by J. L. Beck
“Who cares, you get a whole hour with Rex in the library alone.” Mimi said, grinning at me. Just in that moment Rex decided to take it upon himself to walk past the table with Marie Jameson. Now she was in fact the town slut. That wasn’t me putting shame on her, because I had never said that to anyone or spread rumors about how she spreads her legs.
Mimi made a sound between choking and puking as they took seats at the end of the table we were sitting at. Rex may have been nice and stuck up for me, but I wasn’t his type of girl especially if Marie was his type, which from the way they were sitting it was definitely looking that way.
“I think my appetite has been ruined.” Mimi coughed out. She could be so dramatic about things. I couldn’t agree more though. If he wanted to be known, he was hanging out in the right crowd.
Our eyes met from across the table. His looking as if they were asking for more, answers. He looked curious, and I wasn’t looking for curious.
“Yeah mine too. Let’s go get a shake. FFA still does that shake Friday thing right?” I asked. I could really go for a mint chocolate shake right about now. We got up to dump our trays, but before I could move out of my seat an arm snaked around my shoulder pushing me back into my seat. I turned all but growling as I realized the arm belonged to the mongrel Corey.
“Remove your fucking arm from my body before I show you what it’s like to have your balls stuffed up your ass.” He smiled, a big toothy grin, dimples and all that use to have me melting in his hands, now I just wanted to puke all over him. Distress signals were going off like crazy in my head.
“Tsk, tsk, is that any way to talk to me Jenna?” He said his arm very much still around me. I was about to lose my shit. “Move on asshole, no one cares what you have to say.” Mimi yelled.
He tilted his head at her as if trying to find her one weakness. The best thing about Mimi was anything that he said to her she would brush off. I however wouldn’t.
“Hmm. Why don’t you stop worrying about me, and put your tits back in your shit. That is unless you're joining the slut club that Jenna here is the president of?” Mimi smiled, leaning across the table giving him a huge eyeful of her cleavage.
“I think you’re lost buddy, president of the slut club is Marie Jameson.” She replied in a sultry tone pointing to the end of the table.
“But in case you can’t find her let me draw you a map with some crayons, you go past leave us the fuck alone, and turn right at fuck off, and oh look you're in slut country.” His eyes dilated, and I couldn’t hold my laughter in. Mimi always knew how to tell someone to fuck off.
I pushed his arm off of me, catching a smirk on Rex’s face at the end of the table, knowing he had probably heard the whole conversation.
Corey gazed at me following my line of vision to Rex. As soon as I saw I was caught I dropped my eyes down to my tray. The last thing I needed was Corey having yet another thing to use against me. His face leaned into mine; I could feel his hot breath on my ear. The last time we were in a position like this was the very last time he kissed me. It was the last time he ever treated me like anything other than a door mat.
“I won’t warn you off, because you know what I’m capable of Jenna. But if you think you have a chance with Rex you’re more than fucking wrong. Don’t cross me, you know as much as I do you don’t fit in with that crowd. I mean look at us, how well did that work out. If you think I make your life hard now, let’s just say it can get ten times harder.” He whispered in my ear, wrapping a small strand of my hair around his finger before standing.
“Also you might want to start fighting your own battles. Oh and nice tits Mimi.” He said loudly while smirking. My heart was racing as he walked away. An encounter like that never happened before. School had been in session only a week and I knew that he would more than live up to his word on hurting me.
“What a fucking douche-asshat-fucking-cumsucker” Mimi said under her breath as he walked away. I couldn't agree more, but I wasn’t going to keep retaliating against him. One he wasn’t worth it really, and two I would be out of here in nine short months if I could just manage to get through it.
Mimi reached across the table and grabbed my hand, pushing me from my thoughts. “Don’t let his false threats get to you. He will get what’s coming to him, and he will pay for what he’s done to you, maybe not today, or tomorrow but someday. I swear to it Jenna.” She said sincerely.
“You know I love you right. If I was into girls I would totally choose you as my girlfriend. No homo of course.” She giggled. “Sorry love, but I’m very much into dick. Like a lot.” I laughed back. This was true friendship right here; now to get through the rest of the day without another encounter from either of the Winchester boys.
***
Classes had finally finished for the day, now all I had to do was endure and hour of detention with Rex and I would be free to two whole days without dealing with anyone here at the school. A week ago, we both managed to earn ourselves an awesome all expenses paid detention to stock and label books.
I put my things in my locker, and checked my phone after the final bell rang. I had three minutes to make it to the library. Better get booking. I slid my phone into my pocket, and turned the corner, half running/half walking down the hall. I made it just in time, the librarian giving me a dirty look just as I entered. Sigh, can’t please anyone around here.
I looked around for Rex but didn’t find him. Huh, he probably got out of detention, wouldn’t surprise me. “Hey, you didn’t start without me did you?” A voice I knew well enough to know he didn’t get out of detention. A strange feeling surged through me in that moment, it was happiness. Happiness that he was actually here, and I wouldn’t be alone, and that feeling wasn’t normal for me.
“Nope there is definitely plenty here.” I said taping the binding back together on one of the books. Silence surrounded us for the first five minutes before he started humming the words to “Roar” by Katy Perry. I was the first to break the silence by actually talking.
“That’s totally a girl song.” I muttered out, keeping my eyes down at the task at hand. He was gorgeous, and his voice deep, and velvety. If I didn’t know better I would say he was older than the eighteen he told me he was.
“Oh is it now?” He said. I hear the smirk in his voice and knew if I looked up there would be a gorgeous, pearly white smile shining down on me.
“You're gonna hear me ROAR.” He belted out completely off key I’m sure. The funny thing was, he made me smile, and he made me happy. Being around him was fun, something I hadn’t experienced in months.
“That was horrible. Like ears bleeding horrible.” I said blushing like crazy as my gaze burned into his. “You know what everyone says about you isn’t true right?” I pondered the thought for a second; you could’ve fooled me from the way everyone acted around me.
“Really how would you know? You don’t even know me. I could be slutting around all over the place for all you know.” I looked up into his eyes, the storm cloud coloring growing darker. Okay, so agreeing with what others said about me made him mad. It’s hard to think anything good about yourself when all you hear is how others hate you.
“I know that’s not who you’re. Someone who gives themselves to others like that most definitely wouldn’t be blushing over small things like our eyes meeting.” Oh great now I was really blushing. “See, I know you're nothing like that. But at the same time I know nothing about you either. But I want to. I want to so badly.” He said his voice growing shallower and huskier as the words fell from his lips. I’d all but known the guy a week, and I was feeling drawn to him. Maybe it was the fact that he was the first person to show me affection since Corey, or maybe it was because he was nice.
“I would like that very much.” I said. I wasn’t really sure if I would like it. I might like being able to get to know Rex, but the retaliation I would receive from Corey, now I wasn’t so sure about that.
“I don’t believe them Jenna. I know you're an a
mazing person, and I don’t know why Corey treats you the way he does, but I won't let him hurt you anymore.” He seemed sincere and true, but then again so did Corey. The heart can be deceiving sometimes.
“Yeah I’ve heard that line before too, you don’t even know me. Save yourself the time and heartache, and find someone who can give you what you want. Because that girl isn’t me.” I said as convincing as I could. It was hard turning down the one thing you desperately wanted when it was right in front of you. I don’t mean Rex, but the happiness he could offer me, the love he could give me, or just the feeling of being wanted by someone.
“Come on. I know you want this, you don’t even smile and I had you smiling non- stop for the last five minutes.” His voice growing deeper and his eyes twinkling; you have no idea how bad I want this buddy.
“I’ve been burned by your kind before, I don’t take kindly to it, and I don’t feel like subjecting myself to that shit again. As you can see I have enough bad shit going on for me.” He looked down at the tape that he had wrapped around his finger, that he was supposed to be using for labeling books.
“Then friends it is. I don’t want you to think you can’t trust me, and the easiest way to get to know each other is to be friends.” He was right, being friends was seemingly innocent but he didn’t look like the type of guy who you could be “just friends” with. I wanted to say yes, but Corey, and everyone at this school was in the back of my mind. I knew that their opinions about me really didn’t matter that much, and weren’t a reflection of who I was, but while I was here I would have to deal with them and that did matter.
“What do you say? A couple snow cones, and movie or two? We could become besties?” He was smiling, his eyebrows were bunched together and his hair was all over. The earring in his ear glittered and made me wonder if he was a full on bad boy, or just a half and half.
“You don’t really look like the type of guy that’s “just friends” with a girl. Plus what do I benefit from being friends with you?” I asked biting my lip slightly. Holy, shit. Was I flirting? Mimi would be so proud. He bit his lip too, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Looks can be deceiving then can’t they Jenna. You're right, I don’t really wanna be “just friends” with you but for you, I’ll make an exception. As for benefits, well the best one is just being my friend. Then there’s the fact that I sing awesomely well, I would make an excellent karaoke partner, I also make a wicked batch of banana bread. My grandmother’s recipe of course.” He replied winking at me. I almost dropped the book in my hand when he said he made banana bread. He was too good to be true.
“Okay, the benefits are excellent, minus the singing because well… unfortunately among all your great attributes singing just isn’t one of them. But… here’s the kicker… and I want an honest answer. Why? Why would you want to be friends with a girl like me? The girl who's constantly made fun of for no apparent reason.” I choked out the last words, barely making it through the sentence without wanting to cry. No I didn’t suffer from depression, or anything else… No I suffered from asshole-bully-anitis.
“Did you just willing admit that I have great attributes? Because usually I have to pay someone to say those things to me.” I gave him the, you’re-fucking-kidding-me look. No way would I believe that. My face grew red when I took notice of what he actually said. Oh balls, I really did just give him a compliment without thinking about it.
His hand reached out to mine, his thumb stroking the side of my hand. In that moment I wanted to close my eyes, and let the feeling of being touched take hold. The fact that I was being touched by someone who wasn’t out to make me miserable or use me.
I felt a shift in the air, a crackling per say, as if the room was filled with electrically charged air. My eyes popped open, Rex’s face was mere inches from mine. His thumb was still stroking my hand. His eyes drifted from mine to my lips and back up again. My tongue slipped onto my lips as I licked them in anticipation. I knew what would happen next, I wasn’t completely naive. When his eyes met mine again there was a yearning there, he wanted to kiss me but he wanted to know it was okay. I nodded my head lightly to let him know, afraid that if I didn’t take the chance it would slip away.
His lips met mine softly. There was passion there, fire, and a need. His lips pressed harder into mine as if I was his first drink of water in days, as if I was the air he needed to keep breathing. He slowly coaxed my lips open easing his tongue into my mouth, the sensation sending shock waves to my core. I gripped his shoulders, afraid of what else he could do to me. His kisses were impeccable. His hands eased around my face holding it in place, as he breathed life back into me. I felt something with him that I had never felt with anyone else. Happiness.
He pulled away too soon, attempting to catch his breath like me. We were both flushed, and he looked a lot more flustered than me. I bit my lip, excited that I had done that to him.
“I thought friends, didn’t kiss?” I asked in a hushed tone. My voice full of need from our kiss, I didn’t even recognize my own voice, but it made me feel jittery because he did that to me.
He smiled a ghostly smile while running his hand through his hair before reaching out and rubbing his knuckle against my cheek, the sensation starting another fire inside of me.
“They don’t but then again you never agreed to be friends.” He said his smile growing bigger. In that moment the librarian decided to come around the corner letting us know we could leave. Rex stepped away from me as he grabbed his backpack from the table.
I touched my lips, still burning from the kiss. What did my face look like right now? Did I look like I had been kissed?
“I’ll be seeing you Jenna.” I smiled at him dropping my hand from my face, afraid of how stupid I looked showing him what he did to me. I nodded my head, putting the book on the cart in front of me.
“Oh and thanks for the kiss. It was everything I thought it would be.”
Damn that boy would be the death of me. That is if Corey didn’t get his hands on me first.
Kiss & Tell
It had been a week since I got to have an actual conversation with Rex. We had exchanged numbers along the way, and talked mostly through texts not wanting to risk getting attacked by Corey and his posse. I told him my fears about what would happen if anyone found out that he was talking to me, but he brushed them off as if they were nothing. My fears really weren’t that irrational. Anywhere I was would not have been acceptable for us to be together. I don’t even know why people at this school thought it was their business.
I pulled my car into the small parking lot down by the elementary school, which was adjacent to the football and track fields. Rex asked me to meet him here, but I didn’t see another car in the parking lot and it looked as if the fields were empty. This scared me a little bit. I was still hesitant about him, and wondered if he was up to something. .
A car door slamming in the distance drew me from my thoughts, as I looked towards the direction the noise came from. Squinting I tried to make out who it could be. Rex’s truck was in the parking lot next to the car. How could I have missed that, a giant red lifted truck?
Angela, Corey’s sister, and her best friend Marie-fucking-Jameson exited from the car. I could feel myself growing angry as I saw Rex step out of the front seat. Marie pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arm around her, giving her a longer than needed hug. I wasn’t jealous by any means. None, but I wasn’t going to waste my time on someone who was basically using me. Okay, there was a slight pang of jealousy, but that was only because he kissed me and I felt like a fool thinking that maybe I was something he really wanted.
She released him, giving him a peck on the cheek. Marie and Angela got back in the car and left after saying their goodbyes. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to stay or go. Stay and confront him in what I already knew was true, or go and let it be, never speaking to him again.
Sitting on the hood of my car I made the decision to stay and confront him. I had already been scre
wed over by one Winchester boy, I refused to allow another one take my heart and smash it.
Rex looked off into the distance, straight at me. There’s no way he could’ve missed me. I stared down at the ground waiting to see if he would have the balls to come over here after what I just saw. I felt used, like I needed to go home and scrub my mind and body of any feelings for Rex.
“Why do you look so down pretty girl?” A voice that sent shivers down my spine asked. Rex was just as beautiful if not more up close as he was far away. I almost forgot why I was mad. Almost.
I gave him that look, the one where I look at him as if he’s playing stupid. How can he not know what would be bothering me. I hated to sound like that girl that accused a guy of doing something wrong, because who knows if he really did, but still after what happened in the library a week ago, I thought he was different. I thought maybe the shitty behavior and hate ended at Corey.
He raised his eyebrow as he drew closer eventually finding a seat next to me on the hood of the car. “Did you really think you could say and do those things to me yesterday, and then do that today and it not seem like a big deal?” There was hurt in my voice, and I couldn’t hide it even if I tried.
Realization dawned on Rex in that moment, his eyes showed brighter than they had before. I hung my head in disappointment. I couldn’t- No I wouldn’t put myself through this again.
“It’s not what you think Jenna. There’s nothing, and I mean nothing romantic going on between Marie, and me. Plus Angela is my cousin, and I definitely don’t roll that way.” He scratched at the back of his head, in a manner that had me staring at him. He drew me in like a moth to a flame without even trying. In that instance I felt like I could believe him. He showed me something that no one other than Mimi in this town had ever shown. Himself. The person under what others thought he was.