Page 31 of Marked By The Kings

Esther thinks I’m lying. “There’s no one at all,” she says breezily one afternoon, “you’re just making it up to make yourself sound cooler.”

I snort into my soda and feel the burn of carbonation in my nose. It’s an embarrassing moment when I have to cough the soda out of my lungs and nasal cavity. “Yes, a boyfriend makes me soundcooler, Esther,” I roll my eyes.

“It does,” she says with a pout. “I don’t have one.” But I know for a fact that she’s been sleeping with Elliot every now and then. Neither of them will tell me, but frankly, I don’t care. Elliot isn’t mine to be jealous of.

He sure gets jealous over me, though. When we agreed not to date at the beginning of the year, I thought that meant he’d move on eventually. But Elliot still looks at me like a piece of property he bought and paid for, and he’s determined to get his money’s worth.

Every party I go to, he has his arm around my waist at one point or another. I try to shove him off, but the drunker he gets, the harder it is to shake him. “C’mon, Dani,” he slurs one night, “let’s go out to the barn and fool around.”

I don’t tell Holy about these moments. I carry them with me like a secret shame. Holy already does so much to make my life easier that I can’t burden him with a high school boy’s over-exuberant crush. He picks up on it, though.

One day at lunch, I’m at my locker preparing for the rest of the afternoon when Elliot pulls up. “Hey, good lookin’,” he greets with a smarmy grin. “Why don’t we head to the football field and make out?”

I don’t look at him because I can see Holy walking down the hall out of the corner of my eye. “Uh, I don’t think so, Elliot. I’m seeing someone.”

“What?” He asks in a sharp tone. “Who?”

I close my locker, straighten my back, and firmly tell him it’s none of his business. “We aren’t dating, Elliot. I don’t owe you an explanation.” I start to walk off when he grabs my forearm and shoves me into the locker.

He starts to tell me that I’m being disrespectful when Holy arrives on the scene. He watched the whole thing happen, and the second my body slammed into the locker, I watched his face go from pleasant to high alert. “Hey!” Holy yells as he comes up behind Elliot. “Take your hands off her.”

Elliot releases my arm and backs up, both hands in the air in defense. “Sir, it isn’t what it looks like.”

Holy looks at me in concern and asks if I’m okay. I’m a little shaken, but I nod my head yes. Then he turns his full attention on Elliot and glares at him. The two are roughly the same height, but Holy has fifty pounds of muscle on him. “It looked like you were physically assaulting Danielle.”

“Do you two know each other?” Elliot scoffs.

“Th-that’s Mr. Pelham. I’m his TA.” The words escape my mouth in a stutter.

“And who are you?” Holy asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

Elliot puffs out to get bigger, but he still looks pathetic next to Holy. “I’m Elliot Graham. I’m on the football team.”

Holy snorts at him, unimpressed. “Good to know. I’m friends with Coach Baize. I’ll be sure to let him know why you’re being sent to the Principal’s office.”

A second passes between Holy’s announcement and Elliot’s understanding. He looks at Mr. Pelham and then at me, but the look in his eyes when he meets mine is scared. “Mr. Pelham,” he laughs nervously, “it was a misunderstanding between Dani and me. There’s no need—”

“To the Principal’s office, Mr. Graham. I’ll let him know you’re on your way.” Holy doesn’t budge an inch.

“Danielle,” Elliot begs in a lower tone, “talk to your dad. Tell him that this was a mistake.”

But I turn away from him because, mistake or not, he put his hands on me. And I don’t accept that kind of treatment from anyone.

When Elliot has left the building and is on his way to the office, Holy asks me if I’m alright. He gestures me down the hall to his classroom and shuts the door behind him. He can’t lock it with a student in his room, but he stands against it to prevent anyone from coming in. “Did he hurt you, Danielle?” His jaw ticks in anger. “Because I saw him put his hands on you, and I’ll kill him if he hurt you.”

The possessive tone of his voice calms my nerves. “I’m fine,” I reassure him. “Elliot and I had a thing over the summer. We didn’t date or anything; we just fooled around a few times.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Holy growls under his breath. “If anything, it makes me want to punch that kid in the mouth.”

I smile wanly and shake my head. “It’s over, Holy. You’re the only person I want to fool around with anymore.”

His demeanor softens a touch, but not much. “I wish I could hug you,” Holy swallows past the lump in his throat.

“I wish you could, too.”

Holy calls my father and lets him know what he saw. I sit on an idle desk, kicking my legs as I listen to him recant his version of events. He tries to soothe my father’s anger when he says that Elliot Graham shoved me into a locker. I can hear Dad yelling through the phone from across the classroom. “She’s in my class right now,” Holy explains gently. “After you talk to the Graham boy, if you want me to send her down, just let me know.”

It’s sweet to see the two of them bonding over my safety. If only my father knew that Holy Pelham was more than just a kind teacher doing his job.

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