I made my way down the hall towards my first class of the day, dread bouncing around inside me like a ball of acid, spraying its toxicity with every step.
“Hey, you!” Miley rushed to my side like we’d been friends for years. It was unnerving.
“Hi. How was the beach?” I asked.
She smiled wide, her eyes lighting up. “Oh, Kinsley, it was amazing as usual. You missed out on a good time.” Miley adjusted a silky white scarf tied around her neck, the bow a little fancy for school, even for Crosshall standards.
I laughed dryly but contained the snarkiness trying to escape. “I only know you, Miley,” I said with a shrug. “And even then, we’ve spoken only twice.”
Miley gently touched my forearm, her hand warm through the black fabric. “We can change that. I know how hard it is when you’re somewhere new. New place, new people… I never had someone take me under their wing when I had to change high schools when I was a junior, and it sucked.” Her eyes cast down, and her smile tightened.
“I bet,” I replied, turning the last corner to class.
Her eyes lifted again, the melancholy expression disappearing in an instant. “So, I’d like to be that someone for you.”
I stopped by the door and turned to face her. “You’re sweet.”
Miley flicked her loose hair back, then smoothed down her gray sweater, the top two buttons open with no other top visible underneath. “I know.” She chuckled. “It’s the least I can do. It can get a little… Intimidating here sometimes.”
“Or people stare at you like you have two heads,” I muttered, noticing the double takes of a few people who went past.
“Yes!” she squealed while pointing at me. “Isn’t it awful?” She patted her necktie again as though making sure it was in place.
“I’ll get used to it, I guess.” I looked over my shoulder. “Anyway, this is me.”
Miley’s shoulders relaxed, and she smiled warmly, her pale gloss reflecting the light from the sun shining through the small windows lining the hall. “Of course. I’ll shoot you a text. We can meet for lunch.” She raised her perfectly arched brow, an expectant look in her light-blue eyes.
I hesitated for a split-second, then blew out a resigned breath. “Sure, why not?” I lifted a hand and waved it just as quick.
Miley beamed. “Great! See you later, honey.”
When she walked away, humming to herself, I turned, headed into the room, and paused a couple of seconds later when I saw what greeted me.
Long legs encased in black denim, extended out with black booted feet resting on the seat—my seat!
I headed over, glaring, stopping next to my desk, making sure I wasn’t on the side of the offender. “Do you mind?” I hissed, trying to control myself in a crowded room of people.
Quinn lifted his eyes from the phone in his hands, his lazy gaze finally reaching my face. With my lips still pursed from the audacity of this guy, I added a raised brow for effect. There was no doubt I was pissed at him.
“Actually,” he drew out, his voice deep and rough as though he had to muster up the effort to speak. “I don’t mind at all.” His penetrating eyes, ocean deep, with a hint of green in one, the irises outlined with darker circles, lowered back to his device before he could catch me staring. “I’m quite comfortable.”
I smiled dryly, narrowing my eyes. “Aw, how nice for you,” I said in a sickly sweet tone at the same time I gripped the desk and adjoining chair. My expression dropped, as did my tone. “Too bad.” I yanked them toward me, making Quinn’s feet fall to the floor with a thud. The sound was amplified in the deathly silence that had fallen around me.
Quinn’s eyes widened. Yeah, he never expected that, and I was only too glad to wipe the cocky smirk off of his face.
I kept my desk away from him, then sat in my seat.
“You know,” he said, his voice less arrogant than before, “you could’ve asked nicely.”
I snorted a laugh. “You wouldn’t have moved.” Childish idiots like him acted as such.
I turned to see him smirking, the half-smile pushing up his dark, swollen bruise standing proud under his left eye. “You’re right—I wouldn’t.”
“Excuse me, I’d like to get back to adulting now. This playground behavior has been less than amusing.”
Quinn sat up quickly, tucking his legs under his desk, then leaned his elbows on the top. His infuriating smirk reappeared, cockier than before.
“Why did you transfer?” Josh asked, leaning forward to see past Quinn.
My head snapped in his direction. “None of your business.” I was harsher than I needed to be, but I didn’t want to tell anybody why I’d moved, let alone some strangers that would probably want more details than I was willing to give.
“Come on, Kinsley—we’re curious.”
How the hell did he know my name?
Quinn’s full lips curled, emphasizing the purple marks at the corner.
“Again,” I replied to Josh, taking my things from my backpack and willing the twilight zone episode to be over, “none of your business.”
The weight of somebody’s stare pressed against me, and I turned to the culprit. “Hey, Quasi, could you stop that?” I snipped, my pissy mood still there after being sent to this town over a month ago. “You’re making me uncomfortable.” And he was.
The number of people gawking was one thing, but having Quinn so close, his gaze fixed on me for reasons I didn’t know, had me wanting to leave the room so I could breathe. His scrutiny was more intense than Colby’s, and he’d seen more of me. Quinn could see nothing under my black long-sleeved Tee, yet his eyes made me feel as though I were naked before him.
I side-glanced at him and caught his eyebrows drawn together, and his mouth slightly pursed, the marks appearing to cause him some pain with the movement.
“You got it,” he said, his deep voice so low that I barely caught it.
With my desk a foot further away from him, it did nothing to alleviate the thick tension in the air between us.
Although Quinn said nothing more for the duration of class, I couldn’t help thinking that he was up to something. Every slight move, every sound, had my attention, wondering what the hell he was going to do next. And that, I assumed, was exactly what he intended.
When we’d been dismissed, he stood at the same time as me, held my gaze as he picked up his bag and reached for his leather jacket, then took off like I wasn’t even there.
What an asshole.
Quinn
“What’s gotten you so uptight today?” Josh asked as we headed out to the parking lot. “More than your usual sweet self.”
I took a deep breath to calm my raging temper, but it did fuck all to alleviate the growing knot I usually had in my stomach when that happened. “Nothing,” I replied, pulling the chin strap out of my helmet before putting it on. I flicked the tinted visor up while I was talking to Josh. “Just wound a little tight, that’s all.” I fucking was. The things I’d seen the past few days had made me want to fuck David up all over again.
Josh’s mouth pursed, but his fucking eyes lit up like he was holding back a stupid grin. “Is that all?” he asked, cocking his head to the side. “Are you sure?”