Chapter 12 Rags To Riches
Grace felt ridiculous before she even reached them. Her heart thudded as if her ribs were too small to hold it and she kept wondering what exactly she planned to say. She had walked over on impulse.
There were four of them—Enzo, his cousin Zion, and two friends standing near the school gates, Enzo was leaning on the black car with one of Zion's friends while the other two stood around. They were casually talking and laughing.
Enzo and his cousin had a few similarities, Zion was tall and had faded curls, both cousins had the same piercing gaze.
Grace swallowed and cleared her throat as she reached them. Her voice came out small.
"Um, hi."
The laughter stopped, heads turned. Enzo looked at her with a raised amused brow, idly rolling a bottle of water between his hands. His gaze swept over her slowly with a kind of lazy amusement that made her swallow hard.
Maddox had told her to stay away from Enzo, but he never said why. Maybe because he seemed like a player and her childhood friend wouldn’t want to see her hurt.
"Can I please talk to you?" she asked, looking at him.
Enzo did not move, his mouth tugged a little at one corner, not a smile, more like something entertained, "And you are?" He question, looking her up and down with a dry expression.
Grace blinked.
One of the boys beside him let out a low whistle and the others laughed at her predicament..
"Enzo, you don't know her?" he asked loudly.
Another boy added. "Bro, how do you not know the rags to riches Grace Ainsley?"
Grace's breath caught she felt her shoulders lock but she did not move. A wave of embarrassment warmed her neck.
"Rumor has it she's engaged to some rich guy," the first guy added. "Which explains why she's looking a bit presentable these days, I mean her old uniform has been changed to a new one. Can't you see?"
Both boys burst into harder laughter.
The similarities between the cousins were striking because Zion just stared her up and down, like he was subtly checking her out while Enzo maintained her gaze with that amused smile.
He snickered, It was small but Grace still heard it. For some reason, the sound triggered her more cleanly than the jokes.
His cousin looked away, uninterested. He muttered something about leaving and tried to change the subject but the other boys carried on.
Grace felt heat crawl all the way up her throat. She was suddenly aware of everything and how totally out of place she was with these guys.
She turned around with the smallest nod and walked away. She did not trust her voice to speak, she did not trust her face to hide anything.
She felt stupid very foolish for even approaching him. What was she thinking? Maybe that's the problem because she wasn't thinking at all.
She kept walking until she reached the other side of the parking lot, Molly had already gone, she nervously shifted her bag on her shoulder her eyes were burning but she refused to blink too quickly as that would make it worse.
She heard the sound of the engine before she saw it. Maddox's old truck pull in, it rattled the way it always did.
Maddox leaned forward, looking for her, but she kept walking. She did not even turn her head when he called her name.
"Grace."
She lifted her hand vaguely, pretending she did not hear him.
"Grace, hold on."
She could not. Not with her face feeling hot and messy or with the memory of those laughs still ringing in her ears. Then the thought of last night's kiss was something they had not addressed.
Maddox got out of the truck and jogged after her. She kept moving.
Behind them, Enzo was watching his eyes followed Maddox's steps. His cousin said something but Enzo's attention did not break.
"Who's that guy?" Enzo asked, nodding towards the duo.
One of the boys shrugged. "Just some guy Grace rolls with. He works in his garage, fixes cars mostly stays quiet, people say they're both birds of the same feather… normies. Though, I heard he’s quite good at what he does." He scoffed. “But he drives a fucking rust bucket.”
“Can’t lie, he’s ripped.”
The first guy looked at his friend and began trolling him for sounding gay.
Enzo hummed as if that meant nothing. But his eyes stayed on the back of Grace's head as she walked away from Maddox.