BlackWind by Charlotte Boyett-Compo Page A

rattled in Bronnie's hand as she clasped it to her chest. “He says we can't see one another for a while.”
    Dave exhaled loudly. “That's the best news I've heard so far this school year.”
    “Because my father threatened him,” Bronnie said with a sob.
    “Well, that was to be expected, wasn't it? You know damned well they didn't want Cullen hanging around you.”
    “That's not their decision to make!” she hissed, running her hand under her chin, for tears were falling down her cheeks.
    “Yeah, well, crap happens, you know?” Dave quipped. “Mine don't want me going in the Marine Corps, either, but when I'm old enough, I plan on enlisting.” He put a hand on Bronnie's shoulder. “That's the key to the whole thing, McGregor. When you're old enough, they can't stop you from doing what you want.”
    Bronnie leaned her head against the locker. “But I've got two more years before I turn eighteen.”
    “If it's true love, it'll wait.” He squeezed her shoulder. “If it ain't, it won't.”
    “Sean says we can't be seen together and he doesn't think we should call one another, but we can pass notes through you.”
    “Ah, hell's bells!” Dave fumed. “Don't put me in the middle of this!”
    She grabbed his arm. “You are my friend. I trust you. He trusts you. You're all we've got! You have to do this for me. You have to!”
    “Yeah? And what happens if your mama finds one of those notes? Then what?”
    “I'll keep them here,” she said, opening the padlock and putting the note inside the locker.
    “Jesus Christ on a stick,” Dave groaned. “I don't like this. I don't like it one damned bit!”
    “It'll be okay,” Bronnie said, sniffing.
    “You two are gonna get my ass in a sling, you know that?”
    “I'll give you my note to him after third period,” she said, not listening. She looked at her watch, then snapped the padlock shut. “I'll see you then.”
    Before he could respond, she was gone, walking quickly toward her first class of the day.
    * * * *
    Sean scowled at Dave's look of annoyance and tucked Bronnie's note into the pocket of his torn jean jacket. “Did she say anything?”
    “You're going to get her in deep crap with her parents, dude,” Dave pronounced.
    Ignoring the remark, Sean locked eyes with the shorter man. “Did she say anything?”
    “No!” Dave shifted his books to the opposite hip. “I hope you two know what you're doing.”
    “We do,” Sean said, looking toward the parking lot.
    “Her old man'll crap a brick if he finds out this thing between you two ain't over,” Dave remarked gloomily. “He'll be expecting her to date and I got a feelin’ she ain't gonna.”
    “Did she say she wouldn't?”
    “Ah, hell, Cullen. You know she won't!”
    “Watch out for her, will ya, Cox? If guys start hassling her, just let me know.”
    “I've always protected her.” Dave lifted his chin. “Ever since pre-school and long before you ever showed up on the scene. Some dude bothers her, I'll take care of it even if it ain't me she'd rather come to her rescue.”
    Recognizing the love mirrored in the other boy's eyes, Sean nodded. “It's different between me and her.”
    “I wouldn't know,” Dave lamented, “and I don't guess I ever will. Not now, anyway.”
    Sean's lips twitched in what he knew passed for a smile for everyone but Bronnie. “You can't lose what was never yours, Cox.”
    “Screw you, Cullen.” Dave turned away.
    “I don't fly that way, Cox.” Sean chuckled when Dave flipped him the bird. Still laughing, he walked to his bicycle and unlocked it from the stand. He pushed the bike a few feet, stepped on the right pedal, swung his leg over the seat and raced out of the parking lot before Dave ever reached his rusted-out jalopy.
    * * * *
    Dave opened this car door, wincing at the loud shriek. He threw his books inside the moldy-smelling interior. The interior of the twenty-year-old coupe was like an inferno, but he paid no heed as he settled behind the large