Page 6 of Pieces of Us

‘You’re a tool. Don’t say shit like that,’ I warn, shoving his chest. I cringe when I see Amity hang her head in mortification, trying to shrivel inside herself. His comment just reiterates every fear she has about herself.

‘You’re a dick,’ Billie says, while Lily holds Amity’s hand, a guilty and regretful look masking her face, knowing she caused this whole thing.

‘I was just kidding. Lighten up. Gee.’ He looks to the rest of the crew for support.

‘You’re just jealous because Linc gets some on the regular,’ Lily sasses back, making everyone ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ like we’re five. Amity shakes her head in disbelief that this is even a discussion we’re all having. It’s one thing for her and the girls to gossip, but it’s quite another for us guys to have some locker talk.

Fed up with being the butt of the joke, she tries to rise gracefully, but she clamours up like a baby giraffe instead. ‘Grow up, guys,’ she fumes, stalking away with her heavy ass bag in tow.

‘You guys are real jerks. Did you have to do that?’ I look around disapprovingly at everyone who laughed or didn’t come to our defence.

‘This is why you’ll always be better than the rest,’ Billie murmurs to me, giving me a small smile, but it looks more like a solemn frown. I know she still has a crush on me, but I’ll never go there again. Especially now that Amity is in the picture. I’m just grateful that she defended her. It makes me realise who’s a genuine friend.

‘Catch you guys later.’ I hop up, chasing after Amity.

Our school isn’t that big, with all classrooms centring around the oval, so there’s really no place for her to hide. I can see her up ahead, walking towards the canteen, no doubt seeking out the comfort of a Freddo Frog.

‘Baby, wait up,’ I shout, making the year sevens snicker. I glance at the group of pre-teens and wonder how I ever was that young. Their uniforms swim on them, and school bags act as weights, anchoring them to the ground most days.

‘It’s fine, Linc.’ Amity’s voice is muffled, her back turned to me. I’m faster, so it takes no time to speed up to her.

‘Hey, hey. Forget about ‘em,’ I say, jerking her to me by the pull of her arm. She hasn’t started crying yet, but her red-rimmed eyes indicate that it could happen at any minute. There is something so extraordinary about her ordinary. Her inky hair severely clashes with the starkness of her bright eyes, but somehow it works. It all works. Especially when her eyes are framed with thick lashes that act as a natural cat eye. She doesn’t put much effort in at school, but why should she? Her hair is in a messy bun, wisps flying around her face, no doubt from the shaking of her head at the ludicrous nature of the conversation that happened back there. She’s too classy to say anything, so knowing her, she’ll internalise and stew on it until she’s ready to combust, but I want to nip it in the bud before we get to that point.

Her pouty lips are pursed. She has something she wants to say.

‘Hart, don’t let them get to you,’ I plead, crossing all the boundaries of what’s appropriate and allowed in a catholic school setting. I’m instantly reminded of this by Mr. McCudden, my PE teacher.

‘Watch those hands, Mr. Hayes. Step away from accosting Miss Hartford, please.’ I roll my eyes but am grateful for the interruption, as it breaks the tension between Hart and I.

Backing away with my hands in surrender, I wait for him to move along. I don’t relish the thought of discussing my sex life—or lack of—in front of him.

There’s a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she peeks up at me. ‘If only he knew where those hands have been.’ She winks, rendering me speechless. If she’s gunning for me to get a hard-on, she’s going about it the right fucking way. I already need to keep my naughty schoolgirl fantasies in check where she’s concerned.

‘Hart. Why…’ I drag out in pain, knowing I can’t just rub one out before the bell rings.

‘Just saying.’ She shrugs, giving me a sweet smile, as if she hasn’t caused the chub tenting in my pants.

Diverting the conversation back to a safer topic that won’t give me a raging boner, I circle back around to see if she’s okay. I put my hands in my pockets, rocking back and forth. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’ I ask, tentativeness lacing my voice.

She darts her eyes downwards, hesitatingly biting her lip. I wish it was my teeth sinking into her skin, which doesn’t alleviate my stiffy. A vibrating energy radiates off her, but it doesn’t feel nervous. With a flick of her head to ensure no one is around us, she turns her sultry eyes back to me.

‘I want to have sex with you,’ she purrs. When she gets all sexy and horny, I don’t even think she knows that she does it, but I’m too preoccupied with her words to dwell on how I wish I could record the sounds she makes.

‘You-you…what?’ I stutter. I’m not sure if I heard her correctly.

‘I want to have sex with you.’ I know she says it matter-of-factly, but I’m still having a hard time comprehending that she wants to take the next step. With me. I swallow, buying myself some time so I can find the right words, but there are none. Instead, impulse takes over and I pick her up and swing her around, delighted that she wants my D. ‘Linc! Put me down!’ she laughs giddily, drawing more attention to us. Yelling booms from a number of teachers while students cheer. They’re unaware of what they’re cheering for, but they like the commotion nonetheless.

When I plant her feet back on the pavement, she leans up and chastely kisses me on the cheek, as if she hasn’t already rocked my world. ‘See you later, baby.’ With that, she swirls around, making her skirt do that famous Marilyn Monroe thing, and walks to her next class so she’s nice and early.

It’s taken two weeks to manipulate an evening when we’re completely alone. So many lies had to line up for us to have sex. First, we had to plant the seed that Lily was having a fake party. Then, we had to organise a guy’s night where Uncle Mark would come to ours, under the guise that it would be better if Jasmine stuck to her routine and was in her own home. Once we were sure her dad had left, we looped back to her home, where I asked her to wait in the car for fifteen minutes. But it was all worth it to see Hart bathed in warm candlelight.

I want this to be a night to remember. A night all about her. All about us. I race around her room, setting up candles, hanging fairy lights and making sure two condoms are out of the pack. I press play on some shitty romantic playlist, which I promptly turn down. It’s way too fucking cheesy for my liking.

I can feel her before I can see her. ‘Linc?’ she breathes, taking in her surroundings. I spin around to see her pretty face after placing some tissues on the nightstand.

‘I just wanted to make it special,’ I shrug. Screw what the boys would think if this ever got out. But knowing Hart, she’ll never tell a soul what happens between us.

Looking around, her face glows. ‘I love it,’ she whispers, her emotions choking her from the inside out. I watch her take it in, sitting on the edge of her bed. ‘This is incredible. You’re incredible.’ If only she knew that was how I felt about her. I’ve never said the words out loud, but I’m pretty sure this is what love feels like. When I look at her, I see my past, present and future. My missing link.

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