Elly sighed. It had been several hours now that she'd been stuck in this class. Sure, it was right on the boardwalk, open air on one side where you could smell the salt air and hear the cries of the sea birds darting down to grab fish out of the water or scrabble and fight for refuse found on the beach.
And yes, she had been the one that wanted to take an extra few courses about maritime law, sailing, and the like.
"Why would <i>you</i> even need to take these classes?" A snippy voice to her left asked.
"My friend has a ship," she said quietly, trying to diffuse the situation. "He's not a very good sailor, though, and needs all the help he can get."
"Friend?"
"Yeah, we met through my boyfriend." She closed her mouth with a snap, regretting it instantly.
The venomous whispers were particularly vicious today. Elly was simply tired of it, having put up with enough from these so-called "adults".
"Yes, I've got a boyfriend," she said tartly without even turning around. "His name is Zoro."
"Bullshit," one of the women snapped. "It's the easiest thing to make that shit up, and that's not a real name."
Elly kept silent, though the chatter continued, now along the lines of how nasty any guy must be if he would date her. As they speculated, she pulled out her phone and texted her partner. He was going to be pissed about this for one reason or another.
<b>Stupid Cat</b>: <i>Hey. The class found out about you :c</i>
<b>Marimo</b>: <i>so what</i>
She almost laughed. She could hear his dry tone, see the eyebrow raised as he kept lifting his weights or whatever he was doing at the time when he spoke to her.
<b>Stupid Cat</b>: <i>They're saying that only a nasty, ugly guy would date me, IF you even exist.</i>
<b>Marimo</b>: <i>what</i>
<b>Marimo</b>: <i>are they shitty to you?</i>
<b>Stupid Cat</b>: <i>Yeah</i>
<b>Marimo</b>: <i>is this why you're always in such a bad mood after?</i>
<b>Stupid Cat</b>: <i>...</i>
Uh oh. Elly tried to think why she had kept this a secret from him. Maybe it was because everyone in their friend circle thought she was a great person. She'd never had that; the kids from her grade school days, now older, had grown up the same crappy, judgemental idiots they'd been before.
She thought the others were changed when she came to the class at the start. Everyone seemed to forget about how they'd treated her and acted like they were all friends.
But then it began, an insidious, slow whispering from the back.
<i>She looks the same, doesn't she?</i>
<i>No wedding ring.</i>
<i>Well, who would marry that?!</i>
...and so on.
She was dragged back to reality when her phone buzzed lightly in her hand. He'd texted her a few times while she was deep in thought.
<b>Marimo</b>: <i>how long has this been going on?!</i>
<b>Marimo</b>: <i>you ok?</i>
<b>Marimo</b>: <i>fuck it I'm coming to pick you up</i>
<b>Stupid Cat</b>: <i>Sorry! I zoned out for a sec there. Yeah, we're done at 5.</i>
<b>Marimo</b>: <i>tell the assholes to check the beach then</i>
She sighed and slipped the phone into a zippered pocket in her backpack. Zoro wasn't one to take things like this lightly. It had been the reason she hadn't told him in the first place. But she trusted him, so...
"Well, just texted him and he's coming to pick me up. He said to tell you to check the beach until then."
One particularly evil woman tittered and held a hand up in front of her lips. "Oh, nooo," she sing-songed in a nasal tone. "Is he going to roll out of the water like the flabby old walrus he is?"
Muted laughter followed her comment, and Elly shrugged. "You guys are in for a surprise."
Since the classroom was open to the beach during good weather, you could see everything right down to the water. Not too many were working now, most concentrating on picking things up and putting them away for tomorrow.
And then it happened.
"Is that him?" One of the students in the back asked incredulously. "Is that him <i>lifting the lifeguard stand over his head</i>?!"
Elly looked out over the glistening sands to where she could spot a figure with something larger above it. "I don't know," she confessed. "My far vision sucks. Does he have short, green hair?"
"Yes!"
"That's him." She smiled happily, her heart very warm to know he had come to rescue her. He <i>hated</i> when others mocked or treated her badly.
"He's coming this way!" Someone yelped, and her smile turned into a fierce grin.
When Zoro stepped up to the open room, everyone's eyes were on him - and for good reason. The man was big, with sculpted, solid muscles as large as a weight lifter and a long scar that ran down his chest to one side. He had no shirt on and wore only a pair of black track pants and sandals. Even more striking was his face, ruggedly handsome framed by short, green hair and a single brown eye, for the other was sealed shut by another scar that ran over it. He wore three gold clip-on earrings in one ear that shone in the bright light of the sun as he turned his head.
"Hey, kitten," he rumbled in a scratchy baritone, absently rubbing his bare chest. The layers of tan, toned muscle flexed as he moved, and Elly almost giggled. He was showing off, though more subtly than he had been with the boat. Certainly none of the men in class - and none of the women's husband's -- had a body like <i>this</i>! "You said five, right? Let's get the hell out of here."
"Gladly." She threw her books and pencils in her bag and tossed it over her shoulder, getting up at the same time to spare not a second before she walked up to him.
He immediately took the bag from her with a sour look on his face. "You don't need to carry that."
"I know." Elly slyly glanced back over her shoulder at her stunned classmates. She knew what came next and was certain they would freak out.
Zoro snorted, a sort of amused sound coming from him rather than what it sounded like on the surface. "You don't have to walk, either." He bent and scooped her up in one large arm, carrying her in the crook like she weighed nothing. She waved at the stunned people they were leaving behind as he strolled lazily down the boardwalk.
"How much you wanna bet they claim you're still fake, and I hired you to show up?"
Zoro grunted in irritation. "Idiots."
"Doesn't matter. I know you love me."
His only response was to swing her around and catch her above him in those strong arms, pulling her down to face him for a passionate kiss.
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