Free Cursed Hearts (A Crossroads Novel) by Light and Lowell Page A

like, growing up with that clown for a father?” he smirked.
He pressed his fingers against the smaller boy’s chest, backing him up against
the wall.
    “You open the cereal box in the morning and a dove flies
out!” Adam laughed,
waving his hands theatrically in the air.
    “Did
he tie you up, toss you in the bath and see how long it took for you to
escape?” Christian taunted.
    “I
bet he put him in sparkly dresses and tried to saw him in half.”
    “Maybe
that’s why he’s so short?”
    “Get
lost,” Rome demanded, frowning harshly at the two of them. First they were
harassing girls, and now they were bullying young kids?
    “Do
I look like I take orders from you?” Christian said. “If I recall, you’re the
one who’s the waiter, not me.”
    Rome’s
jaw clenched tight. It was true; he worked at a restaurant in town. He wasn’t a
waiter though, he was a busboy. He’d cleaned up after guys like Christian
before, often getting blamed when they purposefully trashed a table or broke
dinnerware. It made them think they were superior, just because he had to work
for a living.
    “Come
on,” Rome said, reaching between the two of them to grab the kid by the
shoulder. He practically shoved him into the cafeteria. “Let me guess, you’re
Jerry’s son?”
    “Don’t
you mean ‘The Great Geraldo’?” He sighed, rubbing a hand over his chest.
“Trevor,” he introduced, extending a hand to him.
    Rome
took it somewhat reluctantly.
    “So
what was that all about back there?” Trevor asked.
    Rome took a frustrated breath, his eyes flicking over to
the scrawny boy. He had thick, unruly hair that was combed down over his forehead, and a round, average
looking face. How could he just tell this kid was going to be more trouble than
he was worth?
    “Nothing,”
he replied, walking on ahead of him.
    “Sweet,” Trevor said. “Only my second day and I’ve
already made an
awesome, tough new friend. I can’t wait to tell my mom.”
    Rome
glanced back at him, nearly tripping over a chair. How had he known he’d been
about to tell him to beat it? It’s like this kid was trying to make him
feel guilty.
    “You
know, uh, I’m not real great company.”
    “But
we’re in the same program,” Trevor said. “Maybe you can teach me a few things?
You’re like a senior, right?”
    “…No.”
    Trevor
tipped his head, staring at him curiously. “No?”
    Rome
sighed. “I’m a junior, or I should be, but I got held back. Only, this is kind
of my first year here, so instead of being in with the sophomore’s…”
    “That’s
even better! We’re going to be in the same classes!”
    “Yippee,”
Rome mumbled, pulling up a seat. Trevor scooted a chair over, sitting so close
he was almost in his lap. “Look, you seem nice and all, but I really didn’t—”
Rome turned his head, slowly. Aria was standing right behind him. “Um, hey?” I
wasn’t about to make a kid cry , he thought.
    “Hey,” she repeated, looking back at Scarlet. She was
staring at her in disbelief. She still didn’t think very highly of Rome. Or
maybe she just didn’t like being ditched for him. “Can I sit with you?” she
asked, tearing her eyes away.
    “Sure,”
Trevor said.
    Rome
scoffed, shaking his head. “Yes.”
    Ariahna
sat down, glancing at the boy beside Rome curiously. “You’re Jerry and Jenny’s
son, right?”
    “The
one and only.”
    “So
why doesn’t your name start with a J?” Rome smirked.
    “Trevor’s
my middle name,” he admitted sheepishly. “I was named after my father, who was
named after my grandfather.”
    “Wait,”
Rome grinned. “So you’re…” He thought about it for a minute. “Jerry Jacobs
Jr.?” He started laughing, and Ariahna reached over and slapped him on the arm.
He just smiled at her.
    “Technically,”
Trevor corrected, “my father is Jerry Jacobs Jr. That makes me Jerry Jacobs
III.”
    “That
sounds like the name of a butler,” he said.
    “I
know. My father fashions himself a