Page 54 of Unexpected Prejudice

I truly am becoming obsessed.

Jessie

“Do you even know the point of volleyball?” Levi grunted as he grabbed the ball from the floor and looked over at the guys who’d thrown it at my head. “It’s to ground the ball on the opponent’s court, not hit his head with it.” Throwing the ball back at them, Levi helped me get up.

There was a small bump on my head, and it would probably bruise later, but it wasn’t too bad.

“I’m going to tell the teacher,” Levi snapped while looking at the guys still laughing at us, uncaring that I got hurt or that Levi was angry.

I smiled at him. “It’s okay, Babydoll. It’s just my head. Not like it has anything important inside.”

Instead of laughing like I hoped he would, Levi’s mouth was set in a hard line as he looked at me, annoyed. It didn’t escape me how none of my jokes, which often made him laugh, or at least smile, didn’t do the trick. Not since the past weekend.

“Is something wrong?” I asked for the second time today after I’d already asked him that this morning when he skipped breakfast and chose to smoke a cigarette with Diesel. He only smoked when he was upset or stressed.

“No. I’m just pissed that those jerks keep getting away with their taunts,” he said, walking in the direction of our gym teacher.

“Hey.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him closer. “Hold on.”

“I’m okay, Jessie. I promise everything is fine. I won’t tell the teacher, but I need to drink some water.” His soft smile barely reached his eyes, but I didn’t want to push him since he promised he was fine.

“Okay.” Letting go of his arm, I watched him walk toward the door leading to the yard. “Why are you going out?”

“There’s a drinking fountain outside the gym doors,” he explained.

I hated seeing him like this. Sad. It made me remember the first time we’d met. Back then, he rarely smiled, and I didn’t know why until he told me that his dad died and that he missed him very much. Sadly, bringing someone back from the dead wasn’t something I could do, so instead, I’d tried to make Levi smile by making a fool out of myself, bringing him candies, or just taking him on adventures.

I always had an eye for extraordinary things. That’s what made me such a good thief. I knew what had value, and I knew how to get it. Whether it was a nice car, a fancy watch, or a unique necklace hanging around some rich lady’s neck.

The first time I made Levi drop his walls, a small, shy smile crept to his beautiful doll-like face, and I knew I had found the most valuable treasure in my life. Being the little bandit I was, I started to steal those smiles whenever I could.

Am I growing rusty in the art of stealing?

“Ouch,” I whined when a ball hit me in the head again and then bounced on the floor beside me. My luck was really bad today.

“The hell you doing?” I heard someone call at the same time I turned around.

Picking the ball up from the wooden floor, Jordy threw it back to the red-haired guy who, I guessed, had been the one to hit me.

“Stop being a jerk, Kamper.” He pointed his finger at the guy.

Kamper shrugged, a mean smile on his face. “It was a mistake.”

“You okay, Jess?” Jordy asked, placing his hand on my shoulder.

“Oh, yeah. It’s just my head.”

Jordy’s lips curved into a smile. He also had a nice smile, but not as nice as my Levi’s. Nobody could smile like Levi.

“Your head is important.” He ruffled my hair, his teal eyes checking me out. “By the way, the new color looks good.”

“Why, thank you.” I smiled and moved my hand through my hair. “I wasn’t feeling pink anymore.” I’d dyed it platinum last week. I loved the new color, but finding platinum-colored food was very difficult.

Levi

I didn’t need to drink as much as I needed space.

The overly crowded gym was becoming suffocating, especially with Jessie asking if I was okay for what felt like the hundredth time today.