Mr. Carmichael blinks slowly a couple times, as if he had just woken up from a nap and is trying to orient himself. “Well, that’s a kind thing of you to do. Please keep your voice down so that you don’t distract the other students.” With that, he turns back around and heads to the front of the classroom to resume his lesson. I can’t help the self-satisfied smile that’s on my lips as I look at the wide eyed, open mouthed faces of my classmates.
Focusing my energy back on Titus, he falls deeper under my thrall. Interesting, the more I strain myself, the stronger I get. “Walk me to my next class,” I tell him.
“Of course,” he smiles, confusing me for a second. Is it Ren or is it me that just found that sexy? She doesn’t answer, probably afraid I’ll respond out loud again. That’s fine, my plans are looking more and more like a sure thing as time ticks on. I wonder who I’ll have the pleasure of toying with next.
5
Sheya
The bell rings and I hand my bag over to Titus. I’m contemplating on whether or not I should go to my next class when I run into Renee’s loudmouth friend. Annoyance filters in from the back of my mind from Renee, and I allow myself a quick moment of satisfaction at bothering her so easily. Cymone rushes over to me, links her arm through mine and tosses a huge smile over to me.
“Hey,” she stage whispers. “What is tall, dark and delicious doing carrying your bag?”
“Oh, him?” I shrug like it’s no big deal that on the second day of meeting him, I have Titus following me like a lost puppy. “We’re best friends now.”
She sends a questioning look my way before tossing one at Titus. Maybe I should tone it down before she picks up on the fact that Renee isn’t acting like herself.
“It’s because I’m not myself right now.”
“Be stronger next time, Dipshit.”
“Excuse me?!” Cymone says, stopping us in the middle of the hallway without a care in the world about the people around us.
“Oh nothing, I was just talking to myself,” I say casually, kicking myself for trying to piss Renee off, almost sabotaging my own plans. “Anyway, I think I’m going to head to my next class. See you later, girl!” I quickly walk away from her, with Titus trailing behind me. I get to my next class with just seconds to spare. I can’t decide whether or not I want to have Titus tag along, until I see a pair of dark blue eyes shining from the back corner of the room. In Renee’s usual spot.
“See you at lunch, Titus,” I say, holding out my hand for my backpack while maintaining eye contact with Caylen. I want him to see that I had his brother at my beck and call. Titus hands me my bag, blinking slowly at me before walking away, presumably, to his own class.
I slide into the classroom, sizing up my new target like a hungry lioness with her eyes on her prey. Or some poetic shit like that. Caylen’s attention is still plastered to the empty doorway, where me and his brother were just standing. I can see some sort of confusion gracing his features , but don’t fret, my dear Caylen, soon you’ll understand exactly what’s wrong with your brother.
I sit down next to him, a smile already plastered to my face. I wait for him to bring his attention back to me before I reach out to rub my hand up his arm. He quickly glances down, watching the slow progression of my hand as if it’s the most interesting thing in the world.
“Caylen,” I purr, letting loose a stream of energy towards him.
And it’s as if I poured my energy into a wall.
What the fuck?
“Hey, Ren, what’s up?” he asks, still looking at my hand. I try once more to pour my energy into him, only to have it pour to the side as if it hit a blockade. I huff in annoyance, not understanding what the fuck is going on.
“Yeah, hey,” I say, turning my attention back to the front of the classroom. Maybe I should try to use a little bit more? But I’m already feeling the effects of using so much in such a short period of time. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up allowing Renee to take back control. And we don’t want that, now do we?
Silence.
Oh yeah, she’s afraid that I’ll respond out loud.
“Hey, Dipshit. I’ll stop responding out loud. This is no fun if you don’t show any response.”
“Oh, joy,” she sighs. “Thank you for being so thoughtful.”
“What can I say? I have a heart of gold.”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Hey, Ren,” Caylen says. “What’s going on with you?”
I place my chin in my palm, holding it up and keeping my focus on the teacher. I give Caylen a careless shrug, not bothering to give him any more of my time. Something isn’t right with my energy, otherwise he’d be under my thrall just like Titus.
“You’re forcing it instead of letting it flow naturally.”
I snap my head over to him, wondering what the fuck he could be talking about. Instead of answering my questioning glare, he gets up and walks right out of the classroom. The teacher calls after him, but Caylen doesn’t even hesitate as he leaves.
“That was really weird,” she says.
“You don’t say? What gave it away?”
“Do you think he knows about us?”
“No way in hell,” I say dismissively. “He clearly was talking about me touching him up without getting to know him. I guess men want to be won over as well.” I shrug to myself, as if I couldn’t care less about what just happened. But that’s not it at all. The bell rings, jarring me out of my thoughts and catapulting me to my feet. I rush out the classroom, shoving my pathetic classmates out of my way as I go. With their charming words following me out of the classroom, I quickly make a beeline to my locker. Call it a strong hunch, but I just know that I’m going to find one of my new fixations waiting for me there.
And lo and behold, there’s Zavid’s big ass.
I saunter up to him, caressing my hand down his strong chest when I draw near enough to touch him. I’m a little hesitant to try to push my thrall into him, after the epic fail I had with Caylen, I have to admit my confidence is a little shaken.
“Oh, isn’t that a first?”
“Renee,” his deep voice greets me. I pause in my perusal of his chest, wondering if I’m getting caught up in this game that I’m playing by myself. “Caylen said that you were acting funny in your last period. Is everything fine?”
I roll my eyes, frustration flaring to life inside me with just the mention of that stubborn man’s name. Fuck Caylen.
“I’m fine,” I snap, turning on my heels and storming off towards my next class. After this, it’ll be time for lunch and I can see whether or not my thrall lasts even when I’m not actively feeding it. I can’t lie, my mood is souring and my temper is starting to flare up. I glare at a group of girls walking and laughing with each other. With a flick of my hand, I trip one of them, causing her to face plant into the lockers. With a twist of my wrist, several of their pants fall down to the ground, following their fallen friend.
Screams of embarrassment and confusion surrounds me, easing my anger and causing a sly smirk to paint itself along my lips. I turn around to get one final glance of my handiwork, stopping dead in my tracks when I make eye contact with a brooding, brown-eyed, giant. He tilts his head at me, as if he knows that it was me that did all of this. Without wasting a second more, I turn back and head quickly to my class.
What the hell is going on?
Cymone and I meet at our lockers, but she’s not talking like she usually is. Actually, it’s as if she’s scrutinizing my every move. I stare back at her, trying not to get annoyed with this pest. Can’t she just let this go?
“I don’t know what it is, Ren, but something is off about you today,” she says.
“Why do you say that?” I ask, trying to add a little bit of meekness to my voice. Because, let’s face it, Renee is a doormat if I ever saw one.
“Fuck you.”
“Masturbation is a sin.”
“What… never mind.”
“I don’t know, I feel like
you’re hiding something from me…” she trails off, as if a thought just occurred to her. “OH MY GOD! YOU LOST YOUR VIRGINITY LAST NIGHT!” she screams so loud that the whole fucking school could hear. I swear it’s as if she pressed pause and halted time or something, because not a sound could be heard and nobody moved. “Oh God, no,” Renee whispers.
“This day may not be lost, just yet!”
“Wow,” I say aloud. “How did you know?!” Gasps ring throughout the hallway, everyone tuned into the little show that we're putting on. Renee has receded further back into my mind, as if she could disappear from this thing entirely. Too bad that she can’t.
Cymone squeals out, grabbing my arm and towing me towards the girls bathroom. Once she ushers me in, she checks to make sure that all of the stalls are empty before locking the door. She turns back to me, green eyes shining with so much excitement, you would’ve thought that I told her that I won the lottery or something.
“Ohmagosh ohmagosh ohmagosh,” she gushes. “Who was it with? Why didn’t you tell me?! Was it planned? Was it romantic? Did it hurt? Must’ve been terrible because you’re still walking normal and I heard that a good pounding leaves you slightly crippled afterwards.”
Huh? Who the hell wants to be crippled from sex?
I open my mouth to tell her the entire made up thing, but a knock on the door stops me before I can start. Cymone huffs out a breath before turning to open the door.
And there stands Titus.
“Excuse me,” he says to Cymone right before he grabs her and shoves her out of the bathroom.
“Hey!” she calls out, right before Titus closes and locks the door right in her shocked face.
“Um, hey?” I say cautiously.
“What the fuck did you do to me?” he asks. He doesn’t give me a chance to answer him. Instead, he backs me up against the wall, until there’s nowhere for me to run. “What did you do?” he says softly. I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off, but he silences me by slamming his mouth onto mine.
My body immediately comes to life. But the shock of his kiss breaks my control. Before I can regain my focus, Renee breaks through.
“Wait!” she gasps into his mouth.
6
Renee
What the hell is going on? Titus’s sudden kiss shocked Sheya so bad that I was able to take back control over my body, but now I find myself pressed between a wall and a hard place. A few hard places, actually.
“Wait!” I gasp out. But that doesn’t deter him. He trails hot kisses down my throat, while his big hand moves leisurely up my side, cupping my breast. I gasp again, causing him to bring his mouth back to mine. His other hand grabs my waist, dragging my hips until they’re pressed against his. And right up against his large friend who’s super happy right now. I instinctively roll my hips into his, my mind is foggy and I’m lost in all the new sensations that I’m experiencing. For once, Sheya has nothing to say.
“Yes, I do. Stop saying my name with so much fucking derision. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be dry humping the new guy in the girl’s bathroom. At school. During lunch hour.”
Sheya’s words are like a cold splash of water on my face. Oh my God. What am I doing? With a stranger and at school? I push Titus away with all of the strength I could muster, and he goes flying into the opposite wall. Oops. I think Sheya added a little extra oomph to that.
Titus is slumped on the floor, looking up at me with the most bewildered look on his face. There’s no way I can explain how the hell I was able to toss him so easily, so I don’t. I head to mirror and instantly cringe. The lipstick that Sheya so happily applied this morning is smeared all over my mouth. Which means… I spin around to look at Titus and a low groan escapes from me. My lipstick is smeared all over his face as well.
“I don’t suspect you packed any makeup remover?” I ask.
“Actually, I didn’t. Oops. Must’ve slipped my mind”
“Of course it slipped your mind.”
I try to tamper down the panic that is brewing in my chest, but it’s getting worse by the second. I’m not too sure how long we’ve been here, but there’s no way we’re going to be able to walk out of this bathroom with my lipstick smeared on both of our faces. There will be rumors regardless, thanks to Cymone screaming out about me losing my virginity. Now everyone is going to think that Titus was the one to take this new car on a drive.
“Don’t act like you don’t want that.”
I can’t even argue with Sheya, because I really do. My body is alive for the first time in my life, and I want to see where that could have went. But this isn’t the right place or the right time. Or hell, maybe not even the right person. I don’t even know him.
“I’m sure he’s willing to tell you aalll about him.”
I turn back to the sink, grabbing a fistful of paper towels. I start the painful process of scrubbing the lipstick off, cringing at the rough feeling of the paper towels scrubbing across my sensitive lips.
“I doubt they’re sensitive because of the paper towels.”
I can’t help but to agree with Sheya again. If I’m not careful, we’ll end up being on the same side on everything, and I don’t know if I should feel terrified or elated by the thought. I glance back over my shoulder to see that Titus hasn’t moved from his spot on the floor.
“You should probably try to clean all of that lipstick off of your face unless you want to answer a lot of questions once we get out of here,” I say to his stunned form. I don’t know why he’s sitting there as if I was the one that kissed him aggressively against the wall.
“Not like you’re complaining.”
“You’re right. I kind of wish it could have lasted longer.”
“How did you do that?” Titus asks, breaking up my inner dialogue with my favorite monster.
“How did I do what?” I ask, hoping to play dumb through this whole thing and avoid any more suspicions.
“How did you throw me across the bathroom like you just did?”
“I did no such thing,” I say, fixing my face with what I hope is a look of frustration… but probably looks more as if I’m constipated. “I caught you off guard and I guess you stumbled all the way over there.”
“That’s not what happened, and you know it,” he counters.
“No, what I know is that you locked me in the girls bathroom and made out with me for no apparent reason. What were you even talking about? I did nothing to you.”
“I wish I could believe that,” he says, finally rising from his place on the floor. “But I’m almost one hundred percent positive that you did something to me.”
My heart is thundering in my ears as I try to come to terms with what he could be saying. Clearly, he knew that I- no, that Sheya fucked with him somehow, but why is that heated look still in his eyes? Shouldn’t he be pissed off right about now? I turn to Sheya for help.
“What should I do?” I ask.
“How the hell should I know? I didn’t know that he would know that I manipulated him and I definitely didn’t know that there would be lasting effects.”
“So, essentially, you knew absolutely nothing about what your powers would do to him, but you decided to go ahead and use them anyway?!”
“Well, yeah, you can’t get results without tests. Am I right?”
“No, you’re fucking insane!”
“Ok.”
“What should I do?”
“I guess you should just beat him to being mad?”
“What do you mean?”
“Get angry first and storm off. That’ll stop him from asking questions and you can leave the bathroom without him.”
“Ok, here’s to my acting skills.”
“We’re doomed.”
I ignore that last comment, choosing instead to focus my energy on my great performance. I cross my arms, mustering up such a look of anger, I’m actually starting to get pissed off for real.
“You have some fucking nerve,” I seethe. “You lock me in a bathroom
, assault my mouth, bring my body alive and you’re the one that’s questioning me?!”
“Try not to compliment him so much, Tiger.”
“Got it.”
“I don’t even know you! So the next time you try to interrogate me on something I have no clue about, try not to make love to my mouth next time with those perfect lips!”
“You have got to be kidding me.”
I turn around and storm out of the bathroom before he could recover from my oh so amazing performance. Instead of seeming like I was pissed off by the kiss, I gave him the highest praises while looking like a complete moron. I exit into the hallway and there, waiting to ambush me, is my dear friend Cymone.
“Girl, what the fuck?” she asks, scrutinizing my mussed hair and naked lips. “So you lose your virginity and now you’re fucking in the school bathroom?”
“That’s not what happened,” I cringe. I don’t know how to explain myself in this situation because Sheya had already agreed to us losing our virginity.
“Our?”
“I meant ‘my’.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
The annoyed emotions I’m receiving from Sheya seems to be mixed with something else. But I can’t put my finger on it.
“Don’t hurt yourself with all of that thinking, Dipshit.”
“Hello! Earth to Renee! If that’s not what happened, then why the hell do you look like he ravaged you against the wall?”
“Well,” I hedge. “He did do that.” I try to shrug casually, but everything about me right now feels wound tight and awkward as hell.
“WHAT?” she screech. “What do you mean he did do that? Is he the one that tore that thing up?!”
“What? Tore what thing up?”
“That thing! Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about! Ohmagosh! This is all happening so fast!”
“What’s happening so fast, Cymone? You’re not making any sense.” I hear the water running in the bathroom, and that’s my cue to move away from this area as quick as I can. I grab Cymone by the hand and quickly walk to the parking lot. My mom is going to eat me alive when she gets the call that I ditched the second half of the school day, but there’s no way that I can function through classes after everything I just experienced.
The Inner Self: The Prophecy Page 4