Wreck Me - An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

by Lee Mae

  Nicole recoiled as if I’d slapped her. “Who said I want to make friends with you? I’ve seen the kind of people you hang out with, and I’m not interested in friendship with you or them.”

  “That’s a good thing, because no one would have you.” I grabbed the newspaper and crammed it into my bag. Then I walked up to Marston at his desk in front and handed him my completed paper.

  He didn’t stop me when I walked out into the hall even though there were still five minutes left of class. Marston was a good guy. I’d had him as a math teacher last year and he knew what had happened. I was grateful for the latitude he was giving me.

  I stopped at my locker, trying to get a grip on my temper. I didn’t know how I was going to put up with Little Miss Princess for the rest of the semester. Maybe I could get Marston to change partners for me.

  “Hey, Zack! That was quite a flex, walking out of class early.” Chris came toward me, Nate trailing behind him.

  “My partner is a spoiled little bitch,” I huffed in explanation.

  “We know,” Nate said.

  “She’s hot, though,” Chris said, sending a baffling wave of jealousy through me.

  “We should prank her,” Nate said, elbowing me and waggling his eyebrows.

  “She’s still going to be my partner. Pranking her will just piss her off and make working together more difficult.” Although I must admit, a part of me saw the appeal.

  “Maybe it will put her in her place. And it will score points with Leigh.”

  Nate clearly had it bad for his brother’s cast-off, but I didn’t. “I don’t need to score points with anyone.”

  Nate’s mouth tightened, but he soon smiled again. “Then do it because it feels good.”

  I sighed. Although I hadn’t technically graduated, right now I was over high school. “I’ve got gym next period,” I said, pulling my gym outfit out of my locker. It was the last class of the day, and I was ready to be finished.

  “So do we,” Chris said, then flicked his tongue at a group of passing freshmen girls, half of which looked confused, the other half amused.

  It turned out half of the senior class had gym for their last period, including Leigh and two of her gal pals. And my Econ partner.

  We were scattered on the bleachers, decked out in red shorts and white T-shirts emblazoned with the Valley High Knight. Nicole sat at the other end, next to a big girl with blond hair and colorful makeup. I recognized her but didn’t know her name.

  Leigh sat on the bench behind me next to Nate, who was sprawled out and telling dirty jokes with Chris, just loud enough to make the girls on the bleacher row behind him uncomfortable. I could feel a headache starting to form and wondered if things had always been this way.

  I’d been one of the most popular guys in the senior class last year, before I took the rest of the year off. I’d spent time with my friends, guys like Chris and Nate, girls like Leigh and her minions, and we’d laughed and joked and generally said and did whatever we wanted, without much concern for how other people felt about it.

  A part of me wondered now whether I’d been an asshole before. I’d been in on my fair share of pranks, and I’d never hesitated to use a nickname, no matter how unkind, that had been assigned to my fellow classmates. Like the one I heard coming out of Leigh’s mouth now.

  “Look at the new girl. How pathetic that she’s cozying up to Wide Load over there. I guess she knows her place already.”

  My gaze turned to Nicole and her companion. The new girl was fidgeting with her gym shirt, a faint look of disappointment on her face. I still didn’t know how to read her, which didn’t bode well for our group project.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure,” Chris said. “She was mouthing off to Zack earlier. She’s his Econ partner.”

  Leigh turned to me, a flash of some unreadable emotion in her eye before it vanished. “Is that so? Maybe we need to reinforce our earlier lesson.”

  “Not worth the trouble,” I said, my tone a little forceful. Sure, Nicole got on my nerves, but did she really merit all this effort?

  Did anyone?

  I was beginning to consider things I hadn’t even bothered to think about before my old man bit the big one.

  Like… maybe I’d been an asshole, treating people like objects.

  Like… maybe my friends were assholes too.

  Like… maybe they weren’t even friends, since I’d barely talked to anyone since the funeral. I was beginning to think they were just the people you spend your time with before you escape to the next phase of your life.

  Honestly, I was tired of the way things had been, but also worried about what it would mean to change.

  The gym teacher, Miss Corbell, put her hands on her hips. “We’re going to start the year off with volleyball. Split up into four teams of six and hit the courts.”

  We did as told, me, Nate and Chris teaming up with Leigh and her friends. Walking onto the court, I noticed Nicole was careful to nudge her team to the other net, the one away from my team.

  Smart move.

  I forgot about all the bullshit, the grief, the self-reflection, and got my head into the game. Sports always did that to me, cleared my head of whatever cobwebs were hanging around and allowed me to focus on one thing: playing the game.

  We dominated the court, easily thrashing the opposing team. Corbell blew her whistle and shouted for the teams to switch up, which meant Nicole’s team was now facing down ours. My Econ partner had a determined look in her eye, a look I admired.

  I also admired the way she filled out her gym clothes. She had a light sheen of sweat, and as we started, I saw the way she moved, with an athletic grace that was half dancer, half competitor. I could tell she wanted to win, even if the rest of her team wasn’t up to the challenge.

  We all rotated positions within the team, so that I was up to serve, and Leigh and her girl squad were close to the net. The other side rotated too, so now Nicole was standing across the net from Leigh. I lobbed an easy serve, giving them time to adjust to their new positions, and the other team easily returned it. Chris popped the ball over to the other side of the net, and then the blonde Leigh had called ‘Wide Load’ hit it straight up in the air.

  Nicole took advantage of the situation, doing exactly what I would have done. She leapt up, hitting the ball hard and spiking it over the net. Leigh, who seemed to make a career out of underestimating people, was caught unawares and the ball slammed into her chest, knocking her onto her butt.

  The gym erupted in laughter, and Corbell blew her whistle again, checking on our fallen comrade. Leigh’s face was bright red with embarrassment, and I watched as her eyes narrowed and burned into Nicole’s.

  “I’m sorry,” Nicole said, looking like she meant it.

  “I’m sorry,” Leigh repeated in a mocking tone, clearly not ready to forgive and forget.

  I knew this was going to be trouble…

  6

  NIKKI

  IT WASN’T MY fault that I’d played on the country club’s beach volleyball league for the last four years. It also wasn’t my fault that the blonde’s boobs got in the way of her surviving my spike. But it was clear she didn’t see it that way.

  When the teacher blew her whistle again, the games stopped. She called us in to stand in a loose circle around her while she went over the activities we’d be enjoying this semester. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the wannabe Mean Girls in a pow wow, their eyes trained in my direction. She moved closer to my Econ partner, running a finger down his chest in a way that made me want to gag.

  She then leaned her head on his shoulder. One of the goons who’d spitballed me earlier nodded his head at her, then turned and winked in my direction. I looked away, annoyed, and focused on the muscular female gym teacher’s words.

  Miss Corbett was discussing proper locker room etiquette when I felt movement behind me. Before I could turn around to see what it was, someone grabbed my gym shorts and pulled them to the ground, exposing me before t
he entire class.

  Not wanting panty lines in the Versace dress, I’d opted for a tiny pair of smooth panties, and now half my ass was exposed to a group of virtual strangers. There were several gasps, but the blonde’s laughter echoed across the room, and soon others were laughing.

  “Thanks for giving me an exact example of what not to do, Nate,” Miss Corbett said sardonically. “Now hustle down to the principal’s office and let him know what an idiot you are.”

  I bent down to pull my pants up again, my face red but my head held high. I wasn’t going to let anyone get the better of me, especially some brat with resting bitch face and hair that came straight out of a bottle.

  “Get to the locker rooms,” Miss Corbett said, sounding disappointed with all of us.

  Angel put her arm around me as we walked out of the gym. “I can’t believe that happened,” she said, sounding shocked. “Those guys are such complete jerks.”

  I nodded but didn’t say anything.

  Walking past, Zack gave me a look, but I was in no mood to receive it. As far as I was concerned, he’d as good as pulled my pants down himself. That toxic gang of bullies he rolled with proved that he was just as bad as the rest of the bunch.

  Twenty minutes later, I headed out of the school, relieved to be going home, even if it was via public transport, when I heard a familiar voice.

  “We need to get started on the Econ homework.” Zack sounded as enthusiastic as a mechanical hare at a dog track.

  I turned around to look at him, irritated that he made me feel so flustered. “Let’s just split it up. I’ll do research on two of the companies, and you cover the last one.” It was an easy solution. We didn’t have to spend any time together, and since I was doing the lion’s share, I’d make sure we at least slid into B-minus territory.

  Apparently, that wasn’t the response he was looking for. “We need to work together on the whole portfolio so we both know what’s going on with all of our investments.”

  The word ‘investments’ sent a fresh bout of nausea through me. Not only did I have to suffer through a semester-long assignment that would remind me about my father’s crimes daily, but I’d get to do it with a bossy bully who probably couldn’t wait to chuckle with his friends over my gym class pantsing.

  “Fine.” I was in no mood to argue. I wanted to get the hell out of Valley High as quickly as possible. “What’s your plan?”

  “We go to the library downtown. They have a reference section with lots of information on investing, including subscriptions to investor analysis databases.”

  My brow furrowed. He sure seemed to know a lot about what his local library could offer in the way of investment information. Just the fact that he was suggesting visiting a library when almost everyone did their research online was strange.

  Then it dawned on me. I crossed my arms and glared up at him. “The library, huh? You’re going to lure me to some unknown location and then find a way to embarrass me there, aren’t you? Let me guess, your gang of idiots will be crouching behind the stacks, waiting to jump out and throw a bucket of pig’s blood on me?”

  Zack frowned, and I noticed a little anger creeping into his tone. “I’m not luring you anywhere. I’m trying to get our homework done. If you’re not interested, then I’ll just do it all myself.”

  He turned and started to walk away, but I scurried after him. Because his legs were longer than mine, he made it out into the parking lot before I could grab his sleeve to slow him down. “Wait! I’m not letting you take charge of this project. For all I know, you can’t even do long division. You want to be partners, then we do it together.”

  “Does this mean you’re coming to the library?”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I guess it does.”

  “Want a ride?”

  I opened my eyes again, then blinked against the sunlight that made his dark hair shine. He really was quite handsome. It was a shame he had terrible taste in friends. “We’re going now?”

  “Why not? Unless you have somewhere else to be?”

  The debate in my head didn’t take long. If I was headed to the library anyway, an unknown location for me, why not accept a ride rather than struggle on the public bus? “Okay.”

  I followed him to his car, shocked to see that it was some kind of old '70s muscle car. But it didn’t look old. The paint sparkled in the sun, the metallic coat reflecting like thousands of tiny glimmering diamonds. The seats were leather and well-made. Climbing inside, I couldn’t help but wonder where a high school student got a car like this.

  The drive to the library was awkward and mostly silent. I kept thinking his friends were going to pop up and do something awful to me, but that didn’t end up happening. Then I forgot to be on edge and just started to enjoy the ride. The engine rumbled in a way that was for some reason appealing, and I found the smell of the leather very pleasant.

  As we listened to a song by Hinder, called Better Than Me, I risked a glimpse of the driver and was again struck by how attractive he was. He was so unlike the guys I was normally into, the rich ones with expensive cars and trendy clothing. This guy had tats and muscles and even drove a muscle car. He had this bad-boy vibe going on that I found really appealing.

  Zack suddenly turned down the music. “What kind of music do you like?”

  “I like… pop. Some rap, too.”

  He was about to turn the current song off but I stopped him. “I like this, too. What is it, grunge?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah. Alternative.”

  “I like it.”

  “Good. Cause that’s what I mostly listen too. I’m into old rock, too. Zeppelin. The Eagles. Bad Company.”

  “Cool.”

  He grinned and turned up the music.

  The library was a squat brick building two blocks off the main drag. Inside, Zack made a beeline for the reference section and the part pertaining to investments. Once again, I was surprised that he even knew about the reference section, let alone what a library was. Maybe he was part of some junior investment club or something?

  He grabbed a few books, then led me over to a table in back. Once we were settled in, he started opening his selections and pointing out things related to our project. Although the entire topic was distasteful, at least to me, his straightforward approach began to put me at ease. We even found some things to laugh and joke about, which made it even easier. Before long, we picked out the stocks we wanted as the basis for our portfolio. By the time we’d done our preliminary draft of the homework, I had to admit to myself that Zack wasn’t the idiot I thought he was.

  “That’s what I call team-work,” he said, giving me a high-five.

  I slapped his hand back. “Exactly.”

  His stomach growled. “Time to leave. My stomach is going to get us kicked out of the library if we don’t.”

  Admittedly, I was hungry too.

  We headed outside, toward his car, and he pointed down the block toward a pink awning. “How about we cap off a successful homework session with an ice cream cone?”

  He flashed me a smile and for a moment, I felt as if thousands of butterflies swarmed around in my stomach. When he grinned, his hotness went up at least ten points. Resisting wasn’t even an option.

  I nodded. “Sure.”

  His grinned widened. “Cool.”

  WE DROPPED THE books off into his car and headed to the ice cream shop, which was pretty busy with familiar faces from school. I couldn’t help but notice that many of the girls stared at him as we passed. Of course, he seemed oblivious to their lustful looks.

  The line inside was pretty long and there were plenty of flavors to choose from.

  “I’ll have the birthday cake flavor,” I told the girl behind the counter.

  “Sounds good. Me, too,” Zack said.

  I was unexpectedly flattered when he paid for my cone. “Thanks.”

  “Of course. It was my idea.”

  We walked back out front, electing to sit on
the short wall that ran along the sidewalk.

  I quickly started licking before the ice cream turned to liquid in the heat. I already had one massive stain on my dress, after all. No reason to add to the mess.

  As we sat there, the silence between us started making me nervous. Not knowing exactly what to talk about, I brought up the investment reference material again. “How did you even know where to look? Let me guess, you’re a day-trader?” I teased.

  “No.”

  He seemed so serious all of a sudden that I changed the subject. “So, um, that’s quite a car you’ve got.”

  This finally provoked a smile. “It gets me around.”

  I almost lost my breath when he smiled at me again. “Gets you around? Yeah, I bet.”

  “So, you like it?”

  I snorted. “Hell, yeah. It’s like something out of Fast and Furious: Muscle Car Edition.”

  Zack chuckled. “My old man loved classic cars. We rebuilt it together. Now there’s nothing on that thing I can’t fix.”

  “I’m surprised he lets you drive it to school. It must be worth a pretty penny.”

  Zack’s smile diminished. “My father passed away.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, feeling like an idiot. Placing my hand on his shoulder, I tried to commiserate. “I know nothing that anything says after something like that helps, but I’m very sorry for your loss.”

  He nodded, and then stared off into the distance. “I still have the memories. And every time I drive that car, I remember the time we spent together.”

  I could see the emotions raging through him. His father’s death couldn’t have been that long ago. Wanting to comfort him, I squeezed his shoulder. “That’s one thing that can never be taken from you.”

  Zack smiled sadly. “Yeah.” He put his hand on top of mine and the heat gave me goosebumps. Our eyes met and I was once again lost in those baby-blues.

  The sound of wheels on pavement interrupted the moment. I looked away only to find Chris rushing toward us on his skateboard. I ducked just in time to avoid being hit as he jumped the wall and slammed onto the sidewalk.