Chapter 5 - Riko

I’d planned to slap that asshole when he grabbed my ass. My father did not raise some weak girl that couldn’t protect herself. But I never got the chance. Whichever Frost was in the cafeteria reacted before I could.

It caught everyone by surprise. And I just stood there stunned. He’d not only stood up for me but got away with choking one of his friends, well, if that guy was his friend, in the middle of the cafeteria. 

Afterward, he brought me outside to sit for lunch. I was still not sure what to make of it all. Why were he and his brothers giving me any attention?

I must admit I like how his large hand so easily encompassed mine and the warmth I felt from him. It was also rather sweet that he used his jacket to directly ensure I didn’t sit on the cold metal chair. 

I knew this was the Frost I had in homeroom. The bag matched but also the posture and demeanor. I just needed to know what his name was. So, noticing how he looked at my lunch, I leveraged food to get my answer.

He was so cute when he leaned forward to take the bite. And watching him lick his lips in anticipation was sexy. I almost felt bad for teasing him till he smirked at me. Just like Forrest’s, it was a panty melter. 

Homeroom and Lunch are Darius Frost. Now I just wondered about the name of the brother in my Gym class. But I got my answer. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing as he stole the bite. It seemed out of character for him and very cute. However, the moment was lost when I looked past him to the cafeteria’s windows and saw barbie... Jane.. coming our way. Just great.

Darius didn’t seem thrilled either. I wonder if he knows the brother from Gym Class dumped her on his behalf. I shifted back into my chair and focused on my lunch as she stormed outside. “What the literal hell, Darius?” she demanded, hands on her hips.

Darius barely raised an eyebrow and leaned over, snagging one of my three tempura shrimp biting into it, putting the tail down. There was a moment of tense silence as he chewed and, after swallowing, licked his lips. 

“Damn, that’s good. And you made that yourself?” Darius asked, ignoring Jane and pointing to my bento box. I nodded and ate some rice. I was feeling very uncomfortable.

“Ahem!” Jane coughed loudly, tapping her foot on the cement patio. “What do you want?” Darius asked, his tone lacking any emotion.

“I want to know what the hell is going on. She runs into you this morning outside the office, and you go and lose all sense? I didn’t take you to be that sort of easily led boy. You even berated me in front of everyone in Gym Class and must have had a mental breakdown when you broke up with me,” Jane said, folding her arms. I’m pretty sure she did that intentionally to try and put her large chest on display.

I swallowed and tried to just focus on eating my lunch. This was not my business, even though Jane wanted to blame me. The fact remains she doesn’t realize it was Forrest she was calling Darius this morning, and it was the other triplet in gym. I bit my tongue, not wanting to comment.

“I didn’t meet Riko till homeroom when she sat in the seat next to me, and I didn’t see her again till she walked into the cafeteria,” Darius stated. He was telling the truth. It was only the second time I’d seen Darius himself. And first time talking to him.

Jane, however, looked confused. And I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t just be quiet. “Wow. And you called yourself his girlfriend?” I shook my head and took a bite of my teriyaki chicken. “Stay out of this skank,” Jane spat.

“I don’t know what your problem is with me, but I suggest you get over it. I’m not the one too stupid to even know which triplet I’m dealing with. And this is my first day in this school,” I rolled my eyes, turning my attention to her.

A glance at Darius, I saw him hiding a smile behind his hand. “Excuse me? I know the difference between my boyfriend and his brothers,” she snorted.

“Obviously, you don’t. It was Forrest that I ran into outside the office. You know, the one that uses an orange bag and has a more relaxed vibe. And in Gym Class was… well they haven’t told me his name. But it was the third brother,” I stated.

“Elijah,” Darius commented as he swiped one of my pieces of sushi. “Okay, then it was Elijah in Gym class,” I shrugged. Jane went wide-eyed, then she looked furious.

“You had Forrest walk me to homeroom!? And if it was Elijah that said we were done, then that means we aren’t. So, I say you come back inside with me, your girlfriend,” Jane glared at Darius. “No,” Darius stated. “Excuse me?” she fumed.

“It’s a simple word—two letters, one syllable, and pretty universal. Elijah may have been the one to say it, but I’ll repeat it. We. Are. Done. I was supposed to break up with you over a month ago. It may not be the nicest thing to say and is certainly crude, but the only reason we didn’t break up sooner was you give good head,” Darius shrugged.

I coughed a little at how blunt he was. “You… you… you bastard,” Jane sputtered, slapping his face before she stormed back inside. “She’s not wrong, you know,” I commented.

“No, Jane’s not. But she’s also the one dating me for the sake of saying she was dating a Frost. As you pointed out, she didn’t even know which triplet she was dealing with at any given time,” he shrugged. Well, at least he admits his faults.

“How long had you two been dating?” I asked. “Around three months,” Darius shrugged, reaching for a piece of my chicken. I swatted him with my chopsticks and picked up a slice offering it to him. “Don’t barehand my teriyaki chicken,” I rolled my eyes.

“Maybe it was a ploy to get you to feed me again,” he countered, leaning in and taking the bite off my chopsticks. I chuckled a little and dug into my bag, handing him a spare set of chopsticks. “Feed yourself,” I sighed. 

“Where is the fun in that?” he teased but still took the chopsticks. “So why did you transfer to Ravenwood?” he asked. “My dad is Air Force. He just got promoted to general, and we got stationed here,” I explained as we ate.

“Ah. So, you’re a military brat and have moved around a lot. I suppose that would be interesting,” he nodded. “I guess. At least this will be the last time. Or at least the last time I have to move,” I shrugged.

“I suppose that’s true. You’re a senior, so after graduation, you aren’t tethered to where your father’s job takes him,” he nodded.

“So, I’m going to ask. What’s with you and your brothers and this school?” I asked. I hadn’t been sure how no one knew which and then how they got away with the things they do.

“What’s that mean?” he asked. “Well, some of the whispers I heard call you the Princes of Ravenwood. It just seems like a bit much,” I explained, pointing my chopstick with sashimi on it at him as I talked. Before I could bring the bite to my mouth, he ate it. “Mhm. Well, that’s just because of our family,” he shrugged. 

“And that means?” I furrowed my brow, annoyed he took my food. “And stop stealing my food. I’m not trying to feed you,” I grumbled.

“Can’t help it. It’s tasty, and I like you feeding me. Plus, you’re cute when you get angry. With your brow wrinkled up like that,” he teased, reaching over rubbing his thumb over my forehead. I swatted his hand away. “Stop it. And answer my question,” I sighed. 

“Fine. Our family has run Frost Technologies, has since WWII, making us the richest family in the state and second in the country. Our grandfather and brothers have their high-profile law firm that our dad and others in the family work for. So, people try to kiss our asses because we’re rich and we’re untouchable legally speaking due to the lawyers in our family,” he explained.

“Huh. Seems pretty shallow to me,” I shook my head, starting to pack up my empty bento box. “Basically,” he shrugged, getting up. “Come on. Lunch is ending. Schools over,” he said. I nodded and gathered my things as he took his jacket back.

“See you around, Riko,” he winked as he disappeared into the crowd as everyone hurried to leave the cafeteria. This was the strangest and certainly most eventful first day in a school I’ve had. I decided not to dwell on whatever the triplets were up to regarding me. It was bad enough that I heard the whispers as I headed for my locker and got on my bus.