The Bubblegum Fairy and the Bad Boy

"You're relatively quiet today."

Her grass green eyes glanced up at him and she quirked her lips into a smile. "I am?"

"More so than usual, yes."

She shrugged and took another bite of her sandwich, staring absently into the distance as she chewed, then having swallowed that mouthful she replied, "Sometimes I like the quiet."

He snorted into his can of drink. "You could've fooled me."

She nudged her shoulder against his in reprimand. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"Sometimes it seems like you're talking just to avoid the silence."

She giggled and shook her head. "I'm quite sure everything I say is completely relevant."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because I really needed to know what colour you pissed when you ate asparagus."

Her eyes widened in protest. "Not just me. Everybody." He chuckled and she looked away from him and back into the distance before saying, "Plus, I didn't see you at lunch the last two days and I missed you."

Well, he certainly hoped she hadn't seen him, since the last two lunch hours he'd spent fucking Rachel Wallingham in the janitor's closet. She was another cheerleader trying to get back at her cheating boyfriend by, of course, cheating on him in return. And why not do it with the one guy that nobody could ever hope to commit?

He'd forgotten that Annabel might be waiting for him with his lunch in his own, newly acquired lunchbox, sitting at his table amongst his friends. When a girl was willing to give him head while her boyfriend had basketball practice, he wasn't about to turn her down. It was a sure way to keep him relatively comfortable for the rest of the day. But he hadn't thought that his presence would be missed. Apparently he was wrong.

"Yeah," He cleared his throat. "Sorry about that."

She turned sad eyes in his direction. "What were you doing?"

He raised an amused eyebrow. Like he was really going to tell her. "None of your business."

She got a determined set to her eyes, as if she was going to try and pry the information from him. He probably would've enjoyed it if she'd tried, but the motion was put to a stop when her eyes widened as she stared over his shoulder and a dark shadow fell across her face, and he might have questioned what had made her so suddenly distressed right then, if he hadn't been interrupted.

"Hey Jake. Too cool to sit with us anymore?"

Jake stared up at Trevor Mackey, a regular drop kick, just like him and the resident drug dealer of Hamilton High. It wasn't like they were best buddies or anything, but they both knew the score. They both knew how their lives were going to turn out so they both took advantage of whatever came their way. And what came Trevor's way was his ability to dish out poor quality drugs and earn money from it. He was also, no doubt, prospecting for some gang, so that made Trevor lower than himself in the food chain, but it also classed him as someone not to be crossed.

He felt Annabel shift closer to him, sidling up to his side to press her chin into the back of his shoulder, but before he could frown down at her and ask what was wrong, he saw Trevor's eyes slide to her and watched as a creepy smile crawled across his face.

"Well, hello little Tink." Trevor said in a slow drawl. "I didn't see you there."

"Hello Trevor." She mumbled, and Jake felt her hand clutching the back of his shirt.

"You look nice today." He said with a possible hint of mocking.

"Thank you."

"You didn't want to sit with me at lunch?" Trevor asked in a curious lilt, a smug gleam in his eyes.

Jake felt her hand clench tighter as she answered, "Not today."

Trevor licked his lips. "Maybe tomorrow then?"

"Maybe." She replied softly.

Jake might have questioned her uncharacteristic, brief answers if he didn't catch Trevor's eyes as they took a slow journey down her body and he felt said body curl closer into his in response. It was then Jake realised that Trevor was actually checking her out. He was doing the symbolic manoeuvre of a guy who was looking at something he liked, something he wanted, something he intended to have and Jake felt the overwhelming urge to kick his ass for even thinking something like that about his Annabel.

But before he could act on his initial instinct, before he could actually question when this new development had begun and why he was getting so aggressive over it, Trevor met his eyes and smirked.

"Well, as much as I'd like to stay and…" His eyes shifted to Annabel again. "Have lunch. I've got some business to take care of." He turned back to Jake. "Might catch you later?"

Jake stared at him with an indifferent expression even though he was feeling anything but indifferent and nodded. "Later."

Trevor looked at Annabel again and smiled. "See you later, Tinkerbell. Save me a seat tomorrow."

Jake felt her chin bump against his shoulder in a tentative nod. "Bye Trevor."

And with one last perverted glance down the length of her body, Trevor threw them a mock salute and walked away.

Jake felt Annabel deflate with a heavy sigh and he turned to stare at her, which was a hard task to do since today her hair was piled on top of her head and all he could see was the blonde curls with her regular multi-coloured flowers and feathers scattered amongst the mass. So he leaned back and put his arm around her so he could try and gain her attention.

Almost immediately, once she realised the opening, she shifted so she could snuggle closer into his side, her knees tucked into him so that she was practically sitting on his lap. His brow wrinkled at the sudden repositioning, but all he did was move his head so that he didn't have a mouthful of hair.

"What was that all about?"

She was silent a moment before replying, "What do you mean?"

"Do you know Trevor very well?"

She hesitated and started fiddling with the bottom of his t-shirt, her head down, watching the play of her fingers. "Not really."

He tried another route since her answers didn't seem too forthcoming. "Have you been sitting with him at lunch?"

She shrugged. "You weren't there and he sat in your seat."

He frowned – maybe at the idea of her reluctance to talk, maybe at the idea of someone taking his place - whatever it was, it didn't particularly make him happy. So very hesitantly, he asked, "Do you like Trevor?"

She shrugged and shook her head at the same time, a very ambiguous answer for a very unambiguous person. And then she said, very quietly into his chest, "He makes me feel strange."

His jaw clenched and he realised it was because he was gritting his teeth and he couldn't understand why. He only did that when he was angry and never, in Annabel's presence, had he ever been angry. But those five words didn't sit well with him. "What do you mean, he makes you feel strange?"

She stared up at him then, her green eyes wide and almost anxious. ""He's your friend, isn't he?"

His eyes narrowed, wondering what it was he saw in her gaze. "No. He's really just an acquaintance."

Her brow creased. "But you like him?"

His mouth quirked and he told her the truth. "Not necessarily."

Her head dropped back to his shoulder again and she sighed. "I don't think I like him either."

His eyebrows rose in surprise. "You? I thought you liked everybody."

She started fiddling with his shirt again. "He does bad things."

His face cleared with understanding. That's what this was about. She knew he dealt drugs and her little golden pixie heart and her little golden good girl morals was having a hard time dealing with the fact that she was hanging around with people who so proudly broke the law. Maybe it had been a bad idea bringing her into his world, but since she wasn't exactly the easiest person to say 'no' to, she should probably consider this situation as half her fault. He would hate to think what she thought about the things he got up to in his spare time. If she knew the truth of his whereabouts during lunch the passed two days, her lovely little head might pop, just like her bubblegum.