In Love with Mr. Mafia

I quietly walked down the hallway and into the lunchroom. I kept my eyes on my phone as I waited in line.

When I finally got my lunch, I started to walk to an empty table until I heard my name get called. I turned around to see Alessandro waving me over to his table.

I slowly walked toward their table, fully aware of everybody staring at me.

I stood by their table and looked for an open seat when I realized the only open one was right smack in between Giovanni and Alessandro.

Yay, lucky me.

***

“That was bad,” I said, giggling. We had already finished eating lunch and moved to the tables outside to talk since people kept staring at me.

I told them I didn’t mind since they had been doing it all day, but Alessandro insisted that we went outside.

Alessandro and I were telling each other jokes while the rest of the boys were talking about something.

“Okay, okay, I got another one. I was at the bank yesterday and a lady asked me to check her balance—so I pushed her over,” Alessandro said seriously.

The boys’ conversation halted, and I stared at Alessandro wide-eyed before I burst out laughing.

“What’s a plumber’s favorite holiday?” I asked when I caught my breath.

“I don’t know, what?” Alessandro asked.

“Sink-O De Mayo,” I said. I watched as Alessandro doubled over in laughter and the boys shook their heads before going back to their conversation.

“When I was little, I put M&M’s in my ears so I could hear them talk like in the commercial,” Alessandro said, making me laugh again.

Alessandro picked up his water and started to drink some when I thought of another joke and a way to get Giovanni back.

“When I was little, I cut the bottom of the TV so I could teleport into the TV world,” I said, leaning back.

Alessandro’s eyes went wide and he started to laugh, making his water spill out of his mouth and all over Giovanni.

Giovanni slowly turned his head toward Alessandro with a glare, and he’d honestly never looked scarier.

“I’m sorry,” Alessandro said, immediately sobering up.

“Giovanni,” Dimitri said cautiously.

Giovanni’s eyes were getting darker, and the fun atmosphere was gone. I started to discreetly get up and slowly back away from the table until Alessandro pointed a finger at me.

“It was her fault,” Alessandro blurted out. Giovanni turned to look at me and slowly nodded his head.

“You know something? You’re right,” Giovanni said, slowly standing up.

I stood frozen until Noah reached out for me, making all my senses come back. I quickly ran away and into the building but could hear Giovanni’s thundering footsteps behind me.

Students watched as I ran past them, and the only thing that could be heard was my laughter and Giovanni’s footsteps behind me.

I rounded a corner and immediately regretted it when I realized it was a dead end and that it was abandoned. I tried opening the doors only for them to be locked.

“I could have told you they were locked.”

I turned around to see Giovanni behind me with his arms crossed over his chest.

“I’m so, so sorry. Please don’t kill me. I just wanted to get you back for messing with me in class, and you know I didn’t think he had that much water in his mouth,” I said, biting my lip nervously.

He stared back at me with a blank expression, and I began to squirm around under his gaze. He took a step closer to me, and I took one back.

We continued that until my back hit a door and I had nowhere else to go. He put his arms on both sides of my head, effectively locking me in.

“What should I do with you?” Giovanni asked, bringing his head down to my level.

“Let me go?” I asked with a nervous laugh. Giovanni’s lip twitched, and I watched as a smirk made its way onto his face, making my breath catch in my throat.

“Wow,” I mumbled under my breath. He looked good with a smirk, and it took everything in me to remember how to breathe.

“What?” Giovanni asked, looking at me curiously.

“N-nothing,” I said with a shake of my head. I licked my lips, suddenly feeling like they were extremely dry, and Giovanni’s eyes followed my tongue’s movements.

I bit my lip nervously as he started to slowly move closer to me with his eyes still on my lips. I felt my eyes flutter closed and my teeth sink deeper into my lip.

“Giovanni, don’t kill her, man,” I heard a voice say, and I immediately recognized it as Alessandro’s. My eyes opened up only to come face-to-face with Giovanni . . .

Except this time . . . this time his eyes were warm, and I could see so many emotions floating through them it was hard to tell what he was feeling.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Giovanni whispered, making his lips brush against mine. I shivered under his gaze and bit my lip again.

“Where are you?” I heard Dimitri ask.

Giovanni blinked, and I watched as his eyes turned back to their usual blank state. He pulled away from me, and I pushed myself off the classroom door.

“Are you okay?” I asked softly.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said harshly as he shoved his hands in his pockets. I could feel hurt flowing through me and couldn’t help but wonder if I did something wrong.

I wanted to voice my thoughts but bit my tongue as I noticed the boys starting to walk toward us.

“What’s wrong?” Alessandro asked, stopping directly in front of me and studying my face. I bit my lip and shook my head as a way to reassure him.

Alessandro looked between me and Giovanni before pulling me into a hug. I slowly wrapped my arms around his torso and rested my head on his chest.

“I’m okay,” I mumbled.

“Okay,” Alessandro said without letting me go. I smiled and tightened my grip on him.

The bell rang, and I pulled away from him.

“You wanna skip? It’s last period and we always skip,” Alessandro said with a hopeful smile. I slowly nodded my head and bit my lip nervously.

“I have to get my stuff from my locker,” I said, pointing toward where my locker was.

Alessandro nodded and looked over at the boys.

“We’ll meet you guys at the car,” Alessandro said, keeping his eyes on Giovanni.

Giovanni rolled his eyes but walked away, with Dimitri and Lorenzo following closely behind him.

“You could have gone with them, you know,” I said as we began to walk to my locker.

“I know,” Alessandro said with a smirk.