingual to the mix. Now I really wish I payed attention in Spanish class. Luckily, my oldest brother did.

"Conoce el tuyo." Corey's eyes narrow on Julia. I can feel the anger radiate off him. He rarely talks to anyone but us. Corey doesn't usually stoop to the level of high school students unlike the rest of us. He keeps his nose clean.

Julia's eyes light up at Corey's words. Whether that's good or bad, I can't tell. "You speak Spanish?" She walks up and pats his cheek. "How cute."

"Don't touch me." He pushes her hand off of him and she steps back with a smile.

"What's going on?" Jaxon.

He appears a second later and steps between Julia and Corey, his eyes land on his ex in a silent question.

"They ran into me and then pushed me. Can you believe it?" Julia pouts and my mouth drops open. She did not just lie.

Jaxon doesn't think twice though, he grabs Corey's blazer and balls it up. "Don't touch her ever again." His tone is less of a warning and more of a command.

"Tell your girlfriend to leave my family alone then," Corey says through his teeth. I know it's taking every ounce of his self-control not to punch Jaxon right in the nose. I know it's taking me the same amount not to pull out Julia's stupidly long eyelashes.

At the mention of family though, Jaxon releases Corey with a small shove, and turns to the drama queen.

"Stop getting into trouble," He tells Julia with an exasperated sigh. I wonder if she's the friend he was talking about yesterday. I wonder if he helps her sleep at night.

The thought makes my blood boil for no reason.

"Whatever you say." She smiles and wraps both arms around his and Maddi's waist. "Let's go find Paxton."

Embarrassment—and jealousy?—forms in my cheeks when I remember my arms around him last night. I have to look away from her grip.

Jaxon doesn't even make eye contact with me before he turns and walks away with the three girls. And I understand that I was the one who set the "let's not tell Corey" rule, but Jaxon is too good at it. He could at least look me in the eye.

"I hate him," Corey mutters, and then proceeds to stare daggers into Jaxon's back.

Despite the growing pit in my stomach, I laugh. "Calm down. That's how people become serial killers, you know." My brother, however, doesn't see the humor in it. And I get it. Corey has so much patience, so if he's upset—it must be bad.