Tangled Up In You (A Savioe Family Novel) Read online

  He nodded in agreement and took a seat at the table next to the teacher’s lounge. Christie looked up and batted her eyes at me. “Want to head over to the janitor’s closet and make out until the bell rings?”

  I grabbed her hands and kissed her knuckles. “I’d love to, babe, but I need to keep an eye on Beau. Just to make sure he doesn’t try anything until I’ve at least scared the little girl into retracting her story.”

  She pursed her lips into a pout crossing her arms underneath her overly padded breasts causing them to push up a bit more. “Is that all you’re going to do with her?”

  I held back a groan and resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “What else would I do? You should know by now that you are the only girl in my life.” For now. I quietly added to myself.

  That seemed to placate her. She smiled at me before leaning up on her toes, kissed my cheek and sashayed over to a small group of her friends. I waited until she was over there engrossed in a conversation before glancing at Roxy. Her dark hair fluttered around her face. A tiny hand pushed a few strands behind her ear. A flicker of pink touched her full bottom lip before her teeth bit down on it. Her jade eyes narrowed at the girl at her table.

  With a sigh, I walked over to Beau at the table and took a seat next to him. “You really jus’ gonna try ta talk ta her?” He grumbled at me.

  “Might as well. She’s in a few of my classes. I could try to turn on some of the Cajun charm Momma swears we have and sweet talk her into telling the truth.” I smirked as my eyes traveled back to her.

  “Ain’t dat gonna cause problems wit ya girl?” He glanced over at me with his brows furrowed in worry. “I don’ wanna have ta listen ta her screamin’ at ya. And den try ta keep Marie or Momma from slappin’ da fire outta her.”

  “Don’t worry about that. I’ve already told Christie that I am going to talk to the little girl to get her to stop those rumors.” I shrugged and glanced back over to Christie talking to her friends. She stood in the middle of them talking non-stop. Her hands moved wildly as she tried to emphasize her point. One of her friends gasped and tried to speak but Christie always seemed to interrupt one of them and try to be the center of attention.

  I shook my head my gaze traveled over to where Roxy was seated. She was slumped down in her chair with her arms across her chest glaring at her friend Jess. Her jaw clenched as she narrowed her eyes before a small smile graced her face as she rolled her eyes. She was always so quiet just sitting back and observing those around her. I never saw her trying to interrupt anyone. She never had to be the center of attention.

  Beau snorted, “Gawd, ya really are dumb over dat girl huh? She got ya fooled dats fo’ sure.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked silently hoping he did not see my admiration of Roxy.

  “Any girl ya talk ta or look at she warns ‘em once ta back off. Den if dey don’ she starts a rumor ‘bout dem so vicious dat dey leave da school. She’s got a mean streak in her bigger dan Marie does. R’member dat time ya told Tante Lisa dat ya loved her on da phone and she trew dat book at your head. Or dat girl ya borrowed a pencil from? Christie made her cry and den dat poor thing tried ta kill herself after Christie said she slept wit da entire basketball team?”

  “Oh.” I shrugged my shoulder and mumbled. “And I’m not dumb over her.”

  *****

  Chapter Two

  Roxy

  The bell rang signaling the beginning of the school day. I grabbed my bag and headed to my locker to grab my books for my first class. When I walked down the hall, my bag slung over my shoulder people still whispered all around me. The drama kids stared at me. The science geeks skirted around me nervously looking back over their shoulder. The cheerleaders curled their noses at me especially the one Jess called the blonde twig. I rounded the corner next to the girl’s bathroom and spotted a small group of jocks leaning up against my locker a few feet away. I closed my eyes and sighed. ‘Well at least it’s not the Savioe boys.’ I thought to myself as I headed over to them.

  The tallest of the three nudged his cohorts, as I got closer. “Hey are you the girl that knocked that bitch out?”

  I ducked my head and whispered, “I didn’t knock her out. I just tried to stop her from shoving my friend in the locker.”

  I felt an arm drape over my shoulders. An overpowering scent of cheap body spray assaulted my nostrils. My heart started beating faster as I nervously glanced up and saw that the one people call Bus grinning down at me. His nickname fit him. He was over six foot with wide shoulders and muscle that worked well out on the football field. “Don’t be shy, sweetheart. Come on tell us the truth.”

  “I did.” I mumbled shrugging out of his casual embrace and rushed to open my locker. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed he motioned at his friends to leave before leaning against the locker beside me.

  “Look. I don’t know if you know this or not but the Savioe family is not one to mess with. Just because Marie is not in school doesn’t mean you are safe.” He folded his beefy arms across his chest. His face now morphed from the jovial expression he first had when I saw him to one of concern and worry.

  I placed my bag in the locker and grabbed my notebook, sketchpad and Environmental Science book for my next two classes before shutting it. I glanced up at him looking down at me and gave him a small sad smile. “I know. The two oldest were giving me the stink eye when I pulled into the parking lot this morning. I fully expect one to do something in the class I have with him.” I gave a tiny shrug and tried to walk past him.

  He gently grabbed my shoulder halting my exit. “Just be careful. I’ve seen those guys in action and it’s not pretty.” He ran his hand over his shaved head in frustration. “Not that many people know this but my sister was a victim to their malice. She…. She said the wrong thing to Luke and ended up getting hurt badly. She’s still in the hospital over it all.”

  I turned around and placed my hand on his arm to try to comfort him. He looked so sad and angry. “I’m sorry to hear that. I will definitely be extra cautious around them.”

  “I wouldn’t have said anything if you didn’t remind me of her.” He gave me a small grin. “She is about your height. Well, maybe a bit taller.”

  “Most twelve year olds are taller than me.” I joked shifting the books in my arms.

  His dark brown eyes twinkled in amusement as he took the books from my arms. “That’s true. Here I’ll walk you to your class.”

  *****

  Art class was as expected. Only a few glances here and there before people got lost in their current projects. I think most of those looks were from me arriving at the room with Bus. It surprised me that he was trying to help me out. I found out that he is actually somewhat nice. We joked from the time we left my locker until we reached the art department. He offered to walk me to my science class when he found out that it was Luke in that class with me. This attention from him made me wonder exactly what happened to his sister. No one handles a stranger with this much concern unless they know of something freaking horrible that might happen to them. This all just seems too weird to me.

  When we reached the class, Bus looked in the room before letting me enter. Only the teacher and a few other students were in there at the moment. He smiled down at me. “All clear for now. Don’t worry about Beau I have him in my next two classes. I’ll have the boys run defense for you in case the young one or Luke tries anything. I’ll meet you at your locker after school, Roxy.”

  I nodded at him and walked in the room. The seven large desks were arranged in a horseshoe pattern facing the door. I quickly made my way to the back of the room for my seat. Dr. Sloan was seated at his desk looking at the current weather patterns for our area eating a donut from a box seated beside his keyboard. He liked to think of himself as an amateur storm chaser. In my mind, that just makes him crazy. Why would anyone want to chase a freaking tornado if you don’t have some kind of death wish?

  I pulled out my sketchpad and flipped to a clean page. I hu
nched over the paper, my left elbow resting on the table with my head leaning against the hand as I sketched out a cypress tree. Off in my own little world I was completely oblivious to the books that plopped down beside me.

  “Hey, Roxy?” A deep voice said in a slow Louisiana drawl that brought to mind spicy foods, swamps and hot summer nights. He always reminded me of my favorite X-Men character, Gambit. I swallowed hard before turning my head slightly in my hand to glance at him.

  He sat to my left, his arm rested on the table as he leaned toward me. His blue eyes captivated me. They reminded me of a clear noon sky. The dark eyebrows that rested above them only enhanced the stark contrast of color. His straight nose hinted at his French ancestry. I sat there dazed for a moment as my artist’s eye soaked in the masculine beauty. My fingers itched to draw him before Bus’s words about his sister echoed in my mind snapping me out of this trance. “Yes?” I asked.

  He took a deep breath before asking, “How are you doing?”

  “I’m fine.” I said resisting the urge to snort at him before turning my attention back to my drawing.

  *****

  Luke

  ‘How are you doing?’ Really that’s the best I could come up with after agonizing all first period on what I was going to say to her. God I’m such a tool sometimes. I opened my mouth to say something else when Dr. Sloan started handing out worksheets of crossword puzzles and word searches. It must be a busy weather day somewhere. After he took his seat, I turned back to Roxy. Her forehead rested on her hand as her pencil frantically scratched at the paper in front of her. Her nose scrunched up in concentration. Her pink tongue darted out of the corner of her mouth before her white teeth bit down on her full bottom lip.

  I glanced over her arm to see what she was working so hard on. A cypress tree with heavy moss hanging on its branches graced the page. She was working on the water under the tree with hard pencil strokes creating a choppy surface to the liquid. The more she shaded in the more it started to remind me of home.

  I gently tapped her arm to get her attention. She tensed up at my touch, her hand holding the pencil trembled a bit before she looked at me. Her eyes bore into mine. The clear green of them framed by a touch of eyeliner drove every thought from my head. I sat there opened mouthed for a moment.

  “What?” She snapped at me impatiently. Her hand drummed the pencil on the desk.

  “I jus’ wanted ta ask ya ‘bout wha’ happened yesterday.” I stammered out my accent getting slightly thicker in my frustration.

  “What about it?” Her lips pursed into a bow as she frowned at me.

  My eyes lingered on them for a brief moment as I thought about how they would taste before asking her. “Wha’ exactly happened? We’ve heard dat ya told everybody dat ya kicked Marie’s ass.”

  Her eyes widened before she ducked her head closing her eyes. She took a deep breath stole a glance back up at me and explained, “I never said that to anyone. To be honest I don’t even know how it got started. It’s been very unnerving actually. I’m not used to people paying any attention to me at all. Just because I was miraculously able to push your sister away from my friend before she got crammed into her locker, people have been staring at me, talking about me and just giving me way too much of it.” She put the pencil down and ran a hand over her face. “Did you know that Bus has actually walked me to both classes this morning because of it? He is afraid that you and your brothers are going to jump me or something.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and counted to ten to try to regain control over myself before I responded. “First, my brothers and I may be a bit quick tempered but we have never hit a female in our lives. Our mother would skin us if we even dreamed of doing that. Second, who would start it? Was anyone else around you when it happened? Third, why would no one pay attention to you? Finally, Bus has had it out for me ever since my girlfriend started some rumor about his sister. He just doesn’t want to believe that we had nothing to do with what happened.”

  She turned in her seat to face me leaning her arm on the table before placing her hand on her head. “I didn’t see anyone else there, but Jess mentioned this morning that the vice principal’s son witnessed it and told his mom. Most people have RA. Long story.” She rolled her eyes. “What exactly happened to his sister? He never really mentioned the details of it just that she was still in the hospital.” The front of her shirt tightened a bit over her breasts immediately drawing my attention to them. Those were definitely not enhanced by padding.

  I shifted a bit in my seat and cleared my throat. “I’ll ask Marie when I get home if she noticed anyone. I have to hear this RA story. As far as his sister goes I don’t know the extent of it just that she attempted to take her life.”

  Her eyes widened in shock. “Wow. I did not expect that.” She picked up her pencil beside her and started adding some grassland to her drawing. “So the RA thing, Roxanne Amnesia, started back in middle school. Once people started getting taller and grew up, they stopped talking to me. Then eventually they just stopped noticing me all together.” She bit her bottom lip again as she drew two lawn chairs facing the water.

  “Not everyone ignored you, Roxy.” She turned a quizzical gaze at me just as the bell rang. My lips twitched in the hint of smile as I grabbed my books before getting up to leave. “I know I didn’t.”

  *****

  Roxy

  I sat in my chair dumbfounded. What did he mean by that? I shook my head as I gathered my stuff to head to my locker. Our conversation had made no sense. Isn’t he supposed to be some big badass or something? He was acting like he was more nervous than I was. I know I almost had a heart attack when he touched my arm. The roaring in my ears from the adrenaline rushing through my system deafened me. When I turned to look at him, he just sat there gawking at me. I was actually somewhat thankful for that time so I could make sure I didn’t squeak at him.

  “Hey girlie! You ready for lunch.” Jess bounced up beside me nudging me out of my revelry.

  I shrugged at her and entered in my combination in the stubborn lock. “Yeah, I just need to put my things up.”

  “Sweet. So are we going off campus to eat today or is it mystery food from the cafeteria for us?”

  I stifled a groan at that. The administration graced the Senior and Junior classes with the option of getting lunch at one of the local fast food restaurants as congratulations for scoring high on the statewide tests we take every May. I normally wouldn’t even consider going to one, but today… I just don’t want to deal with the attention. With a heavy sigh, I turned to her after getting my purse from the locker. “We eat off campus today!”

  “Really? Frick yeah! About damn time. I am seriously craving a double cheeseburger and fries right now.” She giggled with glee and did a really funny looking dance.

  I am going to regret doing this. Plastering a smile on my face, I looked at her. “Well are you coming or just going to stand there dancing like a fool?”

  “See, the beauty of being me is I can dance like a fool and still walk down the hall looking all boss.” She popped her collar acting all serious.

  I laughed at her while rolling my eyes. “Just come on.” Grabbing her hand, I pulled her through the crowded hallway toward the commons. We passed Bus and his friends who waved at me. I smiled back at him before leaving the building.

  “Dude, the Bus just waved at you!” She exclaimed glancing back over her shoulder in shock.

  “Yes, I saw that. He has actually talked to me a few times today.” I admitted walking down a small set of steps leading to the student parking lot.

  “You have to tell me all the details! Like now.” Jess demanded as she opened the car door.

  “There is nothing to tell. He heard the rumors and was concerned that the Savioe boys would hurt me. He said I reminded him of his little sister.” I started the car and left the lot heading toward the cluster of heart disease drive-thru heaven. “So which one do you want to eat at?”

  Jess purse
d her lips and thought about it for a moment. “Definitely Frank’s. That place has the best fries in existence.”

  “Okay.” I mumbled. Now I don’t mind fast food. Really I don’t. I just tend to get extremely ill afterward. Like I feel like my insides are trying to revoke all the grease and fat that just tantalized my taste buds. I much prefer home cooked meals. Which is very odd considering both my parents could burn water if they ever came close to a stovetop. So I tended to do all the cooking or just go to Jess’s and get fed by her dad.

  We pulled into Frank’s Drive Inn. It still had that old 50’s retro style to it with carhops that wore roller skates coming out to take your order if you sat in your car and deliver your food to you. Good ole fashioned root beer floats, the whole nine yards. I parked the car in the spot next to the bathroom by the back of the building and turned it off.

  “So did you want to eat in the car or go to one of the tables out front to eat?” I turned to ask her.

  “Let’s sit at the table. You know how I tend to drop my food. I really don’t want to hear the bitching if ketchup falls on the seats.” She explained opening the door.

  I rolled my eyes at her and got out grabbing my purse and keys as I exited. We took a seat at the middle table and looked at the menu beside us. “So what did you want and please tell me I am not paying for you this time?”

  “I have money.” She huffed indignantly at me. A few dollars and change slammed on the table. “See.”

  “Just checking.” I mumbled. Jess, love her dearly, but she usually doesn’t have enough money to pay for most things, so I most of the time I end up paying for her. After a few years of her mooching, it was getting pretty damn tiresome. I glanced over the menu to see if there was anything that didn’t drip grease. Settling on the grilled chicken sandwich and a root beer float, I placed my order through the old intercom system. Jess after counting her money got a double cheeseburger, fries and a small cola.