He scans the hallway, staring down his nose at the students around him until his eyes lock on mine. He startles slightly before his jaw clenches.
My lips curl into a smile, but it’s anything but friendly. The stupid motherfucker doesn’t even have the sense to look a little afraid. He’s clearly already forgotten about our little chat in the locker room last week. Probably all the fucking pills he pops frying his brain cells.
Our eyes hold for a couple of seconds but someone more interesting at the other end of the corridor catches his attention.
I don’t need to look to know who it is. I can see it in his eyes. He looks like a lion who’s just spotted his prey.
I take a step toward him, glancing at the girl who’s holding his attention. The sight of her makes my breath catch.
Her light brown hair is pulled back from her face accentuating her cheekbones and full lips. Something stirs within me as I remember just how her lips taste but the dark circles around her eyes are a stark reminder of the reality of why I did what I did last night.
I still have no idea what Preston did or how bad it was, but the ball of dread in my stomach tells me that my worst suspicions might just be correct.
Poppy was different last night. Her kiss was different, the way she reacted to me was different. She was desperate for me to make her forget, and that was because of what he did.
Her eyes catch mine and her steps falter, that is until she looks away from me and finds Preston. Then all the color drains from her face before she looks to the floor and makes quick work of getting to her locker.
Not wanting to give her the attention she clearly doesn’t want, I walk toward him instead, despite the fact my body screams to go to her.
I don’t stop until my shoulder slams into his.
“What the fuck, man?” he barks as all his crew stop and stare at me as if I’m about to lay him out right here in the middle of the school. It’s tempting, I’ll give them that but I’d hate to give him the satisfaction of watching me getting carted off by Hartmann when we’re caught.
“Watch your fucking back,” I warn, my voice low so none of our audience will hear.
A deep growl rumbles up his throat. “Fuck you. I do what I like.”
My fists clench with my need to hurt him, it takes all my self-restraint to keep my arms at my sides and walk away from him.
His evil laugh hits my ears and I almost change my mind. Glancing over my shoulder, I find him staring right at Poppy who’s still as white as a sheet at the other end of the hallway.
It’s all I need to tell me that he’s not going to give this up easily and that if I want to help her, free her from his twisted game, then I need to up the ante.
By lunch my muscles are still pulled tight and I’m still on high alert waiting to see or hear that the douchebag has done something else.
I don’t usually listen to the senior class gossip, let alone the junior gossip but today I hear everything, and when Harley and Ruby come to join the cheerleaders at lunch, I listen to every word while the JV football team occupies the table beside ours in their need to be us.
Preston is noticeably absent from his group almost all of lunch. The rational side of me says he’s probably just with a teacher or in the gym or something, but the other part of me says that he’s with her.
My blood turns to lava as I think about him touching her, about him forcing her to do something.
My fist slams down on the table before me, making the lunch trays rattle and everyone to stop talking and stare at me.
“You all right, man?” Justin asks, his eyes boring into me.
“Yeah, I just… fuck. I’m outta here.”
Without waiting to hear what any of them have to say, I push from my stool, all but throw the tray and its remaining contents into the trash and storm out of the gym.
If Poppy isn’t with my sister and Ruby, then there’s only one place she’ll be. I march toward the music department.
The looks on the music geeks’ faces are a picture as I pass them on my mission to find her. If I weren’t so agitated about his suspicious absence, then I might be entertained by it.
I might not make a habit of coming to this corner of the school but I know where to look. Sadly, I don’t make it to the practice rooms before I stumble across the one person I really didn’t want to see right now.
“Zayn.” Preston nods, his pretentious, asshole smirk plastered across his face.
“What are you doing here?” I seethe.
“Visiting a friend. What about you, I didn’t have you down as a music fan.”
“Fuck you.”
“Now, now, I was only being friendly.”
I don’t bother responding, I push past him, my legs moving even faster than before, my need to find her even stronger.
He watches me go, I feel his stare burning into my back but I refuse to turn around and give him the satisfaction of knowing that he affects me in any way.
Looking through the window of all the practice rooms, I search for her but I come up empty. It’s not until I look through the final small window that I find her defeated form slumped over a piano.
My chest constricts that he was down here doing God knows what with her while I was sitting in the cafeteria with the team.
I don’t bother knocking, I just push the handle down and shove the door open.
Her entire body flinches with the sound but she doesn’t turn around, she doesn’t do anything.
It’s almost like she’s given up, lost her fight.
It fucking kills me.
“Poppy?” My voice is soft, quiet, in the hope of making her relax.
“What do you want, Zayn?”
“Are you… are you okay? Did he…”
“He did nothing. You should leave.”
I hesitate, not knowing whether I should do as she asks or what I want to do.
“Why do you keep insisting on pushing me away?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do. You don’t owe me anything, Zayn. You have no reason to keep poking your nose into my life.” Her words cut but I refuse to allow her to know it.
“What if I want to?”
A sad laugh falls from her. “Why would you want to?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Walking over, I come to a stop beside the piano and look down at her. She rushes to wipe the tears from her eyes before she looks to the other side of the room in an attempt to hide from me.
“Poppy, what did he do?”
“He did nothing,” she cries, standing from the stool and once again turning her back on me. “He did nothing, he means nothing. All of this has nothing to do with you. Just go back to your team and gaggle of cheer sluts and leave me alone.”
Closing the space between us, I place my hand on her waist. She tenses but she doesn’t immediately push me away.
“Zayn,” she sighs. It’s so quiet, so broken that it makes something inside my chest physically hurt for her.
I spin her to face me and gently push her up against the wall so she can’t escape too easily.
“Talk to me, Poppy. Please. Let me help.”
“There’s nothing you can do.”
“That’s shit and you know it.”
She still refuses to meet my eyes and I hate that she’s hiding from me. Lifting my hand, I tuck my finger under her chin and force her to look up.