Page 37 of Unexpected Prejudice
“Why do you think Diesel and Andrei fight so much lately?” Jessie suddenly asked, making me realize that now wasn’t the time to bring up my mom. He was already bothered with something else, and I didn’t want to burden him with my stuff.
“Honestly?” I moved my hand through my hair. “I think it’s because Diesel is jealous.”
“Jealous? Why would he be jealous?”
I paused the movie and looked at Jessie. “Because Andrei is no longer just his, and he doesn’t want to share. I guess he’s just scared he’ll be left behind.” I assumed this was the case. After all, I wasn’t a mind reader, so I had no idea what really bothered Diesel, but from the look of it, he was jealous and maybe even scared.
“I think it’s stupid,” Jessie declared.
“Why’s that?”
“Because Andrei is Diesel’s family. He’ll never leave him.” Jessie’s answer was as simple as it could be. They’re family. But who said families are bound to stick together? When they leave you behind, you realize how foolish it was to trust they would never hurt you. Nothing lasts forever, and Diesel was beginning to realize that this rule also applied to him and Andrei.
“Your parents left you behind. My mom left me,” I said.
“It’s not the same. My parents never knew me, so they didn’t know what they gave up on, and your mom? She’s stupid and not worth your time, Babydoll,” he said and grabbed my hand. “I will never leave you.” He leaned forward and pressed his chips-flavored lips to mine.
I knew he meant his words, but it was hard for me to believe him. He’d have a reason to leave me one way or another. Something could happen as it did with my dad. Or he could find a better family, as my mom did. Or he could fall in love with someone else, like Andrei had.
Jessie
Despite what I told Levi about how foolish it was for Diesel to be worried that Andrei would leave him behind, as the day of his flight arrived, I also wondered the same thing. What if Andrei had so much fun in Paris that he decided to stay there? If that happened, would we still be able to visit him?
“How long is a flight to Paris?” I asked Levi as I looked up at the clouds.
“Ten hours. Maybe more. Why?”
“Well…” That cloud looks like a dog with horns.
“Well?” Levi said, bringing my attention back to him.
“Oh, yes. If Andrei moved to Paris, I just thought we could still visit him once or twice a year. Also, we could video call him every night, right?”
Levi chuckled and leaned back on his arms. We were waiting for Andrei and Diesel to be done with their Spanish class so we could all go home together. One of my favorite things about our new school was its gardens. There were so many trees, lawns, and places to sit around and enjoy the sun. I loved it.
“He’s not moving to Paris, Kotik. He’s just going there for three days.”
As Levi spoke, my eyes wandered down his body, focusing on the tattoo that peeked underneath his shirt. He rarely wore shirts with a low cut that showed his ink. Levi had laurel leaves inked under each collarbone. It was a beautiful design. In fact, all of his tattoos were magnificent because he was a magnificent human.
“What are you thinking about now?” he asked as I shoved my backpack underneath my neck so it would be more comfortable to lie on the grass.
“Your tattoos and how much I love them.”
“They’re silly.”
“They’re not. And I think you should get more.”
Levi raised his brows at me. “More? I think you have enough for the both of us.” I did have a lot of tattoos, but there was no such thing as too many.
I raised my leg and pointed at my ankle. “I was actually thinking of doing a new one here. What about a cat?”
“You already have, like, three cat tattoos.”
“Cat tattoos?” a deep voice questioned, and I positioned my hand in front of me to block the sun from getting into my eyes as I looked up.
“Jordy!” I jumped to a sitting position. “Where have you been? We haven’t seen you since the party.”
Jordy crouched in front of us. “I was busy with football. So… a cat tattoo?” he asked again, a soft smile on his face. He had a lovely smile and gorgeous full lips.
