by T. J. Sin
Tapping.
She sat up straight and looked around to see that the parking lot was now full and students were scattered all around in their little groups. She carelessly wiped the slobber that she felt hanging on her chin when she heard the insistent tapping again to the left of her.
She glanced out the window and it was there that she found the source. Standing by her window was a guy. He was familiar to her and it took a good minute for Chloe to recognize him as the same guy that had congratulated her in class on making good on her threats with Justin.
Ugh! She struggled to remember what his name was ....Terry, Tim...Troy. Yeah, she brightened. Troy. That was it, she told herself as she grabbed for her bag and pushed open the door. But what would he want with me?
"Um, hi. Chloe right?" He asked, stepping back and stuffing his hands in his pockets. He was acting a little shy for what she considered to be the typical player type. But if his looks were anything to go by, then he fit the bill perfectly which meant that she needed to steer clear of him.
“Yeah, that would me." Chloe lifted her head expectantly wondering again what in the world he wanted with her.
He softly chuckled and shot a glance over his shoulder. Chloe saw another group of guys who were watching the two of them and even caught when one of them gave Troy the thumbs up.
She rolled her eyes thinking about just how preschool that one act really was. "Looks like you have a fan club," she casually remarked, letting the sarcasm lace her words.
She caught Troy's wince when he glanced back at her and tried not to smile. "They're you know- just the guys."
She nodded her head, hoping that was enough. Chloe was now more than eager to escape this conversation. "Yeah. Guys, I get it."
She started to turn and walk off from him but was stopped when she felt his hand softly grip her shoulder. "Hey," Troy asked hesitantly. "Can I ask you a question?"
She frowned. She hated when guys wanted to "ask a question". That always meant that she was not going to like where the conversation was going but at this point, she didn't see any way to get out of it.
Sighing, she closed her eyes. "Sure, shoot."
"Yeah... well, I was hoping that maybe you would go with me to the homecoming dance after Friday's night game. What do you say?"
She was already shaking her head before he finished the question. Chloe didn't do dances, at least not since her sophomore year. Not even bothering to spare him a cursory glance, she quipped a short, "No," and pulled away from his grip. Moving as fast as her two feet would take her, she started towards the school. There was no way would that she would ever go to another school dance after what had happened before. No freaking way.
"Hey!" Troy called out to Chloe's retreating back only to be promptly ignored. He tried once more, a little louder this time. "Hey!- Is that it? Are you telling me no?"
She heard him call out to her and Chloe only pushed herself to move even faster. He may be cute, he may act sweet but he was still a player and she wasn't about to be played, again. No, she refused to let herself fall in that trap. She learned that lesson the hard way and it's one mistake that she planned to never repeat. Never.
Chloe was going into the last class of the day and she breathed out. So far, so good. She had spotted Mr. Playboy Player several times but he kept to his crew and there were no other incidents to report. The two of them had shot each other a few curt glances throughout the day and Chloe didn't miss the calculating look on his face.
Yeah, she was positive that he was most definitely up to something. Thankfully, it looked like whatever he was up to, it wouldn't be today. She was bloated, irritable and right now, she just wanted to go home. She could deal with Justin Pinnix later in the week.
She was already planning her next move. Friday night at the big game had the promise to be a little more than anyone would have normally bargained for. She had something up her sleeve that she hoped would be the cause to his ultimate downfall. She was all but salivating at the prospect of the outcome.
The bell finally rang, signaling the end of class. Chloe found herself still sitting there, not realizing that that it was actually over. She had been lost so deep in her thoughts that she couldn't have told you if Ms. Dale talked about polynomials or theorems during the last hour and frankly, she really didn't care. She stood up, grabbed her unopened book and was stuffing it in her bag when she felt someone touch her shoulder.
Startled, she whirled around and the movement occurred so fast that she ended up dropping her bag on her bare toe.
"Ow, dammit!" She cursed and did this hopping around on one foot dance, while holding the pained one in her hand.
"Shoot, I'm sorry," the guy apologized. "Are you okay?" he asked. He bent down and picked up her bag from the floor and then reached out with his free hand to steady the bobbling Chloe.
She glared at him. "What do you think?"
The guy offered her a sexy smile and she groaned. She did not need this now. All she wanted was to go home. Was that such a big thing to ask for? "Give me that," she suddenly snapped, letting her sore foot fall to the floor and snatching up her bag out of his hands.
He instantly held his hands up in surrender to her. "Sorry," he apologized again. "I just wanted to introduce myself. "I'm John by the way, and you're Chloe?"
"Two points for Einstein here," Chloe grumbled under her breath and turned to leave. John was obviously one of them too. She had no patience whatsoever for pretty boys who thought they were the best thing since chocolate ice cream.
She left him standing there and was walking down the hall when she heard the sound of foot steps trailing behind her. As soon as he reached her side, she knew that it was him and that he was back. She picked up on the scent of the old spice cologne that he was wearing and wrinkled her nose.
"You're not very nice," he pointed out while she adverted her face and continued to stare forward She was adamant about ignoring him.
She could just imagine what his definition of nice was. She would just about bet that he's not so nice in the morning after once he has slept with some hopeful girl that only wants to claim his heart. Afterwards, he probably leaves with no intentions of ever talking to her again.
For him it was probably more like- wham, bam, thank you ma'am.
"I don't do nice," she replied snidely, still steadily trying to walk away from him. They were outside now and her car was only about twenty feet away.
"Really," he noted, amusement coloring his tone. "What if I can convince you otherwise?"
"Why don't you just go to hell,” she calmly retorted.
"Now I'm just hurt," he made a face and palmed his chest.
Before she reached her car, Chloe had already pressed the button on her key chain to unlock it. The dude evidently wasn't getting the message, he was still following her. Ignoring him, she grabbed the handle and wrenched open the door with a little more force than necessary. Maneuvering her body, she slid into the driver’s seat and tossed her bag into the passenger floor board.
She was seconds from slamming the door closed when John gripped the frame of the door and bent down so that they were staring at each other on the same level. He was still giving her that devil may care grin of his and Chloe huffed out a loud breath of impatience.
"One question," he said, "And I'll leave you alone."
She stared up at him and all but growled. "What?"
"Go to the homecoming dance with me Friday night?" He watched her with something a keen to anticipation written all over his face. If she had been the naive girl that she had been a year ago, then she probably would have said yes to him, right here on the spot- but a year later and a whole lot wiser, not a chance.
"Drop dead," she sneered and leaned forward so that she could shove him back enough to allow herself room to close the door. She heard his laughter through the closed window but continued to ignore it and started the car instead. Backing up, she had to glance back in the rear view mirror and saw that he was still stand
ing there, with his hand over his heart, feigning hurt.
Yeah right, and do I look like I have jack ass written on my forehead?
Now fully irritated, she threw her car in gear and peeled out of the parking lot. She had promised her Aunt Jill that she would stop in town and pick up her dry cleaning before she headed home since Erica was at ballet practice. She felt it was the least that she could do considering that they were keeping both her mom and herself up until they were able to save up enough money to get a place of their own.
It took only ten minutes for her to reach the dry cleaners and luckily, the order was ready as soon as she walked in. The place was hot and the air was sticky so she was more than glad to not have to hang around in there too long. She smiled at the older woman with a million freckles on her face when she handed her the receipt. She then accepted Aunt Jill's clothes from her.
“Good night," the older lady said when Chloe turned to depart.
"Good night," she mumbled in response and after walking outside she took in a deep breath of the cooler night air as soon as it hit her face. She didn't see how anyone could work in a place like that for any length of time. It about suffocated her and that was only after ten minutes.
Getting back in her car, Chloe was finally glad to be going home. Today had been nothing but complete weirdness. She had been asked out by not one, but two guys to the homecoming dance. And both guys being the very same stereotype that she loathed.
She shrugged her shoulders and decided that neither guy was even worth wasting her time on. She turned the radio up and was set to jam when she heard her phone ring. Not thinking about it, she grabbed the phone, flipped it open and said, "Hello."
"I want a good time. Can you come show me one babe?" The unfamiliar male voice took her completely off guard. She pulled the phone from her ear and stared at the unknown number.
"Wrong number jerk!" she angrily bit out and snapped the phone shut. Guys could be so stupid and so remedial at times she thought to herself while tossing the phone on the empty seat beside of her. But no sooner than she dropped the phone, it rang again.
This time, she thought it was probably her mom or Aunt Jill and picked it up again, "Hello."
"How about I show you a good time," a different the male caller purred.
Chloe gasped, and then she lost it. "Perv!" she hollered into the mouth piece and slammed the phone closed again.
What in the hell is going on? One prank call maybe, but two though, not likely. She was starting to get a really bad feeling about this.
Sitting still a red light, the sound of a honking horn caught her attention. Turning to her side, she looked over at the car where two guys were hanging out the window, signaling for her to roll her window down.
Reluctantly, she did as they asked and held up her hands. "What?"
The taller guy that was driving leaned over and spoke. "Hey, if you are really up for a good time, I'd be more than happy to take you to my place and show you what a real man can do for you."
Her eyes about popped out of her head. She was sure that she probably looked something similar to a gold fish the way that her mouth gaped open and then closed. "Who the hell do you think you are?" Chloe demanded after she managed to get over the initial shock.
The guy pointed to the side of her car and grinned cheekily. "Hey, you're the one that's advertising- I'm just answering."
"Huh?" She looked back at him dumbly.
Both of the guys fell back in their seats and died laughing. "Pull over and take a look at your car lady."
The light turned green and the guys drove off, their laughter still ringing in Chloe's ears. She sat back in her seat and pulled into the nearest gas station. Turning off the car, she walked around to the other side and immediately slapped her hands over her eyes.
I should’ve known.
Just as bold as you please, in black shoe polish it read, 'For a good time, contact me. I'll fulfill your every fantasy. 555-4281.'
He was going to be so dead. Angry, peeved and pissed as hell Chloe stomped back to the driver side of her car and slunk low into the seat. As soon as she slammed the door, her phone rang again. Glancing down at it, she grabbed for it and flipped it open. "No Espanola," She answered curtly and slammed it closed again.
Oh, he was going to pay for this one, she told herself, in a really big way. His time was coming and she was counting down the days. Friday night couldn't get here soon enough.
Chapter 6
Justin spotted Cathy at her locker and stopped to cop a feel of her perfectly rounded butt. He couldn‘t help himself, it was just too tempting being outlined in that in that tiny scrap of material that she called a cheerleading skirt.
“Thanks babe, “he whispered at her ear. She jumped, and then giggled before turning around and looking up at him through those big dark lashes of hers.
“No problem, it was easy peasy,” she replied. Taking a step closer, she laid her warm hand on his chest. “All I had to do was tell that goat of a secretary that Mr. Lancaster needed some help and she was out the door. She has the biggest crush on him. With her out of the office, I was able to access her computer and voila, I was able to get her number.” She flashed him a seductive smile.
“By the way, Dan told me what you did to her which I personally think is hilarious. But why is it that you have such a hard on for this new chick anyway. It’s not like she‘s anything spectacular anyway.”
Justin looked down at the beauty standing before him. Her body was flush against his, her breast pressed up against his chest and dang, she felt good he thought to himself.. “She started it,” he told her and bent down to brush his lips lightly over hers. “But I’m just finishing it.”
“Mm,” Cathy let out a mewling sound and dropped her head back, looking every bit as much of a tempting Goddess in his arms.
He let himself touch her cheek and again couldn’t help but to smile, “You did good babe, real good,” Justin praised her.
She lifted her head and gave him that killer flirty smile of hers that would make any red blooded male go weak in the knees, including himself. “Justin-,” she all but purred, “Aren’t you going to ask me to the homecoming dance?”
Crap! He had completely forgotten all about that. Between scheming against Chloe and getting ready for the big game he just hadn‘t had time to think about much of anything else, not even the dance. “What do you think?” he smirked, intentionally dropping his voice to a husky level for her benefit.
Cathy started to strategically place hot kisses along the edge of his jaw line, sending his libido into overdrive. “What I think is that you need to ask me to the dance Mr. Pinnix considering that I will probably be the Homecoming Queen and you will probably be the homecoming King. It's only logical, right?”
She was all but purring his arms now. “You make an excellent point,” he told her and unable to restrain himself any longer, Justin took her mouth in a heated kiss. One of those sloppy wet ones that teased as well as satisfied all at the same time. And she was right there with him, their lips moving together, their tongues dancing a dance as old as time itself. By the time that he lifted his head from hers, they were both left breathless and hungry for so much more.
Cathy took a step back from him, straightened her top and lifted her head. Her lips were all swollen from his kisses and her eyes slightly dazed. “See ya later Jus,” she said to him while bending over to pick up her book bag off of the floor.
He watched her walk away from him, her butt swaying in a seductive side to side motion. “You most certainly will,” he noted, licking his own swollen lips and savoring her taste. “You most certainly will.”
*******
Justin hated English class. In his mind, it was the most boring subject that man had ever created. Who really cared about what a man wrote hundreds of years ago? He surely didn't. It was a whole different time and circumstances have certainly changed. In his eyes, Shakespeare was irrelevant today. Why couldn't they read something lik
e 'The Hunger Games". Now that was something that he could actually relate to.
Walking in class, he glanced around the room and headed for the empty seat by John. He let his book bag fall to the floor. “What’s up man?” he nodded his head and sank into the chair.
"Not much. Same ole, same ole,” he replied with nonchalance, not bothering to look up at his friend. He had a piece of paper in his hand and was staring at.
Justin simply grunted in response and took a second to let his eyes roam around the room. The class was about half full. “So,” he started again, not finding anything out of the ordinary to catch his attention. “Did you ask the Ice Queen out?”
John lifted his head and looked over at Justin. He lifted his brow. “What’s it to you?” He bit out, surprising Justin with the extra snap in his tone.
He held up his hands up in surrender and laughed. “Just curious man. No need to have a cow. But I’ll take your lack of an answer as a rejection.”
John's answering scowl was answer enough. “She hasn’t rejected me- I just haven't convinced her to go out with me yet yet being the operative word. But I will, that‘s a promise you can take to the bank.”
Heady laughter rang out from the door as Chloe walked in. Justin's head whipped around in her direction and her laughter quickly died out. She stopped in the doorway, her eyes instantly resting on him. For the longest second, their gazes were interminably locked.
Speak of the she devil and she shall come, he silently mused.
The feeling that stretched between them was almost surreal. Her dark probing eyes held his own captive. He couldn’t turn away. There was just something about this girl that drove him insane and by the way that she stared back at him, he was pretty sure that she was battling the same sort of feelings.
Then her lips curled down. Or maybe not.
She jerked her head up, lifting her chin high in the air and stomped towards him, looking madder than a wet hornet. Standing in front of Justin, she reached in her purse and pulled out her phone, slamming it down hard on his desk.