Chapter 40

When I opened my eyes again, Nora was already making her way over to me. She looked like she was a second away from breaking down in tears as she neared me.

"Are you okay?" she softly asked, reaching up to tilt my face and get a good look at my cheek.

"I'm fine," I casually replied. "Might have bit my cheek or something when he hit me, but I'm good."

Her hand fell away, looking at me with the most sorrowful expression I'd ever seen from her. She sniffled and shook her head in disbelief. Tears fell down her face as she grabbed the chest of my shirt and buried her face there.

"I'm so sorry," she quietly said, her voice cracking.

I quietly laughed. "Jeez, all I wanted was to have lunch, not a boxing match," I joked with a playful smile. My smile slowly faded as she broke down right in front of me. She was obviously really upset about the entire situation, especially considering my usually amazing jokes had no effect on her. I sighed deeply, closing my eyes as I put my arms around her and allowed her to let it all out.

She sobbed quietly, practically crushing her glasses into my chest while I held her tightly. I looked over at the others for just a moment. Frank nodded to me and I once again gave him a thumbs-up to let him know everything was cool.

After a few minutes, Nora's crying slowly came to an end. She pulled her face away from me, taking off her glasses and reaching into her back pocket for a handkerchief. She huffed and sniffled as she dabbed the tears from her eyes and then proceeded to clean her glasses.

"Are you okay now?" I asked.

"Yeah," she sighed. I smiled at her as she looked up at me. I didn't want her to be so upset. None of what happened was her fault, no matter how much I knew she wanted to believe it was.

"Come on," I said as I began to lead her over to the others, "let's go have lunch."

"Okay," she whispered as she headed to her seat across from mine.

"Yes," I preemptively said to the others as I took a seat, "I am okay. Don't worry about it."

"Wow, Anthony," Frank remarked in awe, "that was the most...craziest thing I've ever seen."

"I told you guys," Brandon said as he put an arm around my neck, "the boy's on his way to hulking up real soon. He's going to be a bigger Mr. Olympia than Schwarzenegger in a few years—just watch."

"Pretty sure that takes food to get there," I replied with a grin.

"Eat up, man," he said as he took his arm away. "You earned it."

I didn't need much more than that to start digging in and enjoy my food.

After everything Eve and I had done together as well as the fight with Jason, I was extremely happy to finally eat. Even though my jaw hurt like hell, I didn't let it stop me. I was just glad all my teeth were still intact. The rest of my friends were also content to eating their food, having only some mild conversation between them. Nora was also able to settle down enough to finish her food.

Eventually some guy came up to me and vigorously patted me on the back as he walked by.

"Good job, man!" he exclaimed, turning to me. I only gave him a brief, disinterested glance in response before turning back to my food. He just shook his head, he and his friend laughing in amusement as they walked outside. I really didn't care for any attention and was ready to make any attempts I could to keep myself out of the spotlight.

Not long after, the bell caught us all off guard.

"All right," I said as we all got up together. "I'll see you guys later."

"See ya, Anthony," Frank replied. As I walked away to throw my tray in the trash, he and the others gave me one last look before parting ways.

I was glad none of my friends made a big deal out of it and were willing to just move on. Of course, that was the reason they were my friends—they understood me so well.

Once class had resumed, I picked up where I had left off in my work without skipping a beat. I was fortunate enough that nobody had noticed or at least pointed out the mark on my cheek. I was really not looking forward to talking about it with anyone. Still, I was in the clear in terms of having to explain what happened. I simply focused on my work and put it behind me.

The bell to end class soon rung out. I glanced up at the clock and then began to calmly put my belongings away. As I stood up to slide my backpack over my shoulders, I noticed a figure come to a halt just beside me. I quickly looked over to see Jennifer, smirking arrogantly at me. She didn't say a word as she grabbed my chin and gently turned my head to inspect the bruise on my cheek.

"Nice," she remarked, bringing her hand in front of me to fall onto my far shoulder. "I bet that was fun, huh?"

"You know me," I replied with a smirk, "I love getting my ass kicked."

She then carefully studied me for a moment, her hand gently rubbing my shoulder.

"I told you not to change," she quietly spoke. "You remember that, right?"

"I do. But you never said anything about bettering myself."

She smiled and humphed softly. "You're right," she remarked with a quiet sigh. "Maybe you are coming into your own, Anthony. I'm all for it, as long as it doesn't mean you constantly get your ass handed to you."

"I'll be fine," I reassured her with a confident smile.

She nodded and then gave me a gentle kiss on the temple.

"See you later," she whispered in my ear while playfully scratching the back of my head. She let her hand fall away and calmly took her leave.

I smiled as she walked away. It felt unbelievably good to know others had my back—especially someone who's usually as detached as Jennifer. I looked to the side and saw Eve smiling at me, having watched that entire exchange. She simply smiled and gently waved 'goodbye' to me. I waved back before she left the room with Lila. I readjusted my backpack and headed for the door with a small group of other students. As I waited for the crowd to pass, I was bumped hard from the side by Elizabeth, of course.

"Papi," she casually greeted me with a smirk as she passed by. Just behind her was Sofia, who also looked at me with a smile.

"See you after school," Sofia said.

"You got it," I replied back with a slight grin. How lucky I was that they weren't facing the messed-up side of my face.

I made it out into the hallway and slipped past a few people in an attempt to get to Spanish class quicker. In my endeavor, I suddenly found myself positioned right behind Natalie who was casually talking to one of her friends. I found myself in awe of her splendorous frame just inches away from me. Her immaculately matured body, filled out in all the right places and broadcast by the unnecessarily tight clothes she was wearing was a sight I was unable to turn away from. I shuddered at the sight of her incredible ass swaying from side to side as she walked. How was it possible that she was actually the same age as me?

"Yeah, we're going to the beach on Saturday," she said to her friend.

"Where at?" her friend replied.

"Over by that new building there, the Apex. I'm meeting a friend who lives there and then we're gonna hang out on the beach, tan for a bit, check out cute guys and stuff." Her friend chuckled. "We're going at around two or maybe earlier."

My jaw dropped in amazement. I couldn't believe such an appealing prospect was taking place. Gorgeous Natalie and her incredible body were going to be just across the street from where I lived. Well, I knew what I was doing on Saturday. And I was sure if I played it right, it could also be who I was doing on Saturday.