Page 44 of Enemies to Prom Dates
He turned and smiled at me. “Bennet.”
It was odd. I didn’t feel the same jolt of anger and disdain I normally felt when he said my name like that. It felt more like a bond between us now. He was Fitz to me, and I was Bennet to him, and he knew something about me nobody else in school knew.
It connected us. Was he actually becoming my friend?
That couldn’t be possible, could it?
“What’s up?” he asked.
I took in a deep breath and just blurted it out. “I’m quitting the fashion show. Doing the whole co-MC thing.”
He frowned. “Why? What happened?”
“Apparently petitioning Miss Havisham didn’t work, so they decided to take it up a level.”
His frowned deepened. “Up a level how?”
I rolled my eyes because it was both embarrassing and pathetic they were acting like this over something so trivial. “The Snobs have been bumping into me in the hallways. Like literally pushing me around. Wick—”
“Wick?” he snapped. “Wick bumped into you? Intentionally? To hurt you?”
“Not to hurt me, I don’t think. It wasn’t like a full-on assault. He just bumped into my shoulder. Him and Jeff. Locke said he overheard some Snobs talking and it’s some kind of plan to make me back down. Little did they know, all they needed to do was ask. Because I don’t give a shit.”
He said nothing, but his expression was furious.
I could only assume he was angry with me.
“Look, don’t be like that, okay. I’m not backing down from them or letting them push me around. I just don’t need this hassle in my life right now. You, more than anyone, know that.”
“No,” he said coldly. “You don’t. I’ll handle this.”
“Handle what? I’m just letting you know I’m going to tell Miss Havisham today— What are you looking at? Are you not paying attention to me?”
“Stay here,” he said, looking behind me at something.
I turned and watched him run down the hall, weaving in and out of students until he finally found his target. The next thing I knew Wick was being shoved up against the lockers, made to bear his weight on his toes, while Fitz’s forearm was shoved against Wick’s throat.
“Oh, shit.” I ran after him. Students were already circling like vultures and I had to push my way through them to hear what Fitz was saying.
“…think you are? It’s not enough you can’t get a girl your own age to even look at you, now you’ve resorted to physical assault.”
“It was a prank,” Wick rasped.
“You touch her, you look at her, you breathe air around her, I will hurt you. Badly and without mercy. Do you understand me?” Fitz snarled. “You don’t have any breath left to answer. So you can just nod your head.”
I held my breath as Wick remained unmoving, but then eventually jerked his head in a nod that Fitz accepted. He backed off and Wick put his hand over his throat as if checking to see that his head was still attached.
“You’re a fucking asshole,” Wick again rasped out. “I didn’t even hurt her.”
“And you won’t. Go tell your friends the same holds true for them.”
“What? Are you fucking her now or something? Talk about downgrading.”
Fitz raised his fist as if to deliver a punch, but I ran up behind him and grabbed his arm.
“Don’t! You’ll get suspended for fighting,” I said. My strength was pointless against his. If he wanted to throw the punch, he would have. Wick’s flinch must have satisfied him enough.
“Get out of my sight, you prick.”
