by Mae Doyle
I think what hurts the most is that I thought that she was actually my friend. “Yeah, and I saw your name on the list of bets of whether or not I’ve slept with Teague yet, so I guess we’ve both seen some shit recently.”
To her benefit, she actually blushes. “Look, Nora, I’m sorry. I did that before I really knew you. Everyone else around me was doing it, too, and I just wanted to fit in a little. Besides, I figured that if I won I could split the money with you and that would help to make up for it.”
I want to believe her so badly that it hurts. From day one, Jade has been the only person here that I would really count as a friend. “Okay. Fine. But know that it was shitty.”
She grins and pulls up a chair next to me. “It was shitty, and I’m sorry. But I wanted to check on you and see if you’ve talked to Teague.”
I’d tried to look for him before class this morning but wasn’t able to find him. it was a little disconcerting being the person who was actually trying to find him for once when I’m normally the one running. He skipped first period and I haven’t seen him all day, so I have no idea where he is. Probably crawled back under his rock, if we’re all lucky.
“I haven’t,” I admit. “Why?”
She sighs and pops a piece of gum in her mouth. I swear, all of the girls here at Kennedy Academy have an unhealthy relationship with gum. “He got kicked off of the football team for a month. No games. Nothing.”
“What? When?” My heart flutters in my chest and I have to think hard to decide why I’m upset.
Not just because I know that he’s probably going to come after me when he’s angry, but because I know how much he loves football. Geez. People here have made my life a living hell but suddenly he runs into trouble and I’m a bleeding heart for him? Makes no sense.
“This morning. Mr. Colter thinks that he’s the one in charge of the posters.” She snaps her gum and watches me, looking for a reaction, but I don’t want her to see one. I shouldn’t feel anything for Teague but anger and disgust, but the thought that he’s getting blamed for the posters when I know that Bethany was also involved…well, it’s not fair.
On the other hand, this confirms my worst fear. If Mr. Colter thinks that Teague has something to do with the posters, then he probably does. I tried to ignore Bethany, and it’s easy to think that she would lie to me, but this? This may be too much. Any compassion that I had for him suddenly bleeds out of me as I picture him printing off the posters and then hanging them up over the weekend. “Was he?” Even as I ask the question, I know that I don’t really want to know the answer.
She doesn’t see, but I cross my fingers under my desk.
To my surprise, she laughs. “Not a chance. Bethany was in charge of all of it, of course. She and her squad came and hung them up over the weekend. I heard that Teague didn’t even know about them until you guys came in this morning.”
“But then why would he act like he was involved in it?” Even though I like the idea of him not trying to torment me, he doesn’t exactly have a good track record of being kind. Nothing at this damn school makes sense.
Take my friend for instance. She’s put down actual money on whether or not I’ve slept with my bully.
It’s messed up, even for high school.
“Probably because he’s afraid of this exact thing happening.” She shrugs but doesn’t continue until I gesture for her to keep talking. “I mean…he’s never really been the king of the school, and this year was his chance. Now, though, if he’s off the football team and not getting along with the cheerleaders, then he’s kinda fucked, you know? If people think that he’s siding with you then they’re going to throw him under the bus along with you. Right?”
So it’s a popularity thing. Of course it is.
“Thanks, Jade,” I tell her, standing up. My painting will have to wait for another time. Mrs. Carlson barely glances up at me when I walk up to her desk. “I’m not feeling so great, do you mind if I get some fresh air and stop by the bathroom?”
She waves her hand at me. “Go, do what you need to refill the creative well.”
Great. My creative well is feeling a little dry and empty. Maybe a quick walk around the campus will help. Grabbing the hall pass from her desk – an oversized paintbrush – I head out into the hall, shutting the door behind me.
I need something other than fresh air, but she didn’t need to know that I was really looking for Teague. There’s no way that she would have let me leave class for a rendezvous with him. The school day is almost done, and I know that I should just wait until we’re out of school to try to find him, but I can’t.
Something is drawing me to him, and I’m helpless to stop it or control it. If what I’m thinking is right, then maybe he and I can work this out. The thought of him touching me, stripping me down, and taking me has made me shiver since our time in the woods. I wish that I could hide it, but I’m attracted to Teague, and there’s not a damn thing that I can do about it.
The halls are completely empty and my footsteps echo as I hurry down the hall. I don’t know what class Teague has first, but I know that it’s not in this part of the school. I’ll have to cut by the football field and then back into the main building to find him, so I open an outside door and head out.
This is stupid.
I should be safe behind my desk, not on the search for the hunter.
My bully.
The man who wants to destroy me.
But I think – and I hope – that there’s a part of Teague that doesn’t hate me and maybe wants something more from me.
It’s this thought that has me walking quickly around the school. It’s a shortcut that I learned on my first day here, even though a lot of the students don’t know it. You have to duck into the woods by the school, sticking to a small footpath for a few minutes, but it takes you out of the crush of students when it’s busy between classes and at dismissal.
Teague showed it to me when I was dragging my feet and he was in a rush to get from one side of the campus to the other for football practice. He told me never to use it alone. I never asked why, but now seems like a good time to use it.
I’m hurrying along the footpath, my footsteps almost completely silent, when I hear something ahead of me. Someone’s coming towards me, in a hurry, but I don’t think that they know I’m here yet.
My heart starts to pound in my chest and I freeze, unsure of what to do. I don’t know why Teague told me to avoid the footpath without someone there with me, but I immediately start thinking the worst.
Killers. Homeless vets who have PTSD and are looking for something fun to do. Rapists.
Shit.
I could turn around and head back, but it’s a long walk and they sound like they’re running. Before I can make up my mind and move, I see a flash of movement in the woods ahead of me. The path is serpentine and loops back on itself. Whoever I just saw will have easily been able to see me, too.
They start running faster and my heart speeds up. Glancing to the side, I look for somewhere off of the path to hide, but the brambles are thick and there’s ton of poison ivy. I need to run.
Turning, I start to sprint, pumping my arms as hard as I can. Each time my foot strikes the ground, I think about pushing off and launching myself forward to safety. Thankfully, the path is well-worn and I don’t have to worry about roots or rocks in my way.
I just have to worry about how fast the person behind me is.
They’re gaining on me, but instead of turning around and looking, I push myself to run faster, gasping for air. A low-hanging branch catches my hair, slowing me down and painfully pulling some strands from my scalp. Crying out, I grab my head and then continue on, trying to be more careful.
It’s being careful that slows me down.
The footsteps are so close behind me that I know I’m screwed, but still I run. I know that it’s cliché, but it feels like my heart is about to burst out of my chest. I don’t have the conditioning for this and I’m gasping for air, s
ucking in every last breath, even though it hurts.
I’m almost to the end of the path and back out onto the main Kennedy Academy campus when I feel something shoulder me squarely in the bath, forcing me to fly forward, off of my feet, and to land in the dirt.
“Ow!” I yell, trying to get my knees under me. I’m scrambling, working hard to force myself up and off of the ground, but whoever is behind me grabs me by the shoulders and flips me back, throwing me onto the path and then pinning me down.
I don’t want to look.
“Where were you going, Nora? What in the world had you running so fast?”
I know that voice. Opening my eyes, I’m filled with a mixture of relief and regret when I see Teague’s face just inches from mine. He has me pinned down tight to the ground, his knee between my legs, forcing them open, his hands on my shoulders his hips pressing into mine.
There’s no way for me to move, and I don’t know if I even want to. How messed up is that?
The adrenaline that was coursing through my veins floods out of me, and for the first moment since I saw my face plastered all over the school walls, I relax.
Then I remember why I’m out here.
“Asshole! You did this to me!” He’s not expecting me to buck up and I’m able to take him by surprise as I twist up and away from him. In just a few seconds I’m free, crouched a few feet away from him, my eyes locked on his.
“Bullshit.” He pauses, as if gauging the efficiency of the word, but I don’t give him any reaction. “You did this to yourself, Nora.”
How in the hell is he going to try to turn this around on me? I laugh, the sound bubbling out of me and surprising us both. I sound hysterical. Hell, I sound like my mom, and that thought gives me chills. “No, I didn’t! You’ve had it out for me from the moment you saw me, you asshole, and how everyone in the entire school hates me! Do you know about the bet? There’s a bet on my virginity, Teague.”
He grins, the same slow smile that originally made me fall for him. “Yeah, there are a lot of people out there waiting, Nora. What do you say we let them get their money?”
“No way.” Slowly I stand up, my muscles screaming for me to run, but there’s no way for me to get away. My knees and hands hurt from where I fell and slid across the path and I brush my hands off on my pants, keeping my eyes on him. “I just want you to leave me alone. Bethany told me everything.”
For once, he looks surprised, and I think that I may have the upper hand. “Oh, she did, did she? And tell me what honest little Bethany told you.”
The way he’s looking at me makes me feel like he knows something that I don’t. It’s a feeling I’ve had since I moved here, and it makes me uncomfortable.
“She told me that you two were in on this together.” The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them and I chew my lower lip, trying to read his face.
Okay, that’s not exactly what she said, but the implication was there. And anyway, it’s not like it’s too much of a stretch to think that he’s the one who came up with the idea to humiliate me. It makes sense, but then why is he looking at me like that?
He shrugs, looking casual, like he doesn’t have a care in the world. “I didn’t plan this with her.”
What?
“Liar.” Everything about Teague is wrong. The way he looks at me and the way he makes me feel is all wrong, and the way he acts so confident when I feel like I’ve finally got things figured out makes me uncomfortable.
“Not lying.” The bastard is enjoying this and crosses his arms across his chest, grinning at me.
For a moment, I’m lost and I honestly don’t know what to do. I can’t help but remember the way it felt to have him protect me the other week in the woods with the drug runners, or trappers, or whatever they are, but he makes no move to protect me.
Hunters don’t protect their prey. They kill them.
“Then explain.” My mom has always said that I’m too honest and trusting and that I would get hurt because of it one day. I thought that she meant when I was much older, not when I was still in high school. Not when I was facing one of the most evil people I’ve ever met.
“Okay. Let me tell you a story, Nora. Once there was this guy who had a good life. It wasn’t great, but people left him alone. Suddenly, though, an ice princess fell into it, ruining everything. That’s you,” he said, pointing at me.
“Got it.” My mouth is dry. This is the most honest that he’s been with me since we met and I hope that it will help me finally understand him.
“So she’s kinda uptight and a prude, right, but she’s the perfect person for him because he needs someone to help him reinvent himself.”
“Reinvent himself?” My palms are clammy, and I rub them on my jeans to warm them up.
He nods, his eyes locked on mine. “Because he’s tired of living in the shadow of his best friend. So he’s now the hunter, and she’s the perfect prey.”
The perfect prey.
Because there’s nobody here to look out for me. Because I’m all alone, living in his house, without a parent or friend to protect me. I’m the perfect prey for the perfect hunter, and I was fucked from day one.
My breathing quickens. Far away, a bell rings, but neither one of us moves.
I clear my throat. “So, he wants to destroy her.” It’s a statement, not a question, because I know the truth. It’s all black and white. I should have seen that from the moment I met Teague. He has no gray areas. He likes you or he hates you. He’ll let you live…or he’ll destroy you.
“You think that it’s that simple?” Teague chuckles and shakes his head and I feel my stomach flip. Longing shoots through me when he looks at me and I shake, trying to ignore the fire burning in my stomach…between my legs. I want Teague, and the realization hits me like a ton of bricks. Hell, not only do I want him, but I want him to want me, too.
“It is. You made it that simple, Teague.” I’m clenching my fists so tight that my nails are digging into the palms of my hands. Even though I want to walk away, I can’t tear my eyes away from him. Not when we’re being so honest.
“Not hardly. I’m didn’t want to do this to you, Nora.”
Teague
Nora’s the kind of girl who struggles to see things from someone else’s point of view. That’s partially what’s gotten her in so much trouble…well, that and dealing with me.
“Listen, Nora,” I begin, but she interrupts me.
“Just finish the damn story, Teague. I’m sure that it’s going to be a real tear-jerker and will finally explain why in the world you’re such an insufferable asshole.”
That’s fair.
“So,” I tell her, through gritted teeth, “he wants to destroy her, but you already know that.”
“Is that the end?” My heart thuds as I think about all of the ways that he could destroy me. I feel my feet twitching in their shoes as the thought crosses my mind to run. “Is that how the story ends? He destroys her? Because that’s sure as hell what you want, isn’t it?”
“Maybe. But I thought that you were more of a fighter than that, Nora.” Slowly I close the gap between us until we’re so close that I could kiss her. Her face is inches from mine, her dark eyes begging for me to get lost in them.
“I am a fighter.”
“Because you look like you’re going to run.” She does. Even as I closed the gap between us, her legs twitched and she turned slightly to the side. She’s smarter than that though, and she knows that she won’t make it very far if she does run.
“I can’t get away. You’ve proven that twice. You’re faster than me.” She shrugs, a slight movement, but one that makes me react.
Without thinking about what I’m doing, I grab her shoulder and push her back until she’s tripped and fallen back against a tree. She leans against it, lifting her chin and staring at me.
“Feel big, Teague? Feel good for taking down the new girl? You finally won, you asshole, so – ”
I can’t listen to her any
longer. Leaning forward, I silence her with a kiss. She struggles against me, planting her hands on my chest and pushing me away, but I don’t let her go. I force her mouth open, wanting to taste her again. She tastes so damn good, and I slide my tongue into her mouth, making her moan.
Nora leans into me, falling into our kiss as I take her for my own. Her lips work against mine, but she’s not as strong as I am. I’m taking her for my own. I’ve had to let her go twice now, and there’s nothing stopping me from finally getting what I want.
I want her, and I want all that she has to offer me.
Right here, right now.
Finally, I pull back, breathing hard, only to trail a line of kisses from her jaw to her ear. She moans, the sound slipping unbidden from her mouth when I nibble her earlobe, and I pull back all of the way to look at her.
“If I’m not mistaken, I think that you liked that.” Even though I know that I shouldn’t tease her right now, I can’t help it. My cock is about to burst through my jeans. I hate her. I want her. I’ve never felt this conflicted about a girl before.
“Fuck you.”
“That a threat or a promise? I don’t want you to make promises to me that you’re not willing to keep, Nora, because I’m not interested in waiting on you any longer.” Reaching up, I swipe my thumb across her lips, pressing down hard on them. They’re swollen and hot, and her pink tongue flicks out to lick the tip of my thumb. Without thinking, I shove it into her mouth, closing my eyes as she sucks on it.
God, her little tongue swirling around it is perfection.
I can only imagine what it will feel like to have her on her knees in front of me while she sucks my cock. Suddenly, I can’t stand it any longer. Pulling my thumb from her sweet little mouth, I kiss her again, my hand on her back of her neck, pulling her in to me.
She falls into me like before, but this time she doesn’t plant her hands on my chest and try to push me away.