The Loner and Her

Chapter Sixteen : Rumors

"Are Gia and Griffin Kane, like, a thing?"

"Why is she with that loser?"

"How can he be with her? I mean, yeah, she's now starting to look more... presentable, but come on! Her hair is a rat's nest!"

"I heard she just gave him a- "

"She's a w***e. I heard she left some boyfriend back at home."

"He's cheating on her, if they really are together. There's no way he's gettin' some from that Mary."

Random rumors like that spread like wild fire throughout Oakwood High. But does Gia care? Not one bit.

The rumors similar to the ones she's already overheard have been made about other people almost everyday. Eventually, it was going to be her on the end of the rumor mill. She just didn't think it would happen so quickly.

When she makes it to her locker, she tries to hide her shock at the sight of Griffin already there.

She smiles without realizing, "Griffin, hey..."

He nods in her direction, not saying a word. His eyes follow the other students who pass the two of them by, letting her know why he's being quiet.

She was starting to think he was getting better, but things like that are hard to overcome so quickly, she realizes.

When everyone in the hallway is a good distance away from them, Griffin then, begins conversation, "Hey."

She blushes, "Hi. What're you doing here so early?" She asks him, realizing he rarely shows up to school until the last possible second or is late to first period.

He smirks ever so slightly, "I'm usually here. I just don't show up to class until later."

"Why is that?"

He shrugs, "It's the only time I can talk to Mrs. Fields on Thursdays and the rest of the days," he sighs, "I just like to walk around by myself for a while, I guess."

She ignores the way his mouth twitched on his last statement. "Why do you see Mrs. Fields, Thursday mornings?" She asks, referring to the Art teacher.

He suddenly looks a bit embarrassed, "She's my aunt, actually."

Gia's eyebrows raise in surprise. She was not expecting that. "Really?"

He nods his head, "She's my dad's sister. She was disowned by the family- you know, how it is. She was an outsider because she wanted to be an artist instead of becoming a lawyer or a doctor like the rest of them," he rolls his eyes. "So, I try to visit her as much as possible. Lexie just pretends she doesn't exist," he now scoffs.

Gia sighs "Your sister is...something else," She says, shaking her head because she doesn't want to say anything bad about her in front of him.

He laughs lightly in return, "You can say it. I won't be mad. We don't get along much, if you haven't noticed."

Gia frowns, "Why doesn't she like you?"

He shrugs his left shoulder, "You know, it's the cliche bullshit. She blames me for her parents almost divorcing a few years ago. Back when he found out about me. Of course, they never went through with it. I don't care, though. It's not like I want to be a part of the family, anyway."

"That has to be tough, though," Gia mumbles, quietly.

He shrugs again, "Yeah, at first. That was when I was trying to get clean, so I was having problems already at the time, and it doesn't help when you're stuck living with people who practically hate your guts."

How can anyone possibly hate Griffin? Gia can't help but think to herself.

"You can't stay with Mrs. Fields?" She asks.

He shakes his head, "No. She would've taken me in, if she could, but she doesn't make enough to do so. Her husband is on disability for his bad back and with her teacher's salary, they don't have enough to feed another mouth. They already have my two other cousins, as well."

Frowning, she says, "Well, do you know what you want to do after we graduate?"

Griffin laughs, "Who says I'm graduating?"

Gia furrows her eyebrows, feeling confused, "What do you mean?"

He shrugs his shoulders without a care, "I'm not graduating. I don't have the credits to do so."

"Then isn't school just a- "

"Waste of time? Eventually, I'll get my G.E.D., but in the mean time, I'm in no hurry."

"I just don't get it," Gia whispers.

"What?"

"You don't come to school enough as it is, yet, you're still enrolled, but you don't plan on graduating. How does that make sense?"

Griffin sighs, "Prescott will only give me a place to stay until I'm done with school. So, I figured if I stay until when I am supposed to graduate, then that gives me enough time to save up for a place of my own."

"You know, I would offer for you to stay with my mom and I, but our house is a two bedroom- "

Griffin chuckles, "I know, Giules. Trust me, I know if you could, you would help me."

Maybe I can help him, she thinks determinedly to herself.

"Do you have a job?" She asks curiously.

He nods his head, his eyes wandering around the hallway, seeming oblivious to the staring, "Yeah. I help down at the garage by the lake. Mrs. Fields' husband- my uncle- used to be a mechanic. Taught me everything he knows when I first started hanging around them all."

Gia can't help but smile, "You're really brave, you know."

Griffin begins to blush considerably, "I don't know about that, Giules."

She laughs very lightly, "But you are. If I...If I were in your position, I'd be a mess."

Which is true. Another thing going wrong in her life would possibly push Gia over the edge.

Is she strong? She doesn't think she is. How can she be when she breaks down every time she's stressed and her mind over filled with anxiety?

How can one be so strong? She thinks she'll never know.

"Trust me, Giules, you're a lot stronger than you think." Then he asks her, "I heard about what some kids are saying, you know, about us. Is it bothering you? Because I can- "

Gia laughs, "No, it's okay. I mean, I'm kind of curious as to what you would do, but there's no worries. It'll blow over by tomorrow."

Griffin rolls his eyes, with hidden laughter shone in them, "I may not talk much, but I know how to scare someone real good."

"Yes, because you're so intimidating," she says, sarcastically to tease him.

"I'll show you intimidating," he whispers huskily as he takes a step forward, brining the two of them much closer. Now they're only a few inches apart.

Gia's breath hitches in the back of her throat at the sudden closeness between her and Griffin. She opens her mouth to respond cleverly, but the bell to first period rings and in one swift movement, Griffin is suddenly two feet back again.

He continues to stare at her, with a heated gaze, before muttering anxiously, "I-I- uh- "

"Uh- yeah- same here," Gia also mumbles before the two of them take off into separate directions. Both of them forgetting that they share the same class.

During lunch time, with this morning's events now long forgotten, or at least, for now, the two of them sit semi-close together in the far off corner of the library. Reading silently to themselves.

Griffin decides to ask her about something that he's been wondering about.

"Can I ask you something, Giules?" He whispers to her, his voice sounding shy with a hint of anxiousness.

Gia blinks a couple times before responding, "You can ask me anything, Griffin."

He clears his throat while shifting in his spot before bravely asking his question, "What did you mean when you said your asshole father, isn't really your father?"

She doesn't respond right away. She looks down at the book she's currently reading, thinking to herself.

"Well," she finally speaks up after a long while, "Since you already know so much about me, you might as well know this, too. It's not much of a secret, anymore."

She sniffs softly to herself, using her cardigan sleeve to wipe her eyes. She isn't crying. Just simply wiping away the tiredness she suddenly feels at the thought of her father situation.

"My sperm donor," she starts off sarcastically, surprising Griffin in the process, "is someone who didn't want anything to do with me, for many reasons. He's never once been a part of my life, especially the moment my mother found out she was pregnant with me."

Griffin's eyebrows crease towards each other, "Where does Edward come into the picture, then?"

Gia sighs not so softly, "My mom met Edward when she was six months pregnant with me. It is was...a mutual understanding."

"What does that mean?" Griffin asks her with curiosity.

Gia licks her lips, still not looking in Griffin's direction. "My Nonno had his way, like always. Edward was his attorney at the time, and he thought that him and my mother made a good match, so he set them up."

"And then, what? It was just like that? Three months later he became your father?"

Gia can't help but laugh, humorlessly, "Not exactly. Let's just say, my grandfather thought his surname looked better than another's.

"My parents got married when I was a month old, in a small church in Brooklyn. It was quick and fast. They told others that they were married many months earlier, though. Of course, my mother couldn't have had a child out of wedlock," She rolls her eyes.

"Do you know who your real father is?" Griffin can't help but ask.

Gia grimaces. Her eyes close with a frown taking over her lips, "His name is unimportant. I know who he is, and let's just say...I'm better off with no father figure at all. I wish to never meet him."

And they both leave it at that.